What's the fastest [not easiest] way to develop both of these? Straightforward answer please nothing vague.

You can't really develop perfect (or absolute) pitch. You either have it or you don't. :mellow: Meanwhile, relative pitch, you just need to practice listening to your intervals. A lot of intervals.

Wow you reply fast...

And how do I practice listening to intervals?

Just plunk a lot of intervals on a piano, and try to listen to the relationship between the two notes. Eventually, you'd be able to know whether if the pitch is correct. However, make sure your piano is in tune.

Wow that sounds tedious and boring.

No one ever said practising these things was easy or fun. It's about perseverance and how far you want to go in learning about music.

i can tell most notes straight off based on the starts of pieces i know really well.

example i know Bb from the start of Syrinx
i know Ab from the start of Clair de Lune
i know G from the start of Liszt Sonata

thats how i do it anyway... not true perfect pitch but closest you can get if you're going to try and "learn" it

A friend of mine do that ^

You can't really develop perfect (or absolute) pitch. You either have it or you don't. :mellow:

You can.

Try making mental notes of what notes while you're playing or listening to music i.e. visualize the score in your head. Listen to a simple song and mentally write the score in your head, filling in notes and getting a feel for the entire spectrum of notes. Take note of notes you recognize in songs you're familiar with. Play a random chord (assuming your instrument allows), name the notes. Play two notes, name them, or at least the interval. Etc. etc.

It won't happen overnight. It's a process that high level musicians automatically develop over time.

You can.

Try making mental notes of what notes while you're playing or listening to music i.e. visualize the score in your head. Listen to a simple song and mentally write the score in your head, filling in notes and getting a feel for the entire spectrum of notes. Take note of notes you recognize in songs you're familiar with. Play a random chord (assuming your instrument allows), name the notes. Play two notes, name them, or at least the interval. Etc. etc.

It won't happen overnight. It's a process that high level musicians automatically develop over time.

That's not really perfect pitch though. Perfect pitch is literally naming the note as A-B-C-D-E-F or G at the moment you hear it. The only thing you can develop is relative pitch, like what you mentioned.

Well the moment I hear a note on piano I can tell what note it is. How can I apply this for other instruments. [Like the Human voice?]

i can tell most notes straight off based on the starts of pieces i know really well.

example i know Bb from the start of Syrinx
i know Ab from the start of Clair de Lune
i know G from the start of Liszt Sonata

thats how i do it anyway... not true perfect pitch but closest you can get if you're going to try and "learn" it

Exactly what I do. :lol:


Well the moment I hear a note on piano I can tell what note it is. How can I apply this for other instruments. [Like the Human voice?]

You really, in my opinion, can't do much other than practicing it for different timbres. :\

Well the moment I hear a note on piano I can tell what note it is. How can I apply this for other instruments. [Like the Human voice?]
If you're not lying about that, you shouldn't have trouble doing the same with any instrument. Although if you somehow memorized the tones of your own piano, which can be quite distinguishible if your piano's different keys have distinct sound, what you say might be correct. In that case however, you don't have perfect pitch.

That's not really perfect pitch though. Perfect pitch is literally naming the note as A-B-C-D-E-F or G at the moment you hear it. The only thing you can develop is relative pitch, like what you mentioned.

But I still don't get that. It just seems entirely possible to me that over time you can start to pick out notes and name them instantly.

If you're listening to a song with a tonal centre that you can analyze, then you can probably tell the note's degree of the scale. But then if you're just randomly trying to name single notes, unless you have perfect pitch, it's very hard because each note has the same potential to be different degree of the scale and there are no special quality to each note like you can define for intervals.

If you're not lying about that, you shouldn't have trouble doing the same with any instrument.

But I do have trouble on other instruments :\

On Sax I can tell but I don't think in concert pitch which is kinda weird.

But lets say I'm singing a note. I have NO idea what note I'm singing. :\


If you're listening to a song with a tonal centre that you can analyze, then you can probably tell the note's degree of the scale. But then if you're just randomly trying to name single notes, unless you have perfect pitch, it's very hard because each note has the same potential to be different degree of the scale and there are no special quality to each note like you can define for intervals.

English please? I'm only 13!!

