Perfect Pitch / Absolute Pitch (AP)

If you don't know (also besides wikipedia there's other interesting stuff out there! A few university studies done which deal with nature vs. nurture which is a good debate point as to the formation of AP)

Anyways, who else here has AP? I feel like the percentage here would be different slightly because of the different reapportionment of demographics here vs. the general population, but I feel *because* it's so large that it might even out in the end. The world may never know ...

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE IT: How did you find out about you did? How accurate is it (to within a few cents, or less precise)? How often do you use it? Most importantly, how much do people hate you for using it? (I feel like I need a support group for that ...)

Personally, I think I was basically utilizing the components of AP way back when I was younger because I could remember the exact key a song was played in on the radio and repeat it back, which made me pretty upset when people sang songs in different keys than what they originally were (still a problem even now..); I didn't start formal music training until middle school but I had scales figured out pitch-wise after about a year. I played clarinet so basically I thought of everything initially in terms of fingerings and pitches on the instrument, so I was "thinking in B flat" for the longest time until I got to high school and I actually figured out that was I was doing was just me having AP. I became friends with someone who had AP and I asked what it was, and I finally figured out I had AP when he tested me (compensating for the fact that I would give everything back a whole step above of what its actual name was...).

I think I've just recently gotten more accustomed to thinking in C instead of Bb but transposing is still annoying as hell for other instruments that aren't in either of those (which was pretty amusing when I started saxophone and could play the notes and repeat melodies but couldn't read sheet music for a month...). Not exactly sure if it's possible to refine it so that you can tell if it's closely flat or closely sharp to a reference note, but that's something to work on.

tl;dr who here can hear a C on a piano without looking at it
 

marilli

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i can do it! i'm not really sure if it's perfect pitch cuz I cant sing lol and the only thing that can I really do is figure out a single instrumental note. This is really what makes me believe that there's a spectrum of 'absolute pitch-ness' whenever this discussion comes in, because I can do some, but not all, of the criteria for absolute pitch. I also hear limited absolute pitchedness like mine can be 'trained' so by now that I'm of age not everyone will believe i could do it naturally

More lyricy the song less I hear the note, and also I can't tell all the notes if you give me a chord, but I can give you the highest one for sure, then I have to use my relative pitch senses to figure out what the chord is and then i can probably figure out the rest

I found it out grade school when my sister was learning the piano and i always wanted to mimic it (badly. im not some musical genius <_<) And I might have gotten things wrong but I was always playing in the right key and no one knew that's what they called perfect pitch until my sister's piano teacher saw me do it.

It's entirely useless i feel but maybe that's because I don't use it. For one I found Clarinet very annoying to play. I don't understand how anyone could go through calling what's clearly a C, B-. I also sucked at sheet music reading for Clarinet because I had to process oh D, they really mean C lol...
 
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It's always nice to meet someone else who has absolute pitch, even more so to meet another Pokémon fan who has it!

I found out I had absolute pitch during my sophomore year of high school. I was in the Honors Chamber Choir, and I was being tested on a piece during a sectional. The key of the piece was Eb major; I knew this the moment I first heard the piece. My teacher played the first chord of the piece on the keyboard in the room, but instead of it being an Eb major chord like it should have been, I could tell just by hearing it that it was a C major chord. So I said to my teacher, "Um...I think the keyboard might be out of tune." She replied, "...Uh, really? Are you sure?" I said, "Yeah...at least I think so. I think you need to transpose it up one and a half steps." So she did, and she realized, "Oh my gosh, you're right! Wow, I never would have realized! Do you have perfect pitch?" And I, having not known at the time exactly what perfect pitch was, was all like, "Uhh...I dunno. I mean, I could just tell that the keyboard wasn't transposed to the right key, that's all!" She confirmed, "You have perfect pitch."
So I thought, So it wasn't because of my 8 years of experience with the violin that I'm now able to name the key of a piece on the spot? It was because I have perfect pitch? Man...I feel so special! I have a gift! And so that discovery had just made my day. It made me feel as if I had this sort of awesome superpower. :)

