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Questions tagged [absolute-pitch]

The ability to identify pitch without having to make a comparison to a reference note. Also colloquially called *perfect pitch*. Absolute pitch is often used in contrast to relative pitch, the ability to infer given pitches in relation to others.

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Perfect Pitch: How could we say what a note is without referencing it to another note? [closed]

This is kind of a piggyback question on one of my previous questions about “Perfect Pitch”. Most peoples response to my previous question “Are tones recognizable by themselves or only in comparison ...
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Isn’t pitch memorization almost as valuable as absolute pitch?

I think a high majority of people are capable of singing songs in the original key and singing the correct notes. Taking it a step further, wouldn’t paying attention to the name of notes that we ...
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Perfect Pitch: Are tones recognizable by themselves or only in comparison with another tone?

Are the frequencies C4 = 260 Hz and A4 = 440 Hz actually noticeably different to someone with “perfect pitch”? I ask myself, what did they learn differently growing up to notice the difference in ...
Lecifer's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
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How is learning Fixed DO Solfege any different than learning Absolute Pitch?

In Fixed DO Solfege, you are essentially memorizing the pitch in association with the pitch's name. From what I can understand, you can hear any note without establishing a tonal center as in you can ...
John Lok's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
675 views

Perfect Pitch vs Relative Pitch, which is Considered Better [closed]

I have a question here about Perfect and Relative pitch. So basically, my friends have been arguing about which of Perfect and Relative pitch is better, but I cannot decide. Perfect Pitch can make you ...
Cheese Cake's user avatar
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3 answers
403 views

If I can identify specific notes on specific instruments, does that mean I have perfect pitch (or train to achieve perfect pitch)?

If I hear a G, B, B flat or E played on a piano or string instrument, I can (most of the time) identify the Note. Whenever I hear a G, I think of Holst's Mars or Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker march, when I ...
Neins's user avatar
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To what extent is music mentally internalized with respect to the original key it was learned in?

This question was prompted by two phenomena I've encountered as a 24yo self-taught jazz musician of 2 years who is committed to playing entirely by ear. A large fraction of people, myself included, ...
Will Snyder's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
254 views

Relative and absolute tones: does this really make the difference?

Often, in improvisation, you think of the notes of the scale not as the actual notes you are playing but as the notes of the C scale. The concept I'm talking about is that of the movable C, or ...
LeoAn's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
273 views

Why is absolute pitch so fetished/sought after in the Western music world? [closed]

I often come across accomplished musicians with good relative pitch (can figure out melodies, chord progressions) beating themselves up for not having absolute pitch. In general, reading people's ...
abelian's user avatar
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4 votes
3 answers
325 views

Perfect pitch before musical training

My understanding is perfect pitch is something people are born with. How does it manifest before musical training? If the whole point of perfect pitch is someone could hear a pitch and then say it's a ...
Michael Curtis's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
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Octaves start on C with guitar?

I am learning scientific pitch in order to understand the guitar fretboard better, in terms of absolute pitch. What I was taught, was that A to G, and then back to A up an octave. When I look at the ...
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Unlearned Perfect Pitch / never had it?

Cheers, I'm 25 and I have some perfect pitch issues... Questions about this get asked a lot but I haven't found something similar yet! So, playing piano for most of my life, music teachers told me I ...
Alex's user avatar
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2 answers
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How precise and how accurate is perfect/absolute pitch?

For those that need a reminder of the difference between accuracy and precision I don't have perfect pitch. For those who do, how accurately and precisely can you recognise, say 440Hz for an A. (1) ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
195 views

In what type of scenarios (other than tuning) would it be helpful to have microtonal perfect pitch?

I have perfect pitch (I can identify the note name of a given pitch in 12-tone equal temperament like a note on a piano), but often I cannot tell how far off is a note from the quantifications in ...
Joy Jin's user avatar
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6 answers
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Why is it easier to remember a melody as opposed to a simple interval? [duplicate]

There's already a question similar to this here, but most of the answers raise questions like, "If you can throw an object a certain distance but not tell precisely how far you threw it, how do ...
ApplePieGiraffe's user avatar
21 votes
4 answers
3k views

Do people with perfect pitch distinguish between equal temperament and just temperament?

Do people with perfect pitch distinguish between equal temperament and just temperament? Suppose someone with perfect pitch is singing a duet and wants to harmonise in thirds above the main melody. ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
113 views

Perfect or Relative Pitch? [duplicate]

I am wondering whether I simply have relative pitch, or some sort of pitch memory that is well developed. I can sing any note without a reference pitch that is sounded aloud, but does it count if I ...
ivy's user avatar
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Question to those who have perfect / absolute pitch: can you instantly name the notes you hear in your head as well?

