A SEARCH for the gene which gives budding musicians perfect pitch is under
way by US scientists.
After studying a group of 500 musicians, researchers at the University of
California at San Francisco believe that while early musical training is an
important factor in the ability to recognise musical notes instantly, genes play
a vital role, too.
鈥淭his is a classic case where nature and nurture are necessary,鈥� said team
leader Nelson Freimer at the university鈥檚 Neurogenetics Laboratory. The
scientists announced their finding this month at the annual meeting of the
American Society of Human Genetics in San Francisco.
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Nurture is clearly important. His team found that 50 per cent of the subjects
who began their musical training before the age of six had perfect pitch,
compared with just two per cent whose lessons did not start until after the age
of nine.
But the researchers also found evidence that perfect pitch is inherited. Half
of the people with perfect pitch knew of other family members with the same
ability, compared to only five per cent in the musicians who lacked perfect
pitch.
Freimer says the ability of the perfect pitchers to recognise musical notes
quickly and accurately was striking. 鈥淚t鈥檚 instantaneous. They can recognise 29
out of a series of 30 notes played randomly straight away.鈥�
Even more intriguing is the ability of some people with perfect pitch to
鈥渟ee鈥� musical notes or even register them as smells or tastes. Freimer鈥檚
colleague Siamak Baharloo said the research 鈥渨ould lay the groundwork鈥� for
studies of genetics and sensory perception.
The researchers are now collecting DNA from the subjects with perfect pitch
and their families in preparation for a search for the related gene or
genes.