perfect pitch in children-how common?

[disorganisedmummy]

Hi. Ds1 is 9 and a half and has been leading violin for around 4 years. He is currently grade 4 standard. He plays in 2 local youth orchestras and attends our council run Saturday music school.He has Aspergers and music has transformed him and his life. We've always been told that he has a very good ear for music which is great but when he had his violin lesson his tutor who is a pro violinist did a load of tests where he had to face away from the piano and she played random notes and then intervals and he got hem all right. She did a few other things and the upshot of this is that the thinks he may have perfect pitch. There are a few other things that she noticed which made her then say that she feels he is a very gifted musician. This is great news and we probably won't do anything g much about it as ds is so happy at the mo with everything g that we don't want to rockthe boat.
My question is just how unusual is it for kids to have perfect pitch?

OP, it sounds like he's doing really well - one word of warning, don't extrapolate forwards - the higher grades are not necessarily the same distance from each other, and it is worth consolidating technique etc, and really growing as a musician.

If you're interested in a music school, why not take him along for a consultation? They would give you some feedback as to whether it's worth pursuing or not.

I personally would look more to joining the junior academy of one of the London music colleges. Then maybe consider a music scholarship somewhere which takes music seriously later.

DH was very talented as a child but is very pleased his parents didn't send him to music school, as he also became very keen on other things (computers) as well as his music.
I know a lots of talented you musicians and none of them or the professionals I know went to a specialist music school, excluding time as a chorister.

I do like the idea of him joining the Junior academy of one of the London colleges but even Guildhall which is in Barbican is 8-6 and it's a 2 hour and a half hour round trip on the train.Though we could drive him up I guess.I think it's too much for him at the mo,maybe in a couple of years when he is in year 7. That will give him more time to get to the required minimum standard of grade 5.

It's so hard to know what to do for the best.Junior academy in London would give him no free time at all as most sunday afternoons he has orchestra.

It's a lot to think about but I think we have time.Thanks very much for all your input everyone.Keep the suggestions and experiences coming.

The Saturday academies aren't compulsory, especially if he's getting lots of other music. Have you looked at any summer holiday music courses?

One of the orchestras he plays in which is a youth symphony runs workshop/courses every school holiday. They have a 3 day one at Christmas and Easter and a 5 day one in the summer each one of those finishes with a concert. Ds loved the Christmas one,they did the music from the Nutcracker! Last year he also went on tour to Lake Garda with the other orchestra so he is getting lots of experience.

I'm not sure what it is like where you are but we found that the conservatoire jd and specialist schools don't really like involvement in other ensembles and definitely no other music lessons outside their own.

We were aware of this though, they did make it clear to us.
Dd had already done infant and juniors with our LA ensembles and had played in county youth for a few years before she left.

They will give permission for certain competitions, especially national or international, but some local ones if they think the standard would be good enough.
The same with concerts, by permission only. Children wanting to join the national ensembles have to make sure they fit in with the school, and school dates have preference.

Dh has perfect pitch as does dd1 and, I suspect ds. Play 5 random notes together on the piano and dh can say exactly what they are. He can listen to something and play it back.

However dh couldn't sing in tune until he was about 12yo.

However I haven't got perfect pitch but I can tell you notes if you play them one at a time in the couple of octaves above middle c. I can remember impressing my (non-musical) family when I first started the recorder in year 2. I can also tell you if the strings on a violin (I played for a few years) are out by a tiny amount. That is definitely learnt not inbuilt as I can only do that with the open strings.

Some people get mixed up between perfect pitch and really good relative pitch. I believe that perfect pitch is very rare. (ie. 1 in 10000). It is a lot more common in children with severe autism. People with perfect pitch know the note that the flushes in or the pitch that the fridge hums in. It can really drive them crazy hearing a low level hum of an electric light that is out of tune.

There are definitely degrees of perfect pitch - I think the key (see what I did there!) is the recognition of a note with no reference point. How precise it is does seem to vary.

My dad used to annoy me by tapping wine glasses and asking what note it was, then checking on the piano in front of visitors, like a performing monkey!!

Just to explain further, it's the reference point that is the difference between relative and perfect pitch.

My son had digital hearing aids for glue ear some years ago as part of an experiment. The audiological consultant assessed his auditory perception as well as his actual hearing. Apparently the expression "perfect pitch" is a little pointless. Some people have exceptionally acute auditory perception other people are almost tone deaf. Most of us are somewhere in the middle.

I can recongise notes most of the time without a reference point, but I cannot reproduce notes with the same accuracy. I don't have perfect pitch, but I do have better absolute pitch than most people. Some people have some sense of absolute pitch. It is very rare to meet someone who really has no sense of pitch whatsoever.

My 10 yo DS (also with Aspergers) has perfect pitch. Used to be able to imitate the sounds of automatic doors swishing open, or the exact engine sound of the train when he was a toddler. Like the OP, I'm so glad he has music in his life. However, he does clasp his hands to his ears and ask me to stop if I so much as try singing along to anything on the radio (guess he didn't get his musical ability from me!), and he really doesn't have a lot of time for anything that's out of tune. I think, from what others have said, it's both a blessing and a curse. Like everything about him I wouldn't change a thing. It's certainly good in aural tests and I think he's currently enjoying being able to jump up and play anything back by ear, as I don't think he realised that not everyone is born with this ability!