I don't mean to sound self-centered when I say this, but my perfect pitch is pretty darn precise. I don't think I've ever named the wrong key for a piece, or named the wrong note when someone played one for me. If someone plays me a sound at any frequency that a human's voice can produce (in other words, any frequency as long as it's not on the extreme ends of the spectrum), I'll be able to name the note accurately. I can distinguish notes that are 5 steps apart, 4 steps apart, one whole step apart, and a half step apart. I won't get thrown off if a piece is in Bb and say it's in B or A; I'd be able to tell it's in Bb.
I use it all the time, as I still sing in several choirs and I play and compose music in my free time (when I'm not playing Pokémon lol). Perfect pitch, like all things, does have its drawbacks -- for example, if I'm sight reading a piece, and the choir director asks that we sing our part in solfege (do-re-mi), the note that the director chooses as "do" might be different from the actual "do" of the piece. So my entire scale could be different from that of the other singers, which is annoying. Aside from things like that, though, having perfect pitch is extremely helpful. I definitely believe it gives you a great advantage over musicians who don't have it.
So, I'm sure some people envy me for it, but usually people seem to admire my talent. I hope the same applies to you!
 
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Cresselia~~

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Actually, both jynx (formerly Phoopes) and I have AP.

I come from a music school with over 90% nurtured AP rate.
So I'm not sure if I'm natural or trained.
The headmaster of the school fully believes that AP can be nurtured, especially in a population with a tonal language. (Such as Cantonese, the language us Hong Kongers speak)
In fact, the Royal British School of Music have published studies about how tonal languages such as Cantonese have a positive impact towards a musicians' pitching.

Pretty much, students from the same school as I are tested every week for accuracy of our AP. (I was 8 years old at the time)
My accuracy is over 95%.
My AP works both ways -- I can tell the name of a note when played, AND I can also sing a note when pointed to on a piano.
Now, I can fully distinguish chords up to 3 notes. (But this didn't come until I was in university)

Strangely, I can also tell apart the different concert pitches of Russian orchestras (A=445Hz), European orchestras (A=442Hz) and American orchestras (A=440Hz)
Because American orchestras always sound a bit flat to me, whilst Russiah orchestras always sound a bit sharp to me)

My AP allows me to play Anime songs and gaming songs on the piano, which I often show off in front of people.
As I'm quite good at piano, passing Grade 8 (teacher's entrance grade) in Royal British School of Music when I was only 14 years old.
I consider teaching piano.

Here's my Pokemon piano channel, by the way.
 
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Strangely, I can also tell apart the different concert pitches of Russian orchestras (A=445Hz), European orchestras (A=442Hz) and American orchestras (A=440Hz)
Because American orchestras always sound a bit flat to me, whilst Russiah orchestras always sound a bit sharp to me)

Haha, and there I was thinking that it was just me who thought American orchestras and bands' tuning were usually a little flatter than ensembles from other countries! But that's an interesting observation. It's also worth noting that a lot of folk music from a certain area of the world might sound a little sharper or flatter than it "should" sound. I wonder why. My guess is that it partly has to do with the tonality of the language spoken in that area?


My AP allows me to play Anime songs and gaming songs on the piano, which I often show off in front of people.
As I'm quite good at piano, passing Grade 8 (teacher's entrance grade) in Royal British School of Music when I was only 14 years old.
I consider teaching piano.

Here's my Pokemon piano channel, by the way.
[/quote]


Oh yeah, I can definitely relate to you in terms of the piece-covering part. When I was in 7th grade, I learned how to play the original Legend of Zelda theme on the piano, as well as other pieces from video games, by ear, and wherever there was a piano, I'd go to it and start playing. I would receive praise from passersby of all ages, from little kids to 30-year-olds.

Also, I'm definitely checking out that Youtube channel. Just out of curiosity, what's your favorite track in the main Pokémon game series?
 

Cresselia~~

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Haha, and there I was thinking that it was just me who thought American orchestras and bands' tuning were usually a little flatter than ensembles from other countries! But that's an interesting observation. It's also worth noting that a lot of folk music from a certain area of the world might sound a little sharper or flatter than it "should" sound. I wonder why. My guess is that it partly has to do with the tonality of the language spoken in that area?

Just out of curiosity, what's your favorite track in the main Pokémon game series?
Ya, they all have different standards.

I think I love the Pokemon Battle Revolution Main Street Colosseum one. I actually love a lot of the PBR music.
I also like Cynthia's in B2W2.
 

Soul Fly

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I don't believe I have perfect pitch. Though I have great accuracy around the pitch I usually practice my exercises in (C/C#), and can instinctively recognize anything between B ad D# with semi-reliable accuracy. I've never had a lot of training btw, I'm just excellent at mimicking, so I can pick off patterns and improvs from recordings/videos by ear near perfectly. So songs I'm really familiar with I can just bash out at the original key. For the longest time I was composing for an acapella group and I got a bit stronger at it there.

