Absolute pitch for one note

[neueliteratur]

Hi folks,

I'm trying to learn one pitch my heart.

Should I learn the C or the A?

Is it possible to know a pitch/note by heart?

[trewq]

Yes, you probably can know any pitch by heart if you know your instrument, which lets you visualize the notes being played.

[aka_bip]

I remember reading of a study where they gave each non-musician participant a tuning fork with a different note to take home and memorize. After a few weeks, they were brought back to the lab and asked to sing their note without preparation. As I recall, they did quite well, so nearly anyone should be able to memorize at least one note.

However, I personally dont think its very useful. As soon as the first note or two gives the piece context, you'll be using relative pitch anyway which is much, much easier to learn. Most accomplished musicians, I think, do not have perfect pitch.

It is a neat trick, but if your goal is to become a better musician, there are much better investments of time and effort.

[jopy]

i think most guitarists get pretty good at hearing their tuning notes on a somewhat absolute level. i have no idea what good it would do you though, the low usefulness of absolute pitch is frequently discussed here:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... ch&start=0

[wrench45us]

orchestras and bands tune to A
having been in a room for how many years where every session started with the band director singing 'give me an 'a''. I can get pretty close.
I also don't see any usefulness to having this pattern so well-established in my mind

[Ogg Vorbis]

Is it possible to know a pitch/note by heart?

Yes it is. I remember reading about the theory that some "perfect pitch" or pitch recognition is an advanced form of pitch memory that the other posters are describing.

I will never forget the sound of an oboe playing an A to tune the orchestra. I played viola all through school, university and in a professional ensemble and that sound is indelibly locked in my mind.

If you think about it, everyone can do this. When non-musicians get their favorite song stuck in their mind, it is in the correct key of the song. Although they don't know what key it might be, they are hearing it correctly in their imagination. This is a minor form of what we're talking about here.

So you can develop it. However it's not really a critical skill compared to practicing your instrument or working on your theory chops. It will probably come on its own. You should be focused on developing what is the equivalent of ball handling fundamentals of dribbling, passing, shooting and turning.

[wrench45us]

the idea of mental pitch is also why there's more of a slant these days to use known and recognized bits of music to 'illustrate' interval training and chord sounds.
It's already locked away in there, may as well make use of it
rather than learn some dry context paired piano notes