9 Yo/perfect Pitch?

[Answerprancer]

This is a question for the experienced musicians among us.
I think a friend's son may have perfect pitch.
I myself am a fairly experienced musician with accurate relative pitch but I have only ever met one other person with perfect pitch.

He has had very little formal musical tuition and has only recently started with piano and violin but I noticed that when he sings along to songs he likes, he is absolutely spot on with each and every note and nuance of the song.

The thing that really drew my attention however was this: Singing a song out of the blue, having not heard it recently, I would quietly Youtube the song he's singing and find that he was singing it precisely in its original key. It's no fluke because I have asked him to sing a few other songs he likes and it has been the same for all of them every time!

So, is that a possible indicator that he has this relatively rare ability?

[hellywelly4]

I would image it is possible. Hope so, anyway.

[Answerprancer]

So do I, it would be very rewarding to know!

[TheChair]

Although perfect pitch is rare (around 1 in 10,000), almost perfect pitch is much more common. And while perfect pitch can be an advantage, it's not that great an advantage, and can, on occasion be a distinct disadvantage.

For example, you turn up to a venue with your band and find that the piano is 35 cents flat. The rest of the band simply tune to the piano and have no problem (what's 35 cents, as long as everyone is in tune with each other?)

However, someone (especially if they are the singer) with perfect pitch is going to find it extremely disconcerting.

Also, in his book Musicophilia, psychologist Oliver Sacks shares the experience of a fellow neurologist with absolute pitch, Steven Frucht. When listening to music, Frucht "sometimes experiences a certain difficulty in hearing intervals or harmonies because he is so conscious of the chroma of notes that compose them."

[Answerprancer]

Thanks TC, you seem to have some level of knowledge of this. So given what I said, what do you think is most likely ...that he has perfect pitch or "almost perfect pitch"?

[TheChair]

Not enough info, Answerprancer, but there are tests. Of course, it's possible to have perfect pitch without actually knowing the names of the notes, but I've no idea how you would test for it under those circumstances.

The problem with some tests is that, once you get going, you can usually guess the notes correctly if you have good relative pitch. The ultimate test is to call out the names of notes, and get him to sing them.

If he knows (or is willing to learn) the names of the notes, then there is a test here, but the best way to run it is for someone else to operate the computer and record the results without giving him any feedback.

http://tonedear.com/ear-training/absolute-perfect-pitch-test