Musicae Scientiae 17(3) 334–349 © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1029864913493802 msx.sagepub.com 93802MSX 17 3 10.1177/1029864913493802Musicae ScientiaeFrieler et al. Corresponding author: Klaus Frieler, Department of Musicology, Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, Germany. Email: klaus.frieler@hfm-weimar.de Absolute memory for pitch: A comparative replication of Levitin’s 1994 study in six European labs Klaus Frieler Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar, Germany Timo Fischinger Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany Kathrin Schlemmer Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany Kai Lothwesen Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Frankfurt/M., Germany Kelly Jakubowski Goldsmiths, University of London, UK Daniel Müllensiefen Goldsmiths, University of London, UK Abstract In a widely cited study, Levitin (1994) suggested the existence of absolute pitch memory for music in the general population beyond the rare trait of genuine absolute pitch (AP). In his sample, a significant proportion of non-AP possessors were able to reproduce absolute pitch levels when asked to sing very familiar pop songs from memory. Forty-four percent of participants sang the correct pitch on at least one of two trials, and 12% were correct on both trials. However, until now, no replication of this study has ever been published. The current paper presents the results of a large replication endeavour across six different labs in Germany and the UK. All labs used the same methodology, carefully replicating Levitin’s original experiment. In each lab, between 40 and 50 participants were tested (N = 277). Participants were asked to sing two different pop songs of their choice. All sung productions were compared to the original songs. Twenty-five percent of the participants sang the exact pitch of at least one of the two chosen songs Article