A New Way To Think About Perfect Pitch
by Tim Redford, Dec 25, 2017 . 3 min read
-
-
-
0
We’ve all heard about people with something they call “perfect pitch”. That’s the skill a person has when they’re able to identify or reproduce any note on the musical scale without having a reference.
As an example, check out this kid named Dylan while he flexes his talent. I can’t believe the speed his mind works at!
Perfect pitch also goes by the name “absolute pitch” and it’s a phenomenon that a slew of courses online are pitching as something you can train for. That would be the ultimate party trick and no doubt it would make us all better musicians and performers.
Real Life Superpowers
Unfortunately, the hype falls flat. According to in-depth studies, perfect pitch isn’t something that you can learn as a skill. It’s something that 1 in 10,000 people are born with and don’t have to practice to get good at. Some describe it as having a “knowing” of what a note is and what key a work is in just by hearing it. Instead of thinking of it as a skill it would be more accurate to call it a faculty that we either have or we don’t.
At the same time, there is something real and achievable that these online courses are teaching. It’s something almost anyone can learn and it goes by a different name.
Relative Pitch
“Relative pitch” is what’s possible for most of us musicians, and if someone is really good at it, it may pass as perfect pitch to those who don’t know the difference. (I had no idea until I looked a little deeper)
It allows us to determine the notes being played relative to the intervals (steps between) notes already played. This helps instrumentalists play by ear and improvise, and allows vocalists to contextualize their melodies within a passage of music.
So yes, in this case, it’s possible to train your ability to have a much greater fluency in the language of pitch.
Famous Artists With Perfect Or Relative Pitch
You may recognize some or all of these names, let’s see who’s pitch is on point.
Perfect Pitch
Glenn Gould
Oscar Peterson
Yo Yo Ma
Beethoven
Bach
Mozart
Relative Pitch
Stravinsky
Bernstein
Charlie Parker
Brahms
John Coltrane
Wagner
Want To Take The Test?
I was so curious. I’ve always had a good sense of melody and music, maybe I have perfect pitch? Well, the test below cleared up any delusions of grandeur I may have had.
How well can you do?
And if you don’t have perfect pitch, at least you can have perfect tuning while you play by using the Roadie 2!
