perfect pitch

[JIMRPT]

Bill;
 Just a little further info for your elucidation. this from the "American
Journal of Human Genetics".  Are they reputable enough?
Jim Bryant (FL)
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Perfect Pitch Requires Right Genes, early music training, study suggests


Associated Press, 01/30/98 01:13 
NEW YORK (AP) - What does it take to develop the mysterious ability of
perfect pitch? The right genes plus early music training, a study
suggests. 

*Perfect pitch, or absolute pitch, is the ability to hear a tone and
immediately know it's a C-sharp, for example. Prior studies have also
suggested the importance of early music training and genes. 
(*note that this is another definiton of PP--Jim B.)

In the new work, a survey of more than 600 musicians found that nearly
all who had perfect pitch said they'd started their music training by age 6.
The
older the musicians were when they started training, the less likely they were
to have perfect pitch. Some 40 percent who'd started before age 4 had it, for
example, versus only 3 percent of those who began after turning 12. 

Yet, most musicians who said they'd started training by age 6 didn't
have perfect pitch, suggesting that training alone isn't enough, said
researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. 

The survey also found that musicians who reported having perfect pitch
were four times more likely than other musicians to say they had a relative
with the ability. That suggests a genetic contribution is running in the
family, the researchers said. 

The researchers report their findings in the February issue of the
American Journal of Human Genetics.