Perfect Pitch - Is It an Autism Thing?

[Daniel]

Going by the feeling of the song, especially the 2nd half, I think Layla was meant to be in C#. But the fingering is easier to just play it in C.

Oh wow--I remember hearing that when I taught myself the second half on piano!

I like my A at 440 Hz.

 

[Autism]

I have a heavily musical background, and early on I noticed that I had perfect pitch (the ability to tell the pitch of a note upon hearing it, and the ability to sing a pitch out of the blue). I wouldn't say it's a particularly useful skill; and, in fact, it has often been a hindrance.

I initially thought it was just a natural development arising from ear-training, which is something I always did religiously even though I wasn't too big on the practicing. But it turns out it's not particularly common, even among highly skilled musicians.

I do remember reading somewhere, though I can't for the life of me remember where, that perfect pitch is common among those with autism.

Does anyone have perfect pitch? Am I right in assuming it's a common autism trait?

I think it is very much related to Autism, to highly functioning autistic people music is a way of communication. When listening to certain musical pieces I also enjoy the studying of such music.

We do not communicate like other people do, we communicate in much different ways, in ways NT's will never understand.