Mozzy aims to help people of all ages develop perfect pitch, also known as absolute pitch. This ability helps an individual identify notes without being given any reference tones. This is different from relative pitch which is the ability to recognize musical notes using other notes as a reference. 

        Perfect pitch has fascinated people since the advent of modern music. It has long been considered a mark of musical prodigy and often associated with people like Beethoven, Mozart, and Jimi Hendrix. It is estimated that less than 0.01% of the population possess this rare ability (Bachem, 1955; Profita & Bidder, 1988). There are varying theories regarding whether the ability is innate or can be developed. Recent evidence has supported an early learning theory, and that young children are able to develop perfect pitch using the correct techniques. Young children tend to judge sound by absolute pitch height while adults and older children tend to use relative pitch cues when distinguishing sound (Stalinski and Schellenberg 2010). Once children’s brains switch to a relative pitch based learning tendency, it becomes highly unlikely that perfect pitch will be developed regardless of musical training. However, if trained using a specific method that inhibits their ability to rely on relative pitch cues, older children and even adults may be able to develop perfect pitch. 

        The Chord Identification Method (CIM) proposed by Eguchi (1991) does just that. Multiple studies show that 100% of young children using these methods were able to develop perfect pitch (Oura, Y. & Eguchi, K. 1982; Sakakibara, A. 1999; Sakakibara, A. 2004.)

        The method is simple. Piano chords are used, consisting of 9 white key chords and 5 additional 5 black key chords. Each white key chord is associated with a color. Roughly 3-4 times per day students are given trials of 25 questions each where they identify the colors associated with the randomly played white key chords. To start out, the student is only quizzed on the first two white key chords. Once the student achieves 100% accuracy, another chord with its associated color is added to subsequent trials. This progression continues until the student is quizzed on all 9 white key chords. When the student can identify all 9 chords correctly, the black key chords are then added one by one. At this point, the student is required to name the chords by the individual tone names rather than by their associated colors. All students who were able to pass the trials demonstrated absolute or perfect pitch. Intermittent practice is required for some time after the training in-order to maintain this ability. 

        The goal of Mozzy is to help bring these little-known methods into the mainstream and help anyone, whether expert or brand new musician, develop this renowned ability in a convenient and fast way. Mozzy uses the same color-based CIM methods in a smooth gamified app. It attempts to keep people engaged and consistent which are both essential to the development of perfect pitch.