Well, I beleive it's safe to say, that you do not have Perfect Pitch. I don't really think anyone has what's defined "perfect pitch." That's why the term Absolute/Relative Pitch is more realistic. Unless you can name notes right when they come at you, despite the instrument or noise (even if it's a pig squal) you should be able to tell the note. Now, unless you can do that (like how Mozart "knew" the note when a pig squaled on a farm one day; G#) I don't think you have perfect pitch.

Myself, I have a fairly good Relative Pitch. This doesn't mean that I can't tell you a note when I hear it, but it also doesn't mean I always can. I know intervals, and scale degress very well, though. And just as Sir Dot mentioned, anyone can--it just depends on your commitment, not too much talent. :)

That's not really perfect pitch though. Perfect pitch is literally naming the note as A-B-C-D-E-F or G at the moment you hear it. The only thing you can develop is relative pitch, like what you mentioned. Those are means for the OP to develop what he wants...hint hint... not that he's capable of comprehending.

And why did his last response remind me of a certain bash quote?


It just seems entirely possible to me that over time you can start to pick out notes and name them instantly. Yep.

Also does the difference of a timbre can make it harder for know the note of one instrument, like you know what note is in a piano but then later you hear another note in other instrument with a very different timbre and you will be like what note is this? I mean
the difference of timbres can affect and some can be harder to know than others?

That is what I think but I am asking.

^ Of course, but if you have perfect pitch it shouldn't matter if it's a violin tone or a car horn. I have a friend here in Sweden who had nothing better to do one day so he analyzed the different tones of trucks and car horns. Timbre can make it harder for people with relative pitch, not perfect pitch.

Oh ok, I see.

Maybe I shoulda just wikied it. ><

Well, I play violin and almost every single day I hear an "A" by itself whenever we tune for practicing in orchestra. I had to suffer with that for two years, and no matter what I do, I keep on recognizing the damn A note. But I can't recognize any other pitches perfectly. :heh:

As for relative pitch, try taking choir! Singing helps.

Actually, when I first played Organ/learned to read notes I was never able to hear certain notes. Now through the years (11 years of playing an instrument) I've been starting to recognize several notes. So far I can recognize the C, E, F, G and Bb. I mean, not using intervals, but if I were to close my eyes get myself dizzy and then play (with eyes closed) a random note on the piano, and this happens to be the C,E,F,G or Bb I can name it right away. Of course, from this position, if I were to play a 2nd note, I could name it using intervals, even if it's not one of the notes I named above.
Pretty weird.

Hmm... So then the Perfact pitch ear training program that I bought a couple of days ago is a bunch of Hooey? If it doesnt work for me within 40 days then I get to return it and get my money back. I havnt got it yet, but im hoping it will help my ear a little... It seems like when im Tuning and playing my Cello, that it helps.

I'm nearly colour blind. Most of the time, I can't tell green from brown. Blue and purple are two other tricky ones... Honestly, I can't tell for sure what colour this quick-reply-bow is.

Although, since I've learned that grass = green, then, I know for sure that the grass is indeed green. The same way, you can learn how a certain "cello string" or "piano key" sounds like, but it is NOT PERFECT PITCH - EVER.

I learned how to analyse a few colours based on the 'item' that it resides on. I will never be able to learn colours perfectly, the same way you will never gain the ability to practice perfect pitch.

http://www.musictheory.net/trainers/html/id90_en.html
You can use this interval trainer to practice your relative pitch without a piano.
I'm trying to develop "perfect pitch" by basically sitting at the piano for hours and playing the same notes at different octaves over and over again everyday until it's burned into my mind. That's what my piano teacher told me to do. Boring and tiresome? yes. Working? I'm not so sure...

I'm trying to develop "perfect pitch" by basically sitting at the piano for hours and playing the same notes at different octaves over and over again everyday until it's burned into my mind. That's what my piano teacher told me to do. Boring and tiresome? yes.
Get another teacher.

Do you say that because what I'm trying to do is impossible, or that my methods are faulty? Because I would really like to be able to identify notes, even if it is just on my piano.

I'm nearly colour blind. Most of the time, I can't tell green from brown. Blue and purple are two other tricky ones... Honestly, I can't tell for sure what colour this quick-reply-bow is.