Frankly though I really don't believe it to be that important. Absolute Pitch, especially of the latter kind is the biggest red herring in formal music training. If you have it it's great, but I don't get people wasting their natural potential trying to acquire it. What is much more important is if you can recreate anything you hear/practice in multiple pitches. Relative Pitching is way more important in my books. I'm naturally very strong at it, to the point that I can successively (and in a jumble) sing all the 12 notes in a scale-octave with pitch perfection.
 

Cresselia~~

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I don't believe I have perfect pitch. Though I have great accuracy around the pitch I usually practice my exercises in (C/C#), and can instinctively recognize anything between B ad D# with semi-reliable accuracy. I've never had a lot of training btw, I'm just excellent at mimicking, so I can pick off patterns and improvs from recordings/videos by ear near perfectly. So songs I'm really familiar with I can just bash out at the original key. For the longest time I was composing for an acapella group and I got a bit stronger at it there.

Frankly though I really don't believe it to be that important. Absolute Pitch, especially of the latter kind is the biggest red herring in formal music training. If you have it it's great, but I don't get people wasting their natural potential trying to acquire it. What is much more important is if you can recreate anything you hear/practice in multiple pitches. Relative Pitching is way more important in my books. I'm naturally very strong at it, to the point that I can successively (and in a jumble) sing all the 12 notes in a scale-octave with pitch perfection.
Hmm... how to put it. But are you assuming that APers can't transpose music?
I have no problem transposing songs into other key. (Unless you want it in B-flat major or C# major, then the calculation is a bit difficult)
 

Soul Fly

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I meant that obviously APers can naturally do it. But for those who don't possess AP, RP is what they should ideally always focus on. I guess it's easier for vocals but I always do perfect transpositions.
 

Cresselia~~

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I meant that obviously APers can naturally do it. But for those who don't possess AP, RP is what they should ideally always focus on. I guess it's easier for vocals but I always do perfect transpositions.
Oh I see. I agree with that.
Sometimes APers can be inconsistent when it comes to relative pitching and that affects their singing a lot. (Because, when you talk about AP, your AP works for a wider range than what relative pitchers do.)
 
Having perfect pitch is awesome! It helps me when I play the timpani, as I don't need the aid of a glockenspiel next to me in order to tune them mid-song.
Pitch pipes?

Anyway, I've had AP for as long as I can remember (I thought everyone could do it up until i was 8 or so). It's useful for my instrument (horn) since I have to transpose a lot. At the same time, however, I think my internal tuning is set somewhere around A442 which can lead to problems.
 

Bughouse

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I've often wondered about the study of perfect pitch. I remember reading somewhere that most people shouldn't be able to start singing a song a cappella in the correct key. This is considered part of perfect pitch. For most people, it should just be random chance, as most people can only retain the relative pitches but have no way to anchor it to the right tonic.

I most definitely don't have perfect pitch. However, I've sung in choruses my whole life and I was in a collegiate a cappella group. And to some degree, it seems, I've trained myself to be able to remember keys of songs I'm familiar with and listen to/sing a lot. There are a few I can put in the right key every time. I'm Yours by Jason Mraz and Happy Ending by Mika (C), Halo by Beyonce (A), Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble (Db), and Follow Me by Uncle Kracker (F), are a few examples of songs that I can accurately place without any difficulty. Still, I've made absolutely no progress on perfect pitch in general and don't think any amount of focused training would get me there.

Any thoughts on how that shakes out?
 
Pitch pipes?

Anyway, I've had AP for as long as I can remember (I thought everyone could do it up until i was 8 or so). It's useful for my instrument (horn) since I have to transpose a lot. At the same time, however, I think my internal tuning is set somewhere around A442 which can lead to problems.
Hey, maybe you could do something about that!

I can generally hear a guitar tuning in my head and with really good relative pitch, I can get any note from that. I'm basically always right on when I check it with a tuner, but I suppose that's not the same as absolute pitch because it takes me a bit to hear / reproduce a given note, and I can't really do it if there's music playing in the background.
 

Birkal

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Most importantly, how much do people hate you for using it? (I feel like I need a support group for that ...)
This is likely due to the fact that you brag about it. I've seen you bring this up at least three times over my limited interaction with you; I can only assume that it's worse in real life. Musicians and directors could care less if you have perfect pitch or not. Actually, it can be a hindrance in group performances because pitch generally sags, which can sound awkward with AP following exactly. Furthermore, relative pitch can arguably be the more useful of the two, particularly in composition where chord identification is basically necessary. There are infinitely more useful skills / talents an individual can possess in the world of music. It is my hope that you, nor anyone else with perfect pitch, would lord it over those who do not have it.

