Absolute pitch - possible to be learned?

[jancivil]

as far as guitar or bass, I know what key instantly. it isn't absolute pitch, it's recognizing the color of that sound and applying experience and knowledge.

Piano, I can be totally off, because I can't recognize a string vibrating among so many.

I wouldn't trade my relative pitch for absolute per se pitch, no way in the world.

Having good relative pitch is applicable to music creation very directly. Recognizing the color of a tone, is a phenomenon, to do it doesn't require a context. Muaic is all about context.


A Persian classical musician would find the whole idea unsympathetic, even anathema. Each musician has his/her own tonality, key, center, and it's not @ reference to an A - 440 hz.

I wonder if a person with demonstrable "absolute pitch" can describe microtones and to what degree, ie., if it's really absolute in the strictest sense. Hmmmmm. actually very interesting....

[hibidy]

what is interesting to me is there seems to be a division (to a certain extent) between the two. I keep hearing all the time "I can play by ear, but can't read/understand music" and then visa versa. Now, before anyone gets all tied in a knot, I don't mean there are only those two choices, just that there is a division to some degree

[vurt]

maybe people who can play by ear just dont get around to learning to read.
and those who dont just play naturally learn it by reading and then through practice comes the pitch recognition?
dont know if id say division, just a difference. (i think the word division makes it sound like a confrontation. just an observation, and of course my own opinion)

[hibidy]

but you get what I'm saying right? That "phrase" comes up allot, I just think it's interesting......not wrong or right for certain!

[vurt]

yeah i see what youre saying, and i would agree.

[jancivil]

In jazz circles there is less such a 'distinction' generally.

[hibidy]

In jazz circles there is less such a 'distinction' generally.

Hah! All I'd ever do is butcher jazz Though I really tried

[vurt]

yes. and no.
its an individual thing, not a tribal thing. ime.

[daverich]

To me "perfect pitch" means being able to sing a middle C right out of the blue.

I don't think it's possible.

I've known people claim to be able to do it, but they haven't.

The only way I could ever imagine being able to do it is when you remember hearing a tune so powerfully you can still hear it in your mind,- then you can use that to find your note relatively.


Kind Regards

Dave Rich

[hibidy]

I've known people claim to be able to do it, but they haven't.

I suck at vocals but me the old girlfriend had a vocal class and our teech could do that. It was reall cool.

[daverich]

I've known people claim to be able to do it, but they haven't.

I suck at vocals but me the old girlfriend had a vocal class and our teech could do that. It was reall cool.

Even first thing in the morning before breakfast, before hearing any auditory influence whatsoever?

I'm dubious...



Kind regards

Dave Rich

[hakey]

To me "perfect pitch" means being able to sing a middle C right out of the blue.

I don't think it's possible.

Perfect pitch is absolutely possible and well documented. It is thought that pretty much everyone could learn it if they start young enough - i.e. at the age where language is first acquired and whilst the brain is still forming.

Many people throughout the world - notably the far east - speak in 'tone' languages which use pitch to distinguish between words that would otherwise sound identical but with different pitch have different meaning. In these cultures perfect pitch is learnt alongside language.

Some people claim that perfect pitch can be learnt later in life, but the evidence for this is poor. You can sort of fake it; if you know what pitch your lowest or highest comfortable singing voice is you can work relatively to that to get to a certain pitch.

Perfect pitch can apparently be a bit of a curse too. Those who've learnt standard western classical pitch (A=440Hz) find music that isn't tuned at concert pitch hard to listen too - it sounds out of tune, even where the relative internal tuning is consistent with equal temperament.

[Laraka]

If you work hard enough, you can memorise anything. Including what a C sounds like. It's just rote learning, although it involves different senses than we usually associate with that term.

When I regularly played the trumpet years ago, I could always sing or recognise a B-flat. (B-flat is the trumpet's "root" note).

[A.M. Gold]

Yes you can learn it. The biggest obstacle, however, is relative pitch. It will constantly mask your ability to perceive the inherent chroma (or pitch "color") of each note on its own.

I've been slowly building my perception of absolute pitch for years, and the best thing I've found to increase it is to go around humming random notes to myself (not a melody and trying to stay out of key). I think I've started to make a leap forward just in the past couple weeks of doing this.

Naming notes is important but I wouldn't fixate on this until you are sure your ability to sense and remember individual chromas is fairly well developed, otherwise you'll be chasing your tail with note naming. OTOH, some people find the practice of naming notes is the best way to develop better perception. This wasn't the case for me.

[BertKoor]

I'd like to make a remix of a song that I can't find sheet music for.

You don't need absolute pitch for that.

Searching for specific note? Sing it! And keep on singing it. Then find it on the piano/keyboard. There are only twelve of them...

Do it often and you'll get better at it.