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Absolute pitch in involuntary musical imagery
Matthew G Evans1, Pablo Gaeta2, Nicolas Davidenko3
1Department of Psychology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA. magievan@ucsc.edu.
Attention, Perception & Psychophysics
|August 12, 2024
Summary
Many people can accurately recall songs in their original key through involuntary musical imagery (INMI), also known as earworms. This suggests a widespread, previously underestimated ability to access absolute pitch.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Music Cognition
- Auditory Perception
Background:
- Absolute pitch (AP) memory for isolated pitches is rare in Western populations.
- However, individuals can often reproduce familiar songs in their original key, suggesting a potential for AP.
- The role of involuntary musical imagery (INMI) in this phenomenon is unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether INMI (earworms) reveals a latent absolute pitch ability.
- To quantify the accuracy of pitch reproduction during spontaneous musical experiences.
Main Methods:
- Participants (N=30) were prompted randomly over a week to record sung music from their minds.
- Sung recordings were compared to original songs to measure pitch error in semitones.
Main Results:
- 44.7% of recorded INMI had zero pitch error.
- 68.9% of recordings were within ±1 semitone of the original pitch.
- These findings indicate high pitch accuracy during INMI.
Conclusions:
- A significant portion of the population demonstrates access to absolute pitch through INMI.
- This challenges the notion that absolute pitch is extremely rare.
- INMI serves as a valuable window into implicit pitch memory abilities.
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