List of people with absolute pitch explained

This is a list of notable people with absolute pitch, or "perfect pitch".

Note for pre-19th century composers

Owing to uncertainty in the historical record, it is often impossible to determine whether composers and musicians of the past had absolute pitch. Since absolute pitch is rare in European musical culture,[1] claims that any particular musician possessed it are difficult to evaluate. Among composers of the Baroque and Classical eras, evidence is available only for Mozart, who is documented to have demonstrated the ability at age 7.[1] Experts have only surmised that Beethoven had it, as indicated from some excerpts from his letters. By the 19th century, it became more common for the presence of absolute pitch to be recorded, such as in the case of Camille Saint-Saëns and John Philip Sousa.

List

Name! scope="col"
Year of birthYear of deathDescription
Bill Bailey[2] 1965British comedian, musician and actor
Ludwig van Beethoven17701827German composer and pianist
Joshua Bell[3] 1967American violinist and conductor
Nikolai Bernstein[4] 18961966Russian scientist
Mariah Carey[5] [6] 1969American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer
Ray Charles19302004American musician
Frédéric Chopin18101849Polish composer and pianist
Jacob Collier[7] [8] 1994English singer, composer and producer
Celine Dion[9] 1968Canadian singer
Ella Fitzgerald[10] 19171996American jazz singer
Kirsten Flagstad[11] 18951962Norwegian opera singer
David Foster[12] 1949Canadian musician, producer
Charly García[13] [14] 1951Argentine singer-songwriter, musician and record producer
Glenn Gould[15] 19321982Canadian classical pianist
Jascha Heifetz[16] 19011987Russian-American violinist
Whitney Houston[17] 19632012American singer and actress
Michael Jackson[18] 19582009American singer, songwriter and dancer
James P. Johnson[19] 18941955American pianist and composer
Scott Joplin[20] 18681917American composer and pianist
Carole King[21] 1942American singer, songwriter, and musician
Dimash Kudaibergen[22] 1994Kazakh singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist
W. A. Mozart[23] 17561791Austrian composer
Frederick Ouseley[24] 18251889English musician, professor
Derek Paravicini[25] 1979British pianist, musical savant
Itzhak Perlman1945Israeli-American violinist
Lucky Peterson[26] 19642020American musician
Oscar Peterson[27] 19252007Canadian jazz pianist
Charlie Puth[28] [29] 1991American singer, songwriter, and record producer
Sviatoslav Richter19151997Russian classical pianist
Arthur Rubinstein18871982Polish-American pianist
Jordan Rudess[30] 1956American keyboardist for Dream Theater
Lea Salonga[31] [32] 1971Filipina singer, actress, producer, and columnist
Sheryn Regis[33] [34] 1979Filipina singer, actress, host
Artur Schnabel[35] 18821951Austrian-American classical pianist
James Scott[36] 18851938American ragtime composer
Art Tatum19091956American jazz pianist
Arturo Toscanini18671957Italian conductor
Brian Wilson[37] 1942American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and co-founder of the Beach Boys
Stevie Wonder1950American musician
Yo-Yo Ma[38] 1955American cellist

