Music is believed to have developed around the same time as language by anthropologists and musicologists alike. We do not know if humans evolved to perform and enjoy music or if it is solely cultural. Only recently has this been a point of controversy in the scientific community. We do know, however, that there are about 4 percent of people who are affected by congenital amusia, or tone deafness experienced from birth (Peretz, Cummings, Dubè, 2007). Around the same amount of music students exhibit the opposite, perfect or absolute pitch. It is an affinity for identifying pitches (Witynski). To name pitches we use western music theory, a system we use to understand music as well as a tool to compose it. But what even is music?

The Webster definition is incredibly broad, defining it as “vocal, instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony,”. Defining music is an entirely different and old argument. For the purpose of this essay, I will be using Webster’s definition with a slight amendment. Music is sound having rhythm, melody or harmony. I have a few reasons for defining music this way. Namely, Webster’s neglect to include anything about digital sound. You could could argue digital sounds are instruments but again, entirely different argument.

Tone deafness affects only a small percent of the population. A study done by Isabelle Peretz, Stèphanie Cummings and Marie-Pierre Dubè discover that congenital amusia has a hereditary component and that musical time is not affected by it. However “congenital” only accounts for those affected at birth. Like speech impediments, amusia can affect an adult who has experienced brain damage. The case on the other end of the spectrum, perfect pitch.

Perfect pitch is the ability to identify a pitch without having heard a reference not before it. Relative pitch is able to identify pitches relative to others. For example, someone played a note on a piano, say a G, someone with perfect pitch would be able to name that note just by hearing it. Someone with relative pitch would have to hear a reference note and know its name before identifying another. Relative pitch is fairly common and exhibited by most musicians, but to have perfect pitch is rare. In fact, it is just as rare to not be able to recognize pitch at all, as it is to be able to have a near perfect affinity for recognizing pitch; 4% of music students have perfect pitch. Perfect pitch uses western music theory to identify these pitches, a cultural phenomenon.

Western music theory is a product of European music culture. It is a system of notating, composing and analyzing music. It is something entirely learned and not biological. Western music theory is the framework for most modern popular music, even if they do not understand the concepts of it. What sounds “good” or “right” is adopted from what we have already heard. Popular songs like Africa by Toto, Despacito by Daddy Yankee and Cryin’ by Aerosmith all use the I-V-vi-IV chord progression. This progression is defined by western music theory and to write like this is a learned behavior, just as speech is.

Music is a result of the combination of biological and cultural, and a side effect of language comprehension.

Peretz, I., Cummings, S., & Dubé, M. P. (2007). The genetics of congenital amusia (tone deafness): a family-aggregation study. American journal of human genetics, 81(3), 582–588. https://doi.org/10.1086/521337

Witynski, M. (n.d.). Perfect pitch, explain. What Is Perfect Pitch? | The University of Chicago. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://news.uchicago.edu/explainer/what-is-perfect-pitch#:~:text=UChicago%20Creative-,How%20rare%20is%20perfect%20pitch%2C%20and%20is%20it%20genetic%3F,thought%20to%20have%20perfect%20pitch.

Gervain, J., Vines, B. W., Chen, L. M., Seo, R. J., Hensch, T. K., Werker, J. F., & Young, A. H. (2013, December 3). Valproate reopens critical-period learning of absolute pitch. Frontiers in systems neuroscience. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3848041/

Morley, I. (2013, December 24). The Prehistory of Music : Human Evolution, Archaeology, and the Origins of Musicality. Pro Quest Ebook Central. Retrieved October 17, 2022, from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rowan/reader.action?docID=1643973&ppg=18