Perfect Pitch.... ne one?

[Buho]

Haha, nice LOTR!

I play keyboard, so my keyboard has mathematically-perfect pitch

Seems to me vocal perfect pitch depends on your ear-vocal chord coordination, like a baseball pitch depends upon hand-eye coordination. If you hear yourself a tad off, adjust quick and hit it right on. Then remember where that vocal chord position is. Lots and lots of practice should improve your pitch, just like in baseball. But also like in baseball, some people just got the right stuff naturally.

My thoughts.

 

[elenas_flickaby]

well i can pitch a pretty much perfect middle C with my voice/in my head and i'm pretty good at telling intervals, so i guess i have 'good pitch' rather than 'perfect pitch'

 

[trubeliever]

well i can pitch a pretty much perfect middle C with my voice/in my head and i'm pretty good at telling intervals, so i guess i have 'good pitch' rather than 'perfect pitch'

ooo dats aweseome. Dats called relative pitch. When you use one note to relate others using intervals. But dats a lil diff from perfect pitch. With perfect pitch you don't have to compare one to the other. u just no what it is. And if u hear like a C6 or a E7 that is quite a distance from middle C it might be hard. Also with other instruments it might be a lil harder. but dats still cool that u can do that.

TB

 

[Alejandro]

Believe me...

YOU DON'T WANT TO BE PERFECT PITCH!!

Someone who has perfect pitch has the ability to recognize the notes. When I was in music college a teacher's wife was perfect pitch.. she had 100% on ear training.

The reason why you don't want to be perfect pitch is cause.. whenever you hear a song.. you don't hear a song.. you hear notes.. so going to a symphony will drive you mad. And you'll know when the 2nd violin is out of tune.. and 1st is tuned inproperly...

You don't hear songs as you enjoy them right now.

However.. if you mean you want to have a good ear.. there's practice. Usually the A440 then go from there. if it's a fith.. you'll know it's E.. a third.. C and so on.

Not even Mozart was perfect pitch.. but he was an amazing song writer. J.S. Bach was and will be the greatest music arranger.

 

[Alejandro]

Haha, nice LOTR!

I play keyboard, so my keyboard has mathematically-perfect pitch

Seems to me vocal perfect pitch depends on your ear-vocal chord coordination, like a baseball pitch depends upon hand-eye coordination. If you hear yourself a tad off, adjust quick and hit it right on. Then remember where that vocal chord position is. Lots and lots of practice should improve your pitch, just like in baseball. But also like in baseball, some people just got the right stuff naturally.

My thoughts.

I thought the piano was a tempered instrument.

 

[bumblebee62331]

Hi!

I have Perfect Pitch.

Perfect Pitch can't be learnt but relative pitch can be. Perfect pitch is being able to just pick a note randomly and sing it in tune. Relative pitch is if you are given say, a middle C, then asked a whole heap of notes. By using the middle c as a base, you are able to sing the other notes in tune, working it out by the relativity of them.

I love it but I found myself being used as a human pitchfork on Choir tours when there was no piano to give us our starting note. Very stressful! lol

 

[bumblebee62331]

Believe me...

YOU DON'T WANT TO BE PERFECT PITCH!!

Someone who has perfect pitch has the ability to recognize the notes. When I was in music college a teacher's wife was perfect pitch.. she had 100% on ear training.

The reason why you don't want to be perfect pitch is cause.. whenever you hear a song.. you don't hear a song.. you hear notes.. so going to a symphony will drive you mad. And you'll know when the 2nd violin is out of tune.. and 1st is tuned inproperly...

You don't hear songs as you enjoy them right now.

However.. if you mean you want to have a good ear.. there's practice. Usually the A440 then go from there. if it's a fith.. you'll know it's E.. a third.. C and so on.

Not even Mozart was perfect pitch.. but he was an amazing song writer. J.S. Bach was and will be the greatest music arranger.

I agree 100%.

I have to turn off as soon as Australian Idol comes on.

I pick up so many slightly off-tune notes, whether its a singer, orchestra, band...

At uni we have this exercise where an instrumentalist plays a few random notes slightly out of tune and you have to circle that note that is out.

It...is...so...painful...

 

[Buho]

Perfect Pitch can't be learnt but relative pitch can be. Perfect pitch is being able to just pick a note randomly and sing it in tune. Relative pitch is if you are given say, a middle C, then asked a whole heap of notes. By using the middle c as a base, you are able to sing the other notes in tune, working it out by the relativity of them.

Ooooh. Relative pitch? I guess that's what I have. Yeah, it's neat. In my head I identify the key, assume it's C, and then start listing off all the chords and notes relative to that base. I don't quite understand why other people can't do this, given they know the notes on a keyboard and how the incriments sound.

 

[bumblebee62331]

Ooooh. Relative pitch? I guess that's what I have. Yeah, it's neat. In my head I identify the key, assume it's C, and then start listing off all the chords and notes relative to that base. I don't quite understand why other people can't do this, given they know the notes on a keyboard and how the incriments sound.

Well congratulations! Some people find it extremely hard. Even people who go to my uni (it's a musical specialty one) who play strings or something find it hard in our aural class to do tone rows, where we are given the first note, then the teacher plays random notes and we have to say what they are.

