16 notes, about 2 minutes
- Use headphones or speakers, and turn the sound up.
- Each note is a piano note on its own. Pick its name; the octave does not matter.
- You can replay a note. You see your answers at the end, so no note can help with the next.
Free, no account. Your answers are saved anonymously to compare scores.
What perfect pitch is
Perfect pitch, also called absolute pitch, is the ability to name or sing a note without hearing a reference note first. Play a single key on a piano and someone with perfect pitch can tell you it was an E flat, as easily as most people name a color.
It is not the same as being musical. Studies have found that absolute pitch does not necessarily come with better skills on other musical tasks (Deutsch and colleagues, 2006, summarizing earlier research).
How common is perfect pitch?
Rare. In the United States and Europe it is estimated at fewer than 1 in 10,000 people, a figure from Profita and Bidder (1988) cited by Deutsch and colleagues. Published estimates for Western populations run from 0.01% to 0.07% (Leite and colleagues, 2016).
Among trained musicians it is much more common, and it depends on when lessons began. Deutsch and colleagues tested 115 first-year students at the Eastman School of Music and 88 at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, with no volunteers picking themselves. The earlier students had started music, the more of them had absolute pitch, and at every starting age it was far more common among the Mandarin speakers in Beijing. Their explanation: in a tone language, pitch changes the meaning of words, so children learn to attach labels to pitches very early.
How this perfect pitch test works
The test plays 16 piano notes from C3 to B5, the three octaves around middle C used in the 2006 conservatory study. It follows the same rules to stop relative pitch from helping:
- Each note is more than an octave away from the one before.
- A short burst of soft noise plays between notes, so the last note does not linger.
- You see your answers only at the end. Knowing that the last note was a G would let you work out the next one.
- Every one of the 12 note names comes up at least once, and the same name never comes twice in a row.
- Only the note name counts. A C in any octave is a C.
Your score is the number of notes you named exactly. Here is what each score means:
| Score of 16 | Result |
|---|---|
| 14 to 16 | Likely perfect pitch85% or more named exactly, the bar Deutsch and colleagues used for absolute pitch. |
| 8 to 13 | Strong pitch memoryHalf or more. Guessing gets 8 of 16 right fewer than 1 time in 10,000. |
| 4 to 7 | Some pitch memoryGuessing gets 4 or more right less than 4% of the time. |
| 0 to 3 | A typical resultGuessing names about 1 note in 12, or 1.3 of 16 on average. |
Answers one semitone away are counted separately and shown with your result. Your score is also compared with everyone who has taken the test: the result says what share of them named fewer notes than you. Results are saved without your name, account or address.
Limits: an online test cannot see whether you hum or check a note on an instrument, and speakers, headphones and background noise vary. A high score is a reason to test again under quiet conditions, not a diagnosis.
Perfect pitch vs relative pitch
Relative pitch is hearing notes in relation to each other: that a melody went up a fifth, or that a chord is minor. Given one known note, someone with good relative pitch can name the rest. It is the skill ear training builds, and it is what lets you play a tune by ear in any key.
| Compared | Perfect pitch | Relative pitch |
|---|---|---|
| Needs a reference note | No | Yes |
| How common | Fewer than 1 in 10,000 in the US and Europe | Built through ear training |
| Learned as an adult | Some: 2 of 6 adults in one 8-week study | Yes, with ear training |
| Best for | Naming a note or key instantly | Playing by ear, harmony, transposing |
Relative pitch can also get in the way of a pitch test. If you heard a G and then a note a fourth higher, you could name it C without remembering any pitch at all. That is why this test spaces notes widely, adds noise between them and hides your answers until the end.
Pitch memory without perfect pitch
Many people remember pitch better than they think, even without being able to name notes. When Daniel Levitin asked 46 people to sing two popular songs from memory, 12% sang the exact pitch of the recording on both songs and 44% came within two semitones on both (Levitin, 1994). A replication with 277 people in six labs found a smaller effect: 25% hit the exact pitch on at least one song and 4% on both (Frieler and colleagues, 2013).
Levitin suggested that absolute pitch combines two abilities: remembering pitches, which is common, and attaching names to them, which is rare. A score above guessing on this test, without perfect pitch, is that memory at work.
How pianists train pitch memory
In the 2019 adult training study, six adults practiced naming single notes with feedback, plus naming the key of short pieces, for about four hours a week over eight weeks. Two ended up performing like people with lifelong absolute pitch, and the best learner still passed every test four months later; the other four improved only a little. These habits borrow from that training and fit into piano practice:
- Name notes as you play them, out loud or in your head, so each key gets a sound and a name together.
- Pick one anchor note, such as middle C or A, sing it before you sit down and then check it on the piano.
- Before you play a piece you know, hum its first note, then check it. Keys you play often become familiar sounds.
- Train in short daily sessions with feedback: hear a note, name it, then check. Take this test again to measure progress.
- Read new music. Sight reading links each written note to the sound you hear when you play it.
These are suggestions, not a proven method: the study above trained only six adults, and most did not reach absolute pitch.
Frequently asked questions
How rare is perfect pitch?
In the United States and Europe it is usually estimated at fewer than 1 in 10,000 people. It is far more common among musicians who began lessons young: in a 2006 study of conservatory students, the earlier students had started music, the more of them had it, and it was much more common among Mandarin speakers in Beijing than among students at the Eastman School of Music.
Can adults learn perfect pitch?
Some can, but it is not common. In a 2019 study, six adults trained at naming notes for eight weeks, about four hours a week. Two of them reached the level of people who have had absolute pitch since childhood, and the other four improved only a little.
What is a good score on this perfect pitch test?
Guessing names about 1 note in 12, so guessing alone scores 0 to 3 of 16 about 96% of the time. Four or more is above what guessing gives, 8 or more shows a strong memory for pitch, and 14 or more (85%) meets the bar researchers have used to identify absolute pitch.
Is an online perfect pitch test accurate?
It gives a fair first answer if you take it honestly, with headphones and nothing else playing. It cannot see whether you hum or check a note on an instrument, and 16 notes is fewer than a lab test such as the 36-note test in the 2006 conservatory study. A high score is a reason to test again, not a diagnosis.
Do you need perfect pitch to play the piano?
No. A piano is already tuned, so you never need to find a note by ear before playing it, and most musicians do not have perfect pitch. Musicians rely on relative pitch instead, hearing how notes move from one to the next, and it improves with practice.
Why does the test play noise between notes?
So the last note cannot serve as a reference. With relative pitch you could name a note from its distance to the one before. The noise, the gap of more than an octave between notes and seeing your answers only at the end all keep the test about naming each note on its own.
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