Attention
Note Naming Task
Also called: absolute pitch task, absolute pitch identification, pitch labeling task, chroma identification
Measure how accurately people name isolated tones across three octaves and two timbres, without a reference note.
6-9 minUntimed
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Try it here first, with no account.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 130
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 0
What it measures
Measures how accurately people name single tones without a reference note. Participants choose a note name and its octave for 72 tones across three octaves and two timbres. Reports exact note accuracy, semitone errors and octave errors. Needs headphones and normal hearing; scores describe note naming in this task.
Constructs
- Absolute pitch
- Pitch labeling
- Pitch-class and octave judgments
Research uses
- Music cognition research
- Auditory perception research
- Within-study comparisons
How the paradigm works
Name an isolated musical note without a named reference. This task measures exact note naming across three octaves and two timbres, a method used in absolute-pitch research. Vanzella and Schellenberg (2010) examined how note naming varied with timbre.
More about the paradigm
Each trial plays a 500 ms tone once, then asks for one of twelve note names and octave 3, 4 or 5, with Not sure for octave. There are 72 tones: C3 to B5 in pure and harmonic timbres, in a seeded order with successive tones more than an octave apart. A setting repeats the full set for 144 tones. Sounds use A4 = 440 Hz, 20 ms ramps and a fixed level 6 dB below the comfortable volume-setting tone. A headphone check comes first. Silent button practice teaches the controls without revealing a tone-name pair. No pitch feedback or reference note is given.
Scores
- Exact Note Accuracy%
- Share of usable note answers with the exact pitch class, ignoring octave.
- Higher means more notes named exactly
- Mean Semitone Errorscore
- Mean shortest pitch-class distance, from 0 to 6 semitones.
- Lower means closer note names
- Within One Semitone%
- Share of usable note answers at most one semitone from the target.
- Informational
- Octave Accuracy%
- Share of known-octave answers in the correct octave.
- Higher means more octaves correct
- Octave Error Rate%
- Share of known-octave answers in a different octave.
- Lower means fewer octave errors
- Mean Octave Errorscore
- Mean absolute distance in octaves among known-octave answers.
- Lower means closer octave choices
- Exact Note and Octave%
- Share with both note and octave correct among usable known-octave answers.
- Read with the number of octave answers
- Pure Tone Accuracy%
- Exact pitch-class accuracy for pure tones.
- Higher means more notes named exactly
- Harmonic Tone Accuracy%
- Exact pitch-class accuracy for harmonic tones.
- Higher means more notes named exactly
- Octave Answerscount
- Usable octave choices; Not sure and anticipations are excluded.
- Informational
- Median Answer Timems
- Median time from note buttons turning on after the tone to a usable answer.
- Informational; no time limit
- Anticipationscount
- Note answers faster than 100 ms after the buttons turn on.
- Excluded from accuracy and errors
- Completed Tonestrials
- Tones with a note-name response in the selected run.
- Fewer than planned is flagged
- Planned Tonestrials
- Number of tones planned for this run.
- Informational
- Headphone Check Passed0/1
- 1 if the six-trial headphone check passed, 0 if it failed.
- A failed check is flagged
- Sound Output Delayms
- Output delay reported by the browser, when available.
- Informational
Use and evidence
130 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 25% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 207 of 582 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 25 |
| 2024 | 26 |
| 2023 | 23 |
| 2022 | 25 |
| 2021 | 31 |
| 2020 | 26 |
| 2019 | 45 |
| 2018 | 35 |
| 2017 | 33 |
| 2016 | 35 |
| 2015 | 29 |
| 2014 | 42 |
| 2013 | 39 |
| 2012 | 39 |
| 2011 | 25 |
| 2010 | 32 |
| 2009 | 40 |
| 2008 | 22 |
| 2007 | 20 |
| 2006 | 27 |
| 2005 | 15 |
| 2004 | 30 |
| 2003 | 30 |
| 2002 | 21 |
| 2001 | 18 |
| 2000 | 10 |
Use grade C
100 to 299 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade D
Little published measurement evidence found.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 0
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 21
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 0
Measured on ConductCognition
Pooled across the studies that feed our platform norms, by device group. A figure needs 50 or more people.
No pooled figure yet.
Note on the counts: counts studies of absolute pitch, most of which test it by naming notes.