 

[Alejandro]

Well congratulations! Some people find it extremely hard. Even people who go to my uni (it's a musical specialty one) who play strings or something find it hard in our aural class to do tone rows, where we are given the first note, then the teacher plays random notes and we have to say what they are.

Yeah I used to hate those back in college.!!!

 

[Buho]

Well congratulations! Some people find it extremely hard. Even people who go to my uni (it's a musical specialty one) who play strings or something find it hard in our aural class to do tone rows, where we are given the first note, then the teacher plays random notes and we have to say what they are.

Yeah I used to hate those back in college.!!!

Hehe thanks

I remember doing this in public education 2nd grade Music Class (7 years old). I can't remember how the other kids did, but I remember it not being too difficult, kind of interesting actually, like the tests you do for an IQ test I remember counting up (humming up) tones in my head.

So... people are born with this ability? You wouldn't advise I train people to get better? I shouldn't be frustrated but just let them be as who they are?

 

[bumblebee62331]

So... people are born with this ability?

Yes

You wouldn't advise I train people to get better?

You can train them for relative pitch. After they get better at that, you could always start on trying to get them to recognise notes without having a "starter note".

People say perfect pitch can be learnt, but I disagree. I think it can be, to an extent, but the real test is when you are under pressure, stressed, worried, hear a large amount of random notes, maybe a popular song, blaring into your head, then there is silence and you are told to sing an A# immediately, without hesitation.

You will find those who were born with the ability can do it, those who weren't may get the note but only after a brief hesitation where they "work it out" then timidly sing it, usually out by half a tone or so.

I shouldn't be frustrated but just let them be as who they are?

Don't get frustrated! I'm sure they are trying. For some people, it's just not going to happen.

I really suggest you try to help them with their relative pitch, then you might want to take it further by giving them no starting note.

Have fun!

 

[Buho]

I doubt I could help them with perfect pitch as I clearly do not have that. But when they repeatedly play a note (not singing, also I don't sing) that's off, recognition of the off-note is part of that knowledge of pitch. I immediately know it's off by, say, two notes. But either they don't know it or they're not sure how to correct it by listening.

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[bumblebee62331]

I doubt I could help them with perfect pitch as I clearly do not have that. But when they repeatedly play a note (not singing, also I don't sing) that's off, recognition of the off-note is part of that knowledge of pitch. I immediately know it's off by, say, two notes. But either they don't know it or they're not sure how to correct it by listening.

Thanks for the encouragement!

That's always a great thing to be able to recognise. Maybe you could try with exercises like where you play a note, then play one that is higher or lower and they have to guess if it's higher or lower? Then work it down so there isn't too much of a gap between a note and the next one?

lol I am such a music teacher...

 

[iamangelicangel]

I would love to have perfect pitch! But I can see why it'd be a pain. I'm a violinist too so I can usually tell if something is off tune but I can't really hear a note and say what it is. I've never been taught how to do it and wasn't even aware of it until a while ago. I'm not sure how I came across it but I was fascinated by it.

I think perfect pitch is something that you're born with. There are people out there who aren't involved with music but still have perfect pitch, so I think it's safe to say that perfect pitch is something that you're born with. I agree with Byootaful, I think it can be learnt to a certain extent but it can also be forgotten easily.

I'm also a singer but I've never been taught how to sight sing. I think it'd be useful having perfect pitch. Does anyone on here know how to sight sing? If so how does it work? How did you learn to do it?

 

[bumblebee62331]

I'm also a singer but I've never been taught how to sight sing. I think it'd be useful having perfect pitch. Does anyone on here know how to sight sing? If so how does it work? How did you learn to do it?

Sight singing is just like sight reading isn't it? Where you are given a piece of music and some time to look over it, then you have to sing it? Usually you can get the starting note played for you, or you can use a pitch fork to give yourself the starting note.

Sight singing is hard but you can practice it to get better. Practice makes perfect! Whenever I had to do sight singing I did it like this:

1. Look at key signature - imprint in mind!
2. Look at key
3. Look at tempo
4. Look at first couple of bars
5. Look at last couple of bars
6. Look at dynamics and any tempo changes
7. Start to sing through the hard bits in your head

Hope this helps a bit. You can just keep practicing it and play it along on the piano once you've tried it yourself. You might even want to start off by singing two notes, then playing them, then singing, then playing, to make sure you are getting the intervals correct.

 

[Buho]

I told my friend he sings off-tune, but not in a way that it's painful to listen, but more of a jazzy style. He sent me this and said he's just ahead of his time:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,6903,1153280,00.html

Hahaha!

 

[Wally22]

perfect pitch is really more a curse than a blessing..having said that thank God i dont have it..i knew someone who did though and when i played a note on the piano she could pick it without looking..sho could sing/hum any note you wanted without a reference note..what i do kinda have is relative pitch..where once given a note you can get to any other notes from it...different but just as usefull and you dont have the curse of hearing mistakes so easily...i already struggle with that

 

[iamangelicangel]

Whenever I had to do sight singing I did it like this:

1. Look at key signature - imprint in mind!
2. Look at key
3. Look at tempo
4. Look at first couple of bars
5. Look at last couple of bars
6. Look at dynamics and any tempo changes
7. Start to sing through the hard bits in your head

Wow thanks for that! That really helps. I'm so tempted to try it now.