Notes and References

  1. Deutsch, D . The enigma of absolute pitch . Acoustics Today . 2006 . 2 . 4 . 11–19 . 10.1121/1.2961141 . March 3, 2022 . January 24, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130124204955/http://www.philomel.com/pdf/Acoustics_Today_2006.pdf . live .
  2. Web site: Perfect Pitch: 'I knew the hoover was playing B flat' BBC. BBC Radio Wales . April 5, 2006.
  3. Book: Deutsch, Diana . Musical illusions and phantom words: how music and speech unlock mysteries of the brain . 2019 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-020683-3 . New York . 82, 101.
  4. Book: Latash, Mark L. . Bernstein's Construction of Movements: The Original Text and Commentaries . 2020 . Routledge . 978-1-000-21386-7.
  5. Web site: September 30, 2019. Perfect Pitch and How It Works. November 28, 2020. Signia Hearing Aids. October 28, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028173446/https://www.signia-hearing.com/blog/perfect-pitch-and-how-it-works/. live.
  6. Web site: The Mysteries of Perfect Pitch Psychology Today. November 28, 2020. www.psychologytoday.com. en. March 3, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220303204740/https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/articles/200607/the-mysteries-perfect-pitch. live.
  7. Web site: July 16, 2020 . Millennial Mozart: The boundless creative genius of Jacob Collier . March 22, 2022 . New Atlas . en-US.
  8. Web site: Killian . Anais . The Genius of Jacob Collier . March 22, 2022 . The Register Forum.
  9. Web site: The Mysteries of Perfect Pitch Psychology Today. www.psychologytoday.com.
  10. News: Ella Fitzgerald: America's First Lady Of Song . en . NPR.org . March 14, 2022.
  11. Book: Wilson, Glenn Daniel . Glenn Wilson (psychologist) . 1994 . Psychology for Performing Artists: Butterflies and Bouquets . London and Bristol, Pennsylvania . Jessica Kingsley Publishers . 161 . 1-85302-166-0 . When soprano Kirsten Flagstad suffered a serious ear ailment that rendered her virtually deaf, for over a year she was able to carry on singing major Wagnerian roles at the Metropolitan Opera using only her own absolute pitch and visual contact with the conductor..
  12. Book: Foster, David . Hitman: Forty Years Making Music, Topping the Charts, and Winning Grammys . 2009 . Simon and Schuster . 978-1-4391-6665-9.
  13. News: Moreira . Vanessa . November 3, 2020 . Charly García y su gran don: el oído absoluto . Charly García and his great gift: absolute pitch . Spanish . . June 12, 2021 . June 12, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210612222500/https://970universal.com/2020/11/03/charly-garcia-y-su-gran-don-el-oido-absoluto/ . live .
  14. News: Jofre . Alejandro . October 23, 2017 . Carlitos antes de Charly: el oído absoluto de García . Carlitos before Charly: García's perfect pitch . Spanish . . June 12, 2021.
  15. Book: Ostwald, Peter F. . Glenn Gould: The Ecstasy and Tragedy of Genius . 1997 . W. W. Norton . New York . 978-0-393-04077-7 . 68.
  16. Book: Kopytova, Galina . Jascha Heifetz: Early Years in Russia . 2013 . Indiana University Press . 978-0-253-01089-6 . 113.
  17. Web site: Whitney Houston Has The Perfect Pitch, But That's Not All She's Remembered For. May 12, 2020. March 3, 2022. January 4, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220104150114/https://www.thethings.com/whitney-houston-perfect-pitch-life-facts-controversies-career/. live.
  18. Web site: What actually is perfect pitch – and how do I get it?. November 28, 2020. Classic FM. en. November 8, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201108002330/https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/music-theory/what-is-perfect-pitch-which-singers/. live.
  19. Book: Gates (Jr.) . Henry Louis . Harlem Renaissance Lives from the African American National Biography . Higginbotham . Evelyn Brooks . 2009 . Oxford University Press . 978-0-19-538795-7 . 295.
  20. Book: Frew, Tim . 1996 . Scott Joplin & the Age of Ragtime . The Life, Times & Music Series . New York . Friedman/Fairfax Publishers . 35 . 1-56799-304-4 . Born with perfect pitch, Scott quickly picked up songs on his family's old, battered reed organ..
  21. Web site: Carole King Biography and Interview. www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement. February 6, 2020. August 12, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200812065224/https://achievement.org/achiever/carole-king/#interview. live.
  22. Web site: Бабушка и дедушка Димаша дали эксклюзивное интервью. NUR Kazakhstan. February 16, 2020. ru.
  23. Web site: Social Sciences . March 14, 2022 . ucsdnews.ucsd.edu.
  24. Book: Sacks, Oliver . Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain . 2008 . Knopf Doubleday . 978-1-4000-3353-9 . 130.
  25. Web site: March 3, 2021 . Meet the blind, autistic piano genius, who can play any piece after hearing it once . October 30, 2023 . Classic FM .
  26. Web site: Featured Interview – Lucky Peterson . Gunther . Marty . June 28, 2019 . Blues Blast Magazine . December 14, 2023 . I had perfect pitch, so I didn't have a problem knowin' where they were..
  27. Book: Batten, Jack . Oscar Peterson: The Man and His Jazz . 2012 . Tundra . 978-1-77049-362-9 . 21.
  28. News: Jupp . Emily . January 29, 2016 . Charlie Puth interview: Being bullied for pitch perfect talent and Selena Gomez's advice on dealing with negativity . . June 12, 2021 . May 18, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210518163213/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/charlie-puth-interview-being-bullied-pitch-perfect-talent-and-selena-gomez-s-advice-dealing-negativity-a6841501.html . live .
  29. News: Roberts . Maddy Shaw . December 3, 2020 . Yes, Charlie Puth has perfect pitch. He's also a piano major, Rachmaninov stan and jazz improvisor . . June 12, 2021 . August 14, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210814082518/https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/instruments/piano/charlie-puth-perfect-pitch-loves-rachmaninov-jazz-improvisation/ . live .
  30. Web site: Rogerson . Ben . 2023-10-17 . “Not what I expected at all”: here’s what happened when Dream Theater's Jordan Rudess was asked to play along to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ Empire State of Mind, a song he’d never heard before . 2024-07-20 . MusicRadar.
  31. Web site: What Regine Velasquez refuses to do in singing talent search show. November 28, 2020. PEP.ph. en. December 10, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201210132557/https://www.pep.ph/guide/tv/28249/what-regine-velasquez-refuses-to-do-in-singing-talent-search-show. live.
  32. Web site: Staff. Messenger. Broadway Legend Lea Salonga Performs at Pepperdine in April. November 28, 2020. M'Online. en-US. November 27, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201127050924/https://messengermountainnews.com/broadway-legend-lea-salonga-performs-at-pepperdine-in-april/. live.
  33. Web site: What Regine Velasquez refuses to do in singing talent search show. November 28, 2020. PEP.ph. en. December 10, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201210132557/https://www.pep.ph/guide/tv/28249/what-regine-velasquez-refuses-to-do-in-singing-talent-search-show. live.
  34. Web site: Staff. Messenger. Broadway Legend Lea Salonga Performs at Pepperdine in April. November 28, 2020. M'Online. en-US. November 27, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201127050924/https://messengermountainnews.com/broadway-legend-lea-salonga-performs-at-pepperdine-in-april/. live.
  35. Book: Saerchinger, Cesar . Artur Schnabel: A Biography . 2013 . Read Books . 978-1-4474-9551-2.
  36. Book: Christensen . Lawrence O. . Dictionary of Missouri Biography . Foley . William E. . Kremer . Gary . 1999 . University of Missouri Press . 978-0-8262-6016-1 . 681.
  37. Book: Lambert, Philip. Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: the Songs, Sounds, and Influences of the Beach Boys' Founding Genius. 2007. Continuum. 978-0-8264-1876-0. 2. March 3, 2022. May 15, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160515190704/https://books.google.com/books?id=7XsZAQAAIAAJ. live.
  38. Web site: Singing the praises of perfect pitch . March 14, 2022 . Chicago Tribune . en.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "List of people with absolute pitch".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.