Correlations With Ace Identities And Musical Abilities

[4108bn]

There's been a lot of discussion about autism in the ace community, and it's known that there's a very high proportion of people in the ace community with autism and vice versa. It's also known that people on the autism spectrum tend to have higher rates of certain quantifiable musical abilities (such as perfect pitch) than the general population. I was wondering if there was a correlation between ace-ness and perfect pitch (and other musical abilities), whether or not autism is connected.

[Rosendust]

I'm not autistic, but however I have cerebral palsy(& had a tbi when I was born). Right now, I'm teaching myself to play the Ukulele so I can't comment as to whether I have perfect pitch or not.

[Homer]

I used to have a pretty darn good singing voice, but 20+ years of football travels took their toll

[LeChat]

I'm not autistic, and I used to play a few instruments when I was in school (only one at school, for several years, and the rest, I tried to teach myself how to play at home, on my own). I gave up playing, partly because I didn't find it as much fun, anymore, feeling pressured by my parents and music teacher, but also because even though I practiced, my high school music teacher didn't consider it good enough; the problem for me, was, I was behind the other orchestra students in my class (who'd grown up having their parents pay for private lessons, for several years, to help them become better musicians), and I grew up mostly attending low-income schools and the music teachers there didn't teach at the harder level, like that music teacher at the wealthier school, nor could my parents afford to pay for private lessons. So, I definitely knew I wasn't the best musician and gave up, partly because trying my hardest wasn't good enough.

[Alejandrogynous]

Ack, I misread the first question and thought it said 'asexual spectrum'. I'm not autistic. 

 

Anyway, I'm about a zero on the natural musical aptitude scale, which is kind of unfair as both my siblings are musically talented. Alas, I didn't get any of that myself. 

[4108bn]

1 minute ago, Telecaster68 said:

Is it? Citation needed.

https://iancommunity.org/ssc/perfect-pitch-autism-rare-gift
 

[TheAP]

I'm autistic, but am not musically talented and don't have perfect pitch.

[4108bn]

13 minutes ago, CBC said:

I played the French horn for many years and dropped it when my mental health got really bad in my teens. Picked it up again last autumn for the first time in years, but I haven't played again in a bunch of months now for a few reasons. It's an absolutely beautiful instrument. I think the French horn was my first true love, haha.

 

I was a brass musician in my school years and first really got involved with music and music theory through band. I played trombone primarily in all sorts of ensembles (although I played other instruments), and I also kind of fell off from it when I dropped out of school for health reasons. I've gotten more into vocal music as a result, which I'm incredibly thankful for, but I've definitely had the itch to pick brass back up. I'm glad that you have picked horn back up and that you enjoy it (and classical music) as much as you do.

[iff]

Answered no to all 3 questions

 

1 hour ago, Rosendust said:

I'm not autistic, but however I have cerebral palsy(& had a tbi when I was born). Right now, I'm teaching myself to play the Ukulele so I can't comment as to whether I have perfect pitch or not.

Best of luck with learning the ukulele

 

 

[SpaceDustbin]

2 hours ago, Homer said:

I used to have a pretty darn good singing voice, but 20+ years of football travels took their toll

...but do you have a good stadium singing voice? Or at least a loud one

[StormySky]

I don't have autism and I don't have perfect pitch, but I've trained my ears to have good relative pitch (able to identify intervals like a boss) and I also have some form of pitch memory (I remember which pitch a song starts on within a half step or two) 

 

Also...

1. Being a good singer is about more than pitch. Vocal tone, pronounciation, vowel, rhythm, dynamics are important too (not to mention mic technique)

2. 99% of musicianship is ear training, not born talents. Music is a learnable skill (unless you're severely and truly tone deaf)

[everywhere and nowhere]

So why no questions about asexuality?

Unfortunately, I have the opposite of absolute pitch. I have a good voice, but I can't carry a tune in a bucket... OK, maybe not THAT bad, there are melodies I can sing very well and melodies I can never repeat even if I hear them in my head. It seems to me that I can hear all the differences between notes, but I'm just unable to reproduce them with my voice.

[Sally]

5 hours ago, oldsoulvocalist said:

 it's known that there's a very high proportion of people in the ace community with autism 

Is it?  Who knows that?  

[Builderboy]

I sing a lot however my friends, in a joking manner, tell me I can't sing at all. Never stops me from trying.

