Perfect pitch
1 - 20 of 72 Posts
Yes. U can start simple from just a melodic line, then moving on to 2 parts, and finally doing an orchestral excerpt like what we used to do in the colleges. U also have to state the key and all its relevant modulations, and the bass notes and its chords, and prefably the inversions as well. They used to fail us for not drawing out the bass line, which is really soooo difficult :angry: , caz the ear is so used to following the melody, and u have to note down the harmony at the same time, which makes it even more impossible! :angry:
It's a pity they don't do this much nowadays in Music Colleges. Nothing trains your ears like forcing em to concentrate and listen...I mean really listen, listen hard. :angry:
Joined
·
108 Posts
what do you mean, "It's a pity they don't do this much nowadays in Music Colleges". I just completed 2.5 years of ear training... and no, I'm not good at it, but I have gotten much better. Thankfully, I'm a senior, and only have 1 more year of college left!
If anybody wants some "computer-aided" help with ear training. I only have one product for you (both Mac and Windows):
MacGAMUT.
www.macgamut.com
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
oh and yes, writing the harmony, IS HARD!
LOL... :lol:what do you mean, "It's a pity they don't do this much nowadays in Music Colleges". I just completed 2.5 years of ear training...Thankfully, I'm a senior, and only have 1 more year of college left!
Really? That's good !Nothing trains the ear like forcing them to listen.
Yes! That's the most difficult I think. U have to regognize the different kinds of sound and then integrate them into harmony...AAArrgghh! It's all coming back now. :angry:
I think it can be learned (perfict pitch I mean). After playing mandolin lots for years, the pitch got ingraned in my head. I can now take all the strings off my guitar or mandolin,and tune it back up almost perfect,without a reference. I might be 2 or 3 cents sharp or flat but...And I'm a compleat tuning nazi when playing with other semi professionals. Any kind of out of tune jam,if they won't tune , or at least make an effort to tune... I'm gone.I've found all hardcore Bluegrass musicians are like this...
Joined
·
158 Posts
I know a friend who can tune an oud (5 double courses, and one single bass) perfectly with absolutely no referance, and he only has about 12 years of music behind him (he is now about 67, he started music late in life).
I guess arabic musicians have to have a good ear, how else can get the correct micrtone with a fretless neck.
I do pity the person who has to tune a qanun though. about 30 triple strings :blink:
I guess arabic musicians have to have a good ear, how else can get the correct micrtone with a fretless neck.
I do pity the person who has to tune a qanun though. about 30 triple strings :blink:
I think a good relative pitch comes with learning an instrument really well. I don't have perfect pitch, but I can sing an A, and it's in tune when I check it. I wouldn't try to tune my violin to my voice, however. I'd probably just throw the note I was singing off. Come to think of it, the only reason I probably can sing an A is because I 've heard it so often in my lifetime from tuning!
Joined
·
218 Posts
:lol:Originally posted by becky@Aug 9 2004, 05:32 PM
I think a good relative pitch comes with learning an instrument really well. I don't have perfect pitch, but I can sing an A, and it's in tune when I check it. I wouldn't try to tune my violin to my voice, however. I'd probably just throw the note I was singing off. Come to think of it, the only reason I probably can sing an A is because I 've heard it so often in my lifetime from tuning!
[snapback]1444[/snapback]
Joined
·
158 Posts
you're probably right.
what annoys me though is when people refer to perfect pitch as something hereditary, something mortals like me would never hope to have <_<
I still think it's mostly practice, and someday perhaps
what annoys me though is when people refer to perfect pitch as something hereditary, something mortals like me would never hope to have <_<
I still think it's mostly practice, and someday perhaps
Joined
·
795 Posts
This thread deserves a resurrection. Perfect pitch is a pretty interesting subject to discuss.. I mean, is it really necessary for a musician? How exactly does it help? Do people with PP really hear music very differently? Do we have any members who possess it?
Personally, I don't have perfect pitch.. I have a pretty well trained relative pitch, and I have a near-absolute A from the violin.. Does it bother me not having perfect pitch in a musical study environment and seeing other people who do? Not at all, I'm quite happy with my relative pitch.. I can take melodic dictation just as well and recognize if a note is a quarter of a tone flat or sharp..
There's an interesting article about it in the NY Times website:
There may be more to music than meets a typical ear.
Personally, I don't have perfect pitch.. I have a pretty well trained relative pitch, and I have a near-absolute A from the violin.. Does it bother me not having perfect pitch in a musical study environment and seeing other people who do? Not at all, I'm quite happy with my relative pitch.. I can take melodic dictation just as well and recognize if a note is a quarter of a tone flat or sharp..
There's an interesting article about it in the NY Times website:
There may be more to music than meets a typical ear.
I'd consider myself to have good relative pitch. I play piano and violin. My sense of "absolute" pitch only works occasionally with certain pitches (usually A, C, and E-flat), but equal temperament sometimes sounds a little out of tune to me and I can tell if somebody is playing in a key on the piano which includes a lot of black keys.
I don't know what I have but I do know that if you ask me to sing a note, I can do it accurately as long as you give me ten seconds or so. I hear a classic in my head in that key then reproduce it. Say E Flat and I hear the Eroica opening at its correct pitch. I find it handy. I spot pitch inaccuracy very easily in singing. But that aint so hard.
In my time in a chamber choir at uni there were many annoying sopranos who frequently gloated about their perfect pitch like it made them geniuses. I associate it with that sadly.
In my time in a chamber choir at uni there were many annoying sopranos who frequently gloated about their perfect pitch like it made them geniuses. I associate it with that sadly.
Joined
·
638 Posts
Perfect pitch is one of the most overestimated aspects of music and musicians. Every professional musician knows very well that having perfect pitch without really understanding the actual relationships between the pitches and chords gets you nowhere.
I don't have perfect pitch and I'm glad I don't.
I don't have perfect pitch and I'm glad I don't.
Joined
·
468 Posts
No idea. I do have a some kind of perfect pitch when I play music in my head - it's always dead accurate, and I do hear when I'm trying to play a melody, but it's off key. Perhaps more training might shed some light on it, but it's not my pitch that currently interests me in music.
1 - 20 of 72 Posts