How the grades work
Use: A is 1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025, B 300 to 999, C 100 to 299, D 30 to 99 and E fewer than 30. Evidence: A means at least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome; B, at least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers; C, at least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies; D, little published measurement evidence found. The counts measure use. They include every paper that names the task in its title or abstract. Grades describe the published research on this task, not ConductCognition's version of it.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 10 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Tones
- 72 tones: every chromatic note from C3 to B5 in pure and harmonic timbres; 144 with two repetitions. A4 = 440 Hz.
- Trial
- Play one 500 ms tone, choose one of twelve note names, then octave 3, 4 or 5, or Not sure. Answers are untimed and the tone cannot be replayed.
- Sound
- 20 ms raised-cosine ramps, 6 dB below the comfortable volume-setting tone. Harmonic tones combine the first three harmonics at amplitudes 1, 1/2 and 1/4, normalized to the pure tone level.
- Order
- The session seed sets the order. Adjacent tones differ by more than an octave. Each pitch and timbre occurs equally often.
- Practice
- Silent button practice with feedback. No named tone, reference note or pitch feedback is supplied.
- Languages
- Note names follow the instruction language: letter names in English and German, fixed-do names in the other languages. Middle C is labeled octave 4 throughout.
- Headphones
- A comfortable-volume step and six-trial headphone check come first. The standard setting stops after a failed check; a study may choose to continue and retain a flag.
- Scores
- Exact note accuracy first, then circular semitone error, accuracy within one semitone, octave errors, combined note-and-octave accuracy and accuracy by timbre. Answers under 100 ms are anticipations.
The tones are synthesized for this task. Scores describe naming these notes and do not classify musical ability. Octave scores exclude Not sure answers and are read with the number of octave responses. No percentile is given. Answers under 100 ms leave the score, and a session with at least half its answers that fast is invalid.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: note_naming_test from the run with the most test rows, latest on ties. Exact note accuracy has 12 choices. Low accuracy is retained because many engaged listeners cannot name isolated notes. Answers under 100 ms leave the score; at least half that fast invalidates. Incomplete runs and failed headphone checks are flagged; a stopped headphone check leaves no task score.
Why these rules
Note naming without a reference depends on pitch-label experience. Chance performance alone is not evidence of disengagement. The tone must finish before a response is available.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Tone repetitions | 1 (72 tones, standard) | 1 (72 tones, standard), 2 (144 tones) |
| When the headphone check fails | Stop the test | Stop the test, Continue the test |
Yearly plans can change settings within these limits. Free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Needs headphones. Participant devices
- Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- No percentile. Scores and quality flags only. How norms work
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Note Naming Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Vanzella and Schellenberg, 2010), with the standard settings (tone repetitions: 1 (72 tones, standard); when the headphone check fails: Stop the test). The main score was exact note accuracy (share of usable note answers with the exact pitch class, ignoring octave).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Vanzella, P., & Schellenberg, E. G. (2010). Absolute Pitch: Effects of Timbre on Note-Naming Ability. PLoS ONE, 5(11), e15449. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0015449Single-note identification across timbres, with pitch-class and semitone scoring; our generated tones and octave responses are specified above.
Source papers
- Vanzella, P., & Schellenberg, E. G. (2010). Absolute Pitch: Effects of Timbre on Note-Naming Ability. PLoS ONE, 5(11), e15449.N 198, Adults
Questions
How long does the Note Naming Task take?
About 6 to 9 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Needs headphones. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Exact Note Accuracy, Mean Semitone Error, Within One Semitone, Octave Accuracy, Octave Error Rate, Mean Octave Error, Exact Note and Octave, Pure Tone Accuracy, Harmonic Tone Accuracy, Octave Answers, Median Answer Time, Anticipations, Completed Tones, Planned Tones, Headphone Check Passed and Sound Output Delay. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Note Naming Task used in research?
130 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 25% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 207 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade C). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 10 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Note Naming Task have?
In the published research, 0 papers report its test-retest reliability and 0 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade D in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Tone repetitions (1 (72 tones, standard), 2 (144 tones)) and when the headphone check fails (Stop the test, Continue the test). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
Participants can take this test in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. English is on every plan, and the other languages come with yearly plans. Have a native speaker read the machine-translated text before launch.
Is this a clinical test?
No. ConductCognition is for research use only. It runs, scores and exports the test; clinical interpretation is outside the platform.
Every test: the full test list.
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