It seems there is some confusion in this thread on what exactly perfect pitch is. As srk1214 describes above, there is no absolute definition for what perfect pitch is (at least that I have found). The University of California SF has done some interesting study on it. Typically, it is defined as the phenomena of hearing and identifying pitches immediately. For example, while I can make a good guess right off the bat from hearing a sound (and be right if you give me a bit to think about it), I do not have perfect pitch because I cannot do it instantaneously without fault. If you want to know whether you have it or not, I'd recommend taking UCSF's auditory test here to see how you do. Their research so far doesn't seem to be necessarily significant, but it is worth talking about. You can read all about it here.

At the end of the day, don't get too worked up about perfect pitch or relative pitch. Music has transformed into this hyper-competitive being thanks to media and national competition. While competition can certainly serve as a motivator, don't ever forget that making music is food for the soul :>
 

Bughouse

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This said everything I needed to see.
"This finding shows that for the population who has entered our study, most people score either very high or very low. A fewer number of subjects score in between these two ranges, and they generally score better on the piano tone test than the pure tone test. We suspect that these individuals have learned to identify some pitches and employ relative pitch to make calculated guesses in pitch-naming."

Yup, I did better at piano tones and I agree with their assessment that I could do so because I'm so used to hearing someone play the tonic before and after a lot of our run throughs of songs in a cappella rehearsals that I actually have a pretty good idea of what a C or an F is, even if I have no clue for Bb. And I can only run vocal exercises in my head from C and F to the target notes so quickly and so accurately. I'm trying to fake my way there with relative pitch. It doesn't really work.
 

Myzozoa

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It should work tho... If you have C and F (or any one pitch) internalized just 'imagine' the interval (it's very possible to memorize intervals, it just takes practice) to get to whatever note you need (C to G is a 5th, etc). I have had relative pitch at various times when I was maintaining those skills. Now, I would guess, I'm a bit out of practice. Clarinet is one of the better ways to get it, imo (the best being singing imo), as you need to practice long tones for dayyyz to have any hope of producing a good sound on a clarinet. I started picking up relative pitch from woodwind instruments and then honed it a bunch when I had to learn how to sight sing.

And maybe music has become too competitive, but imo, you actually do need relative pitch, it's kind of necessary to be in tune ALL THE TIME without using all of your rehearsal time tuning. Though it's totally possible that I just learned from people with sticks up their asses.
 

Adamant Zoroark

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I highly doubt I have absolute pitch, but I do have at least decent relative pitch - which is weird because tone deafness runs in my family (my mom is tone deaf.) I just recently picked up my guitar again (after like a year without practice) and yet I can still tell accurately when my guitar's out of tune. For example, on my Ibanez, I can tell immediately that the 2nd string sounds a half step lower than it should, and that my Les Paul was tuned to Drop C last time I used it and the 6th string is more like a B now, and yet everything else is in tune. I can also detune one string very slightly (like maybe 10-20 cents) and I'll be able to tell a difference in pitch.

I actually used to think I was tone deaf just because it ran in my family, but I quickly came to realize that wasn't really the case by listening to Pantera's songs. I noticed by reading some tabs for their songs that said they were in standard tuning, but I thought, "wait, they sound too flat to be that tuning!" but at the same time, they sounded too sharp to be a half step down. So, I looked into it, and noticed why they sounded flat - Dimebag Darrell intentionally de-tuned his guitar 25 cents below standard.

Other than that, I can pretty accurately tell what tuning a song is in just by listening to it; for example, just from my first listen to Avenged Sevenfold's song "Radiant Eclipse," I immediately knew it was in Drop C just by noting that almost everything else Avenged Sevenfold does is in Drop D and that "Radiant Eclipse" sounded a whole step lower than everything else on Waking the Fallen. I remember a while back, I could semi-accurately transcribe the first guitar notes from Dead by April's song "Sorry for Everything" by ear by listening and comparing pitches with my guitar; I did this because there were literally no tabs for that song available at the time.

However, if you ARE tone deaf, I'd probably still be able to recommend guitar if you still want to pick up an instrument. Just keep it in tune with an electronic tuner (you can get a decent one for dirt cheap, I mean shit you can even get an electronic tuner as an iPhone app) and you should be good to go. You don't need relative pitch to make accurate finger placements for guitar because it has these things called frets. Just memorize finger placements for chords and scales and you should be fine. I mean, shit, Beethoven was deaf deaf and he's considered one of the greatest composers ever (and in this case, we're not even talking about guitar.)
 
