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The method — do this

• ✓ Name a single isolated note by ear with instant feedback — the only replicated protocol with adult results. Not intervals, not melodies.
• Use fixed letter-names ("C" in every key), never movable "do."
• ✓ Start on one note; add semitone-neighbours one at a time; master ~90% before the next.
• ✓ Interleave the notes (mix them) — never drill one in a long block.
• Sing/hum the note before answering — recruits vocal-motor memory and exposes guessing.
• ~20 min/day, 8–12 weeks, sleep between sessions — categories consolidate overnight; cramming fails.
• ✓ Drill your weakest notes (the heatmap); re-test weeks later, unpracticed — the only real proof.

Train chroma — not tricks

• ✓ Chroma, not height: notes come in any octave; an octave-error is the right note. Judging "higher/lower" is faking it.
• ✓ Wipe short-term memory every rep (the 🌀 button + far-apart notes + answer fast) or you're using relative pitch.
• While testing: no reference tone, no hum-and-slide. Recognise cold or it doesn't count.
• ✓ Overtone-rich real tones, never sine (98% vs 77%); rotate piano → guitar so it generalises.
• ✓ Fade every crutch (colour, song, character) — the test is the bare tone with the cue gone.

Hooks that help

• ✓ Anchor 1–2 notes cold (A440 / your low-E) with multiple over-learned cues — never one song.
• Use an emotional song that starts on a note — emotion cements memory and songs secretly store absolute pitch (~70% within a semitone).
• Your guitar is a head start — instrument-specific AP is real; learn its notes' feel first, then generalise.

The honest truth

• Realistic target = quasi-AP (a few cold anchors). Most reach ~7 of 12; full 12 is a minority.
• Auditory working memory is the #1 predictor — train it (pitch-through-noise, tonal n-back).
• Set your own honest pass-bar (≥90%, octave-blind, across timbres). "Having AP" is measured all over the map.
• ✓ Build relative/functional pitch in parallel (Functional mode) — higher ROI, and strong AP can even hurt transposition.
• It's a maintenance skill, not a trophy — even real AP drifts without upkeep.

Distilled from the research (AP_PROTOCOL_DEFINITIVE · AP_MEMORY_HOOKS · AP_COLOR_VISUAL_MEMORY). ✓ = the app already does it for you.