Perfect Pitch in Tone Language Speakers Carries Over to Music

Some languages spoken around the world are "tonal" languages (Link). That is, a single word may have different meanings depending on the variation of tone a speaker applies to that word. For instance, in the Mandarin, Chinese Language, the word "ma" has several variations in meaning depending on the intonation or pitch the speaker applies to "ma." Below is a list of some examples. The diacritical over the 'a' represents a different pitch or intonation; hence, resulting in a different meaning.

mā (媽/妈) "mum/mom"
má (麻/麻) "hemp"
mǎ (馬/马) "horse"
mà (罵/骂) "scold"
ma (嗎/吗) (an interrogative particle)

An interesting question arises when it comes to music. Since melody is based on the rise and fall of different pitches, do musicians from cultures that use tonal language help them recognize pitch better. The answer is "yes," to a certain degree. Read the following article for more background.

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