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I happen to have AP and found out because my saxophone teacher was curious, at the time I could tell which note was which in terms of the key of C, which is a bit odd considering that the alto sax is played in Eb.

Once I began singing, my abilities at doing it improved given that I practiced more, so I think there is something to be said about nature vs. nurture debate, this was obviously just my own experience and I think there are probably some people are born with it.

As far as "how much people hate me for it" I'm not exactly sure why someone would be angry that or anyone else has a certain talent, in fact, someone disliking me for it is the exact opposite for how people have reacted towards me.
 

DM

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I've never been told definitively that I have AP, but the more I hear/learn about it, the more I think I do. I can sing songs that I haven't heard in years without reference and sing them in the correct key; I have friends that have great voices, but when they sing without the song as a reference, they end up flat.

When I listen to bands/musicians live, I can immediately tell if there is something out of tune. I remember being at a show where the guitarist's B string was flat, and it drove me goddamn NUTS. (This happens a lot at open mics, just based on the amateur nature of the musicians.)

I can tell what key a song is in just by listening to it. When I hear the chords, I can envision them on the guitar in my head.

I dunno, I wouldn't claim something without good proof, but this may fit me.
 

Cresselia~~

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I've never been told definitively that I have AP, but the more I hear/learn about it, the more I think I do. I can sing songs that I haven't heard in years without reference and sing them in the correct key; I have friends that have great voices, but when they sing without the song as a reference, they end up flat.

When I listen to bands/musicians live, I can immediately tell if there is something out of tune. I remember being at a show where the guitarist's B string was flat, and it drove me goddamn NUTS. (This happens a lot at open mics, just based on the amateur nature of the musicians.)

I can tell what key a song is in just by listening to it. When I hear the chords, I can envision them on the guitar in my head.

I dunno, I wouldn't claim something without good proof, but this may fit me.
flat and off tune has nothing to do with AP. Non-AP people can stay in tune by relative pitching.
I think you are confused.

Only the last one shows that you might have AP.
 

DM

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flat and off tune has nothing to do with AP. Non-AP people can stay in tune by relative pitching.
I think you are confused.

Only the last one shows that you might have AP.
I probably am confused, as I admit AP is a relatively new concept to me. It's truly fascinating, though.
 

Nix_Hex

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I discovered I had at least relative pitch in high school, though I'm not really sure I can claim absolute/perfect pitch. There are a few notes that I definitely know.
G: The highest pitch string on a 4 string standard tuned bass.
A: Second string in standard tuning.
B: The lowest note in Red Hot Chili Peppers' Righteous and the Wicked.
D: A ton of popular bands in the 90s-2000s used drop D tuning.
E: First string in standard tuning.
Eb / Db: These are a little harder, but a lot of 80s-90s bands played in flatted standard tuning and you can definitely tell the difference. Guns 'n' Roses, Alice in Chains, and Smashing Pumpkins, to name a few.
Bb: was lead tuba in high school and hence was the reference pitch for tuning. I started every practice, every day for 4 years, by playing this note. Kill me.

Based off of those notes, I can find anything by counting intervals in my head. For any programming nerds, think of it as successive approximation. If a friend plays a note on guitar, I select one of those notes on that list that sounds nearest to the note he is playing, then count chromatically until I match the pitch in my head. Heck, if you can memorize just one pitch you can use this method, you will just have fewer references so it might take you a bit longer. Eventually, if you saturate yourself with enough music, you'll start to memorize more pitches. I am of the belief that relative pitch can be learned, and this is probably the best way to get it.


I actually used to think I was tone deaf just because it ran in my family, but I quickly came to realize that wasn't really the case by listening to Pantera's songs. I noticed by reading some tabs for their songs that said they were in standard tuning, but I thought, "wait, they sound too flat to be that tuning!" but at the same time, they sounded too sharp to be a half step down. So, I looked into it, and noticed why they sounded flat - Dimebag Darrell intentionally de-tuned his guitar 25 cents below standard.
This used to bug the crap out of me as I listened to a ton of Pantera while learning guitar and bass. I actually love that he did that, as it added a sort of edge/uneasiness to the music. Do you know if Rex tunes his bass to that as well? FSR I think not since that's the only other stringed instrument and there seems to be a lot of tension. Most underrated bassist ever, imo. Such beautiful tone and precision.
 

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