Perfect Pitch

[Aris_Berd]

Hello !

I don't know why I put this topic here, in the Jordan Rudess's forum... Maybe, because I've written in the past.

Just wanted to know your opinion on this topic , guys ... about Perfect Pitch (the ability to understand every single on any instrument note without a reference). Can someone learn perfect pitch ? Have someone to be born with that ? Is it useful ?

My answers are : yes, no, yes. I don't have perfect pitch, and even my relative pitch is poor, but I think someone can learn it and I am on that way.

Let me know what you think !

thanks, aris

[nanaman]

I'd say it is possible unless you're not completely tone deaf from the beginning, as it in reality is just being able to remember what each note sounds like "exactly". Me myself doesn't have a complete perfect pitch as it is right now, but I feel like my pitch perception/pitch memory is getting better and better the more I practice ear training. I guess you have to be born with a healthy ear and brain to be able to achieve it though, having musicality in your genes do help I guess, after that it's all about your determination I think. If it is useful? I don't really think it helps too much. It can be good for guessing what tonality you're in and it makes it easier to learn fretless instruments, and it helps if you're a singer I guess. Other than that, I think you're better off with a good relative pitch as it can pretty much serve as "substitute" for perfect pitch and it can also do things you can't do with perfect pitch. I've talked with someone with perfect pitch and he told me it was easy when it came down the single pitches, but because he hadn't bothered practicing relative pitch he couldn't identify chords properly and messed up because the sounds all went together or something. Playing something like a G13 chord mixed out on the keyboard and asking him to sing out the 11th would be impossible for him (and well it'd be damn hard for anyone without relative pitch and some knowledge about music theory). Asking a singer with perfect pitch to sing with a band that was slightly flat in tuning would be practically impossible and the singer would sound out of tune. Well there are many advantages to learning relative pitch, I can't count up them all but I'd advise you to not spend too much time with trying to achieve perfect pitch as it could become quite time consuming, and when you could spend the time in practicing in the much more useful relative pitch.

[Aris_Berd]

Ok, I see what you mean. I agree with you at the most points (possibly at all), and I thought it might be as you said, about the relative and the perfect pitch. Now I have another opinion. Personally, I try to practice them in the same time, and I think I have them in the same level.

[Michael Troy]

Aris, the subject of Perfect Pitch has been discussed many times here bro. Just type it in the search box.

[BlobVanDam]

yes, it's been discussed many times, including a huge thread I remember that's been revived many a time. It is my belief that you can't learn to be pitch perfect, that is something you're born with, but you can learn note memory (or whatever it's called) so you could still name notes upon hearing. But there's a lot associated with being pitch perfect you really can't learn, many of which are probably for the best :p
You certainly don't need perfect pitch to be good with hearing music. YOu can still develop excellent relative pitch plus pitch memory.

[Aris_Berd]

Thanks to you all, guys !

I though it would be such a thead , after I posted the message, but even your opinions have something to say ... I mean they do good to me. I will search it in the other threads. It's been time since I daily surfed in JR's forums ! See you !

[MrPillow]

A friend of mine got that David Lucas Burge or whatever his name is Perfect Pitch Supercouse thingie, and I was very surprised to find out it actually worked rather well. After a few months he can name most notes out of thin air, and sing some of them the same. I listened to the CD from the first lesson. Aside from being excessively boring, I can now pull Eb and F# out of my ass =P