Of course you can learn absolute pitch. I learned to hit C, F and A 100% of the time in just a couple of weeks without trying very hard at all. I just tried to hear one of them every time I walked past a piano before chilecking if I was right.
Now, that is "remembered" pitch, but to this day - despite not trying to uphold it - I still just know if a note is a C, F or A. I can sing the notes within about 10 cents if you give about 5 seconds to find them.
I am absolutely certain I could learn every other note, because I never mistake an e, B or Ab for any of the other notes. They sound completely different.
A friend of mine - a solfege teacher - said that she realized she had perfect pitch about a year into her education. Her teacher said he could usually stop telling people the key somewhere around that time.
There's no scientific evidence that adults can learn absolute pitch with anywhere near the accuracy of people who've had it from a young age, despite a lot of testing. The article we're talking about is a negative result with that respect
I'd love to see any controlled experiment indicating its possible, but every study has turned up a negative here. People can learn pseudo absolute pitch, but its not the same thing
The same can be said for language: learning a language after the age of 10 (a number taken out of my behind just now) will make you never sound completely native. I have never met someone who did this that didn't make mistakes a native speaker would not do - however small.
I have not seen a functional definition of perfect pitch that doesn't make it a spectra.
Whatever I have is not perfect pitch, but the three notes I do always know fit in the definition of it. I can sing F A and C at any time. I know the notes instinctively when I hear them, even in chords or noises. I really don't like when they are flat (sharp is less of an issue). I can feel the notes in my head. Both F and A are like a fizzy champagne. C is like sitting down in a really comfortable chair.
What I am trying to say is that I am not sure making a hard line for what is absolute pitch is functionally usable outside of some kind of synesthesia discussion.
Now, that is "remembered" pitch, but to this day - despite not trying to uphold it - I still just know if a note is a C, F or A. I can sing the notes within about 10 cents if you give about 5 seconds to find them.
I am absolutely certain I could learn every other note, because I never mistake an e, B or Ab for any of the other notes. They sound completely different.
A friend of mine - a solfege teacher - said that she realized she had perfect pitch about a year into her education. Her teacher said he could usually stop telling people the key somewhere around that time.