I am also told I have an impressive range for someone who has never been musically trained. One day I would like to have the same range as Avi Kaplan.

[Builderboy]

Anyone down to set up a Skype session and sing random songs?

[4108bn]

1 hour ago, Nowhere Girl said:

So why no questions about asexuality?

Unfortunately, I have the opposite of absolute pitch. I have a good voice, but I can't carry a tune in a bucket... OK, maybe not THAT bad, there are melodies I can sing very well and melodies I can never repeat even if I hear them in my head. It seems to me that I can hear all the differences between notes, but I'm just unable to reproduce them with my voice.

I put this together kind of hastily, and in retrospect, it probably would've been a good idea. Plus, I've never done this on AVEN, so I didn't know that responses weren't cataloged for each responder to show which responses went with which people. Definitely not a professional surveyor of any sort.

[4108bn]

22 minutes ago, Sally said:

Is it?  Who knows that?  

Well it's known that asexuality is found in higher rates in people on the autism spectrum than in neurotypical people, and if asexuality is estimated to be about 1% of the population, and autism is found in a proportion of people that varies by population but is typically similar to or slightly above 1%, then it would make sense that the inverse would be correct (that the ace community has a higher proportion of autistic people than the general population). There are also several discussions on the forums about the intersectionality of autism spectrum disorders and being on the asexual and aromantic spectrums (especially the former). I guess there's a level of surety that I don't have that was portrayed in the way I worded that.

[Karst]

Some anecdotal evidence here:

I have a good friend who I strongly suspect is on the autism spectrum. I don't know whether or not he was ever diagnosed, as I respect his privacy too much to ask. He's a gifted cellist, and one of the most "musical" people I know.

[Anthracite_Impreza]

I don't have a clue on either the instrument (never really tried) or pitch (how would you even know? Is there a test?)... I am autistic though.

[4108bn]

1 minute ago, Anthracite_Impreza said:

I don't have a clue on either the instrument (never really tried) or pitch (how would you even know? Is there a test?)... I am autistic though.

There are tests online, most of the reliable ones are for people who know note names and have a musical background. I'm not as sure about tests for those who don't, though.

[Sally]

1 hour ago, oldsoulvocalist said:

Well it's known that asexuality is found in higher rates in people on the autism spectrum than in neurotypical people

And who knows THAT?  Cites, please.  

[Builderboy]

1 hour ago, CBC said:

I promise you that you wouldn't want to hear me singing

Haha ya I'm sure I'm the same way with how my friends talk to me but you could always play your new instrument!

[4108bn]

30 minutes ago, Sally said:

And who knows THAT?  Cites, please.  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29159906
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3909328/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5789215/

https://www.autism-help.org/adults-aspergers-sexual.htm

Here are some sources I've found in a couple minutes' worth of Google searches. Not claiming they're the only or best sources, but I'm not arguing a thesis statement or writing a scientific document.

[Sally]

Only the first article you cite discusses asexuality, and then only in the context of ASD participants self-reporting less heterosexuality than other orientations.    

[Guest]

13 hours ago, mreid said:

You wish.

Rude!

[J. van Deijck]

On 9/18/2018 at 5:25 PM, Homer said:

I used to have a pretty darn good singing voice

same here. 😂

in my case, it's mostly lots of permanent laryngological problems.

[lapat67]

On 9/18/2018 at 8:23 PM, CBC said:

<snip> I impulse-purchased a hand-carved 11-string Finnish kantele last month <snip>, but mine will be painted blue.<snip>

 

On 9/18/2018 at 10:14 PM, oldsoulvocalist said:

<snip> I didn't know that responses weren't cataloged for each responder to show which responses went with which people <snip>

I was wondering about that. It's a pity, because I think there are many of the censuses for which that would be informative.

[4108bn]

I know these results so far aren't statistically significant, but the fact that 3 people of the 37 that have responded have absolute pitch and know that they do is pretty noteworthy. Very cool!

[lapat67]

6 minutes ago, CBC said:

Did you quote me accidentally, @lapat67

 

No, somehow my comment got lost. Second try with plain text instead of rich text format:

They said, "You have a blue guitar,

You do not play things as they are."

 

The man replied, "Things as they are

Are changed upon the blue guitar."

[Grumpy Alien]

(Didn’t answer the poll.) Not asexual, not autistic, not musically inclined (don’t even enjoy listening to music), couldn’t tell you what pitch even is really.