How to test absolute pitch honestly

Hear single notes in random order, from more than one instrument and octave, with silence between them and nothing played first. Name each one within about two seconds, see no answers until the end, and count how many you got. Guessing gets about 8 percent. Then take the test again on another day.

Why most pitch tests flatter you

A test can be passed with relative pitch if it lets you compare. Most quick tests online do, in one of these ways:

Notes in a row. Once you know the first, each next one is an interval away. That is relative pitch doing the work.
A note played first. A reference at the start is all relative pitch needs.
One instrument, one octave. You might be recognising the sound of that piano key, not the note.
No time limit. Given long enough, a musician can hum a remembered note and count up.
Answers as you go. Each answer becomes the reference for the next tone.

A test you can run with a friend

Have them write a list of 12 or more notes in random order, each of the 12 at least once, with octaves mixed. Use a piano and a second instrument if there is one.
Turn your back. They play one note, about a second long.
Name it out loud straight away. They write down what you said, and how long you took. Over 2 seconds is a sign of counting.
Wait at least a few seconds before the next note, with nothing played in between. Solfeto leaves 800 milliseconds at the very least.
No answers until the list is done. Then score it.
Do it again on another day, with a new order.

Reading the score

Compare your score with chance, about 8 percent. Then look at the wrong answers. Missing by one semitone, calling a C sharp a C, is the most common error in pitch naming and is close. Missing by a wide interval is closer to guessing. A note you always name right, fast, on any instrument, is a note you hold.

Accuracy is only half of it. Two people who both score 75 percent are in different places if one answers in a second and the other takes five.

How Solfeto measures

Before the first session, Solfeto takes a short baseline: 12 tones, each of the 12 pitch classes once, with no answers shown. It gives the share of tones you named, which is where your curve begins. It does not decide that you hold any one pitch, because one answer on a pitch cannot show that.

Every seventh day after that, a check of 36 tones runs across all 12 pitches, every instrument and every octave, with no answers of any kind. Those checks draw the curve the app shows you, and it is the honest number. The rest of the method is in how to train absolute pitch.

Questions

What score means I have absolute pitch?

There is no single line. Guessing gets about 8 percent right. Researchers usually look for most notes named correctly, quickly, across instruments and octaves, and the same result on another day. A high score on one piano, with no time limit, says less than it seems.

Why did I get the notes right when they were played in a row?

Because each note told you about the next. Once you know one, relative pitch gives you the rest. A fair test leaves silence between notes, shuffles them, and changes the instrument.

Is the round on the Solfeto front page a test?

No. It is a taste of the first day: two notes, with the answer after each one. A test gives no answers until the end.