Perfect Pitch: Language Wins Out Over Genetics

Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Sinatra and Hendrix -- these and many other of the world's most famous musicians have had "perfect" or "absolute" pitch. The ability, defined as recognizing the pitch of a musical note without having to compare it to any reference note, is quite rare in the U.S. and Europe, where only about one person in 10,000 is thought to have it. Often lumped into the mysterious realm of Talent, perfect pitch is - according to Diana Deutsch of the University of California, San Diego - probably more the result of nurture than nature, more environment than genes.

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