Pitch Recognition

    There is a perception that blind people make great musicians. Scientists do have some evidence from blind people that brain areas normally devoted to vision become involved in hearing or in controlling the abilities needed to play an instrument (Travis, 2004). Blind musicians are more likely to have perfect pitch because they are making up for the loss of one of their senses.

    Perfect pitch is the ability to identify the pitch, or frequency, of a musical note without a reference note. This talent, as rare as 1 in 2,000 among the general population, seems to result from genetics and experiences like certain conditions (Travis, 2004). Pitch recognition not only has to do with music, but it can also relate to playing sports such as baseball. Blind athletes in sports such as beep baseball show how auditory systems can become coordinated (Rosenblum, 2010). These players can perceive subtle pitch differences in the beeping ball to judge its speed and direction that it is coming at them. This suggests that with focused use and training, human pitch recognition can be improved.




References
Rosenblum, L. D. (2010). See what I’m saying: The extraordinary powers of our five senses
(1st ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.

Travis, J. (2004). Perfect pitch common among the blind. Science News.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/perfect-pitch-common-among-blind