[Maxvla]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsaliga /img/forum/go_quote.gif I understand that. But perfect pitch is much less common than relative pitch. I am rather surprised to see more than two people on this board claim they have perfect pitch. --Jerome

Pardon me, I read your statement as relative, not perfect. I need to catch some sleep or something

 

[nsx_23]

I never knew what perfect pitch was until I started my piano training and my teacher(s) told me about it. Before that, I'd just assumed that everybody can tell what notes are what and that it was nothing special.

It wasn't necessarily a good thing though, as my piano teachers over the years have pushed me extremely hard because of my hearing, and over the years my enthusiasm for piano diminished as a result of it. Recently, however, I've started playing more again, but this time for my own enjoyment.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcmurray /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ideally this would be the case, however, there are plenty of 'successful' musicians out there that have a very bad ear. Just look at 99% of guitarists out there, they think of patterns when they play, not sounds, and it's a shame.

I would think that with enough practice your fingers would automatically go in the right pattern without thinking about the pattern. I know that when I took flute lessons in my 20s, after about 6 months, I never had to think about the fingering of a note, it would just happen. I also don't think it has much to do with hearing, but more about muscle memory in your hands.

It's a lot like touch typing. When I'm typing, I don't think about the keys, but 75% of the time, I know when I hit the wrong key, even without looking.

 

[mcmurray]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif I would think that with enough practice your fingers would automatically go in the right pattern without thinking about the pattern. I know that when I took flute lessons in my 20s, after about 6 months, I never had to think about the fingering of a note, it would just happen. I also don't think it has much to do with hearing, but more about muscle memory in your hands. It's a lot like touch typing. When I'm typing, I don't think about the keys, but 75% of the time, I know when I hit the wrong key, even without looking.

Noted. However if you ask a random guitarist to play something simple by ear for example "twinkle twinkle little star" you will find that in most cases they couldn't do it straight up without mistakes. Other instrumetalists don't seem to have this problem in general.

 

[Cool_Torpedo]

I have relative pitch and quite perfect for a few notes which serve me to tune my guitar. I suppose that if I trained hard enough I could manage to get perfect pitch, but I don't think it's worth the effort not being a pro musician.

 

[Acrog]

I have perfect pitch in most of the lower frequencies. above C7, I can't tell that accurately, but around C3, I could pick a note out of the blue. In more complicated passages, it becomes harder, as there is more to distract me. I can tune my bass without reference tones or a tuner. I even find that I can calibrate my tuner, as it was dead off for a while on the lower strings. I find relative pitch, though, even easier. An out of tune instrument in a large orchestra is easy to spot.

 

[Raps1513]

I don't know if I have perfect/relative pitch, but I'd certainly like to find out.

 

[PiccoloNamek]

I have extremely good pitch perception, but not perfect pitch.

 

[nylan8301]

I used to have pretty good relative pitch when I was going to school, but it's gone now.

You lose what you don't use.

Nylan

 

[mypasswordis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cool_Torpedo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have relative pitch and quite perfect for a few notes which serve me to tune my guitar. I suppose that if I trained hard enough I could manage to get perfect pitch, but I don't think it's worth the effort not being a pro musician.

Same for me, except I play violin, and I do want to become a pro musician. I should spend more effort developing perfect pitch.

 

[mcmurray]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Same for me, except I play violin, and I do want to become a pro musician. I should spend more effort developing perfect pitch.

Not necessary. Work on your relative pitch, that is most definately necessary.

 

[ADD]

I have good relative pitch. I do not have perfect pitch, although I can identify the pitch of any tone within a few seconds without any outside reference. After decades of violin playing the pitches of the open strings tend to get hard-coded into some people's brains. This gives me four reference points that enable me to identify any note without any reference. Another violinist I knew had the open "A" hard coded but nothing else.

Perfect pitch is very misunderstood - as has been pointed out it is extremely rare and for my own part I have only ever known one person to possess it. Most who believe they possess it only possess relative pitch.

For those who truly have perfect pitch, there is no thought process involved in determining the pitch - there is no pause - you know the pitch instantly and can indentify a barrage of them one after the other with infalllable precision - with the only speed restriction being how fast you can write the answers or tell the answers.

It is like - for the rest of us - being able to identify colours. You see green - you don't even think about it - it's just green. This is in stark contrast to myself where I need to actually undergo a cognitive process (albeit an extremely brief one) in order to provide the answer.

Anyway, the studies at the University of California are strongly suggesting that you have to possess a certain gene in order to have perfect pitch. And it is extremely rare. Most people who think they have pefect pitch would fail dismally in the Californian test - I mean the one you go to onsite to be humbled into realising you don't have it after all.

UC Genetics of Absolute Pitch Study - Study

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Evil Dan /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I said I was Captain Crunch, would you believe me (lame phreaker joke)?

Heh. Some people got started in DIY with projects other than hi-fi.

Not that I would know anything about that.

My eyesight corrects to 20/15 and I can't whistle 2600Hz, but I do have very good relative pitch.

I started playing clarinet when I was nine, then progressed through the rest of the clarinet family (bass is my favorite), tenor sax, bassoon, trombone, and tuba. I can tune up just fine and tell when I go sharp or flat. But I have to hear a tuning note or have been listening for awhile.

A friend from college has spooky perfect pitch. You can hit the wall and she'll tell you what note it is. She's a very talented musician, too.

 

[feNcheL]

Relative pitch here. I can only recognize/whistle (since I don't like singing) the 440 A without outside reference. A friend of mine has the imperfect (if you want) perfect pitch: He knows a C and compares the note he hears extremely fast with the C, so he can identify any note. Actually it would be good to differ between this kind of absolute pitch and the "true" one, which isn't trained.
Up to now, I have only met 3 persons with that kind of absolute pitch.

The problem why many guitarrists don't even seem to possess relative pitch is IMO because after tuning, playing the guitar does not require a lot of knowledge/ability of relative pitch since every note played is at least halfway in tune, same as with the piano. These musicians don't have to bother with intonation, unlike string players.

off topic: Do we have any synaesthetics here? What I mean is the ability to perceive sound/music in any way that is not related to auditory means, e.g. seeing the color of a music piece etc. (I know somebody who does)

 

[tseryan]

I had to do a lot of ear-training when I took music theory, so my relative pitch is quite good. As long as I have a starting pitch, I can accurately notate non-overly complex music. It helps to know the key signature, but most of the time I'm able figure it out.