I'm interested in knowing if people who have perfect pitch (so those who can instantly name a note by just hearing it) also can name the notes they hear in their heads. I'd prefer answers from people ...
lambshop's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
66 views

Is there a space in between relative pitch and perfect pitch? [duplicate]

I absolutely have relative pitch down. I can recognize most intervals immediately. As for perfect pitch, it just doesn't work consistently. I have a tone in my head and when I check with the guitar I'...
Emanuel Landeholm's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
283 views

How do I determine I have perfect pitch

I was recently told about this and I was wondering do I have perfect pitch or some variation of it. I have no prior musical experience in any shape or form yet despite this I have always been able to ...
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9 answers
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Is it possible to have perfect pitch but zero sense of relative pitch?

I'm sure that most musicians have a good sense of relative pitch. Given the name of a well-known song and a starting note, they can sing it in that key, whether or not it is the original key. I have ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Does perfect (absolute) pitch ever go out of tune?

When someone has perfect pitch, can it get "out of tune"? I've heard of musicians who had perfect pitch but as they got older they didn't have perfect pitch any more, or maybe it just got &...
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Sometimes I naturally sing songs in the right key. Do I have perfect (absolute) pitch?

Sometimes I'll be singing a song, and then I'll play a recording and discover I was singing in the same key. Does this mean I have perfect pitch?
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Can someone have perfect/relative pitch without knowing it?

Hey so I've been in music for about 7 years now and it's gotten to the point where I've developed actual skill. I principle French Horn and second Trumpet (with self taught guitar on the side that ...
Dawsen James Van Ede's user avatar
28 votes
11 answers
5k views

If someone can sing a melody, why can they not also recognize the intervals within that melody?

Surely everyone who struggles with relative pitch already has in-built relative pitch, so why is it so hard to actually recognise intervals? What I mean is from a child I (and most other people I ...
smotala1's user avatar
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9 answers
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What is the best METHOD in acquiring perfect pitch? [duplicate]

What is the best/easiest/most efficient way of developing perfect pitch? Note: What I mean by perfect pitch is the ability to distinct a certain note from another. In other words being able to ...
Polydynamical's user avatar
-2 votes
2 answers
122 views

Do i have perfect pitch , if i corrected my friend about her high note [closed]

My friend was having trouble with a high note , I checked the song out and sang the song almost instantly and I also hit the high note , a week or 2 later she randomly started going higher in pitch ...
Neha .V. Kumar's user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
8k views

What do you call a note that stays throughout the whole song?

I am searching for songs that have a constant note throughout the whole song. For example "The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows" has has a C in the background through the whole track. My plan is to put ...
rubo77's user avatar
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10 votes
5 answers
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Perfect pitch on only one instrument? [duplicate]

So I was wondering if, theoretically, it would be possible to have perfect pitch only on one instrument. For a bit of background, I grew up as a Suzuki cello student and thus have been playing the ...
Jackalope's user avatar
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13 votes
5 answers
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Why don't all humans have absolute pitch?

I'm not looking for an evolutionary reason. I'm looking for answer based on how the brain works. I believe the way the brain works is not solely determined by natural selection. Sometimes natural ...
Timothy's user avatar
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7 votes
3 answers
2k views

How do French and other Romance language speakers cope with the movable do system?

A user with perfect pitch reminded me that applying relative doremi will be torture like he had to read the word “green” in red letters. How can I develop relative pitch if I have perfect pitch? I ...
Albrecht Hügli's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
2k views

Can people can tell exactly in which octave a note is played?

I have done some pitch recognition tests. No note was given, and between questions a very chatty piece of music was placed to erase your mind. I got a 4/20 and for the rest I was off up or down a ...
edd's user avatar
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5 votes
2 answers
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Sometimes I hear a top note that isn't there. Is this related to Harmonics?

When I try to copy a tune or watch other people play the piano, I sometimes hear a note that isn't there. Especially top note is the case. My teacher said that it is related to harmonics, told me that ...
Victoria's user avatar
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10 votes
7 answers
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How can I develop relative pitch if I have perfect pitch?

As someone with perfect pitch, I can do the usual things associated with perfect pitch such as name a note instantly without a reference note, name the key, and name a chord. Sight-singing comes ...
DiscreteElite_'s user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
857 views

Is an instrument out of tune really a drawback to having perfect pitch?

I myself have perfect pitch and I don't feel cursed because my upright piano has been slowly getting out of tune over the years. I have genetic perfect pitch. In other words, it is my DNA and not my ...
Caters's user avatar
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3 votes
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Do I have perfect pitch or good pitch memory?

So I started learning music theory this January 2019, I've learned very quickly from basic to advanced because I've been playing guitar (self-taught) for 9 years... I can now identify any interval by ...
user58503's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
910 views

is it possible to learn instrument based perfect pitch?

Perfect pitch is impossible to learn especially since I'm 19 years old but I have heard of people who developed perfect pitch on their instruments. For example, Aimee Nolte is able to listen to the ...
Sky Star's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
261 views

Perfect pitch inside a scale?

I was reading how a very small amount of people have perfect pitch and how it's very hard for adults to develop it. So I was wondering if maybe there's a hack where I can only limit the notes to a ...
user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
80 views

Perfect, Absolute, Relative Pitch [duplicate]

I've seen many quizzes on "perfect pitch and do you have it"? They all play sounds and ask you to name it. But perfect pitch or not wouldn't one have to have some music training to know the designated ...
Abe's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
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I have perfect pitch but have trouble identifying the note of human singing and the note I hear in my head. Any suggestion on how to practice this?

When I hear a note played on an instrument, its name (like A, Bb, etc.) immidiately pops up in my head. But when I hear human singing nothing like that happens. So I'm wondering how should I practice ...
saris's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
61 views

Which octave learning can be postponed by beginner while eartraining from 7 octave computer software for piano?

If a beginner wants to ear train absolute pitch of piano from computer software which is showing 7 octaves, which octaves can he can omit at beginning ? 7th ,6th octave or 1st ,2nd octave? Or should ...
user48608's user avatar
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9 votes
5 answers
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What is the difference between perfect pitch, pitch memorization and relative pitch?

I am confused by these terms. I heard perfect pitch is impossible to learn as an adult, but if you memorize all twelve notes in the chromatic scale in whichever octave, isn't that perfect pitch? If it ...
n00B's user avatar
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4 votes
5 answers
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Is absolute pitch acquired by training, genetic or both? And if possible, is it much harder than relative pitch?

I have heard many different views of people that absolute pitch is ONLY acquired by training, ONLY by genetics, by genetics but also possible with training or ONLY both. But what is the truth? ...
user46792's user avatar
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2 votes
4 answers
689 views

Improving a Child's Absolute Pitch

I am teaching an child of 7 who has white key absolute pitch. In particular, they can sing any notes of the C major scale without a reference tone and can name the pitch of any of the white notes ...
JazzFan's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
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Do I have perfect pitch?

I only meet some of the criteria of perfect pitch. Whenever I hear a note, I can name a song or piece starting with it. I also remember the right key of music I hear, and, when I try to play it on ...
R.fineman's user avatar
36 votes
11 answers
26k views

Why do people with perfect pitch perceive tunes not in 440 Hz out of tune?

I do not have perfect pitch, but I heard that people who have it might have difficulty when a piece of music is not tuned to the usual 440 Hz pitch standard; it sounds out of tune for them. But this ...
StefanH's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
4k views

Do "Perfect Pitch Programming" tracks actually work?

This is super similar to some other popular questions concerning perfect pitch, but I thought that it was specific enough to avoid closing. The idea of having perfect pitch has always appealed to me, ...
General Nuisance's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
4k views

Is there any evidence that JS Bach, A Vivaldi and/or J Handel had perfect pitch?

Is there any evidence that JS Bach, A Vivaldi and/or J Handel had perfect pitch? Perhaps, if one can devote so much time and energy to music, he would develop such abilities.
VassiaAlk's user avatar
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3 votes
4 answers
651 views

How to approach absolute pitch recognition: compare to the remembered reference or to assign special pitch quality to the note?

How to approach absolute pitch recognition: compare to the remembered reference (or a root sound from a song) or to assign a special pitch quality to the note? I can recognize several pitches, but do ...
VassiaAlk's user avatar
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6 votes
4 answers
2k views

Absolute pitch - has it varied through the centuries?

At the moment, absolute pitch seems to be using 12et, with A=440 Hz. Would this have been the case, say, in the Baroque period, when A=quite a bit less than 440 Hz? With some orchestras using 442 Hz, ...
Tim's user avatar
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