Although, since I've learned that grass = green, then, I know for sure that the grass is indeed green. The same way, you can learn how a certain "cello string" or "piano key" sounds like, but it is NOT PERFECT PITCH - EVER.

I learned how to analyse a few colours based on the 'item' that it resides on. I will never be able to learn colours perfectly, the same way you will never gain the ability to practice perfect pitch.


Well said.
I have already accepted that I do not have perfact pitch, I just wish to improve what I have. I know a Flutest who knows a Bb by memory(Im pretty sure thats what it is) because thats the note she tunes to. And she is able to figure out how to reach a few other notes be intervals. And thats all you can really do, is learn a note and figure out the other notes by intervals. Practice, Practice, Practice!is all it takes.

Let's say you have synesthesia, and you can recognize the notes on the piano because only for that particular timbre you see colours or taste a taste in your mouth,etc. Only hypothetical by the way Skorch describe it.

I actually do have absolute pitch... I didn't actually figure it out until my 8th grade year, which was probably the second year of me taking music seriously. I started to notice signs by knowing exactly what note we started on for our vocal warmups in choir (usually C, but sometimes F or G). Then shortly after I noticed that I could tell what note I needed to start on for every song we sang... then the alto part... then the soprano part... and so on.

It was a constant exponential growth, I guess... I didn't really know what was happening at the time, nor did I know what it was called. All I know now is that I can face away from a piano and tell you the name and octave of any note you play within the second. I can also name chords according to their quality and inversion... and if they're complex clusters, I just name them note by note. I can also tell you the key of a song on the radio almost instantly. I can even be asked to sing a note without help from another instrument.

I'm not really sure whether I learned it or I found it... it's just there. It helps whenever you're transcribing or composing. XD

that's perfect pitch right there. Though I heard people with absolute pitch can get ticked off if something is slightly out of tune. That's the only disadvantage with these perfect pitch people, but probably not all of them, i dunno.

btw, you don't need absolute pitch for composing. As for transcribing, it will "somewhat" help because it allows you to name the notes instantly without having to "search" it. Relative pitch > Absolute pitch. Without relative pitch, absolute pitch is nothing. why? a very very high degree in relative pitch will allow a person to flash the pitch they've heard into their memory say 10 random notes at the same time. All they have to do is find the correct notes (may take awhile) and voila. If a person with absolute pitch has bad relative pitch, they'll be able to name certain notes instantly then stop because their poor relative pitch prevented them from remembering the rest.

Hmm. That sounds more like common [musical] memory, rather than something to do with pitches.

I can hum entire concertos, symphonies or other pieces, completely. I have a fairly good absolute pitch, but that doesn't mean that that's whats making me memorize anything.

Wow, so you're back on having absolute pitch now? First it's perfect, then relative, now perfect again?


Yeah, I was lucky enough to have been born with Relative Pitch, so playing by eay isn't so hard since hearing the notes then kind of visualizing them (which ever the key, usually tends to be different Lol)

It's starting to pile up again folks... can you smell the odor of the heap? For some years now, Ichigos has had the pleasure of having lots and lots of people with photographic memory, perfect pitch, synesthesia, japanese-gurus, quite a few math geniouses and basically anything short of an übermensch.

We should submit our members to MIT or some other fucking nerd facility and profit. Anyone with me on that? (Commission will of course be distributed among staff members only...)

I think you can learn Perfect Pitch over time. A guy at my school did. Everyone thinks he was born with it but he said while he learning piano, he paid attention to the quality of the notes very carefully. Now, no matter what instrument, piano, violin, voice, he can name the notes right off the bat.
I'm learning perfect pitch too and I'm SO close. Missing 2 more notes (Eb, Csharp). A lot of people think I do have perfect pitch because I'll be able to hear someone sing and know what note it is, or hear the cars honk or the church bells ring and say what notes those are too. I'm also sensitive to when things are sharp. Flat, not as much.

Wow, so you're back on having absolute pitch now? First it's perfect, then relative, now perfect again?



It's starting to pile up again folks... can you smell the odor of the heap? For some years now, Ichigos has had the pleasure of having lots and lots of people with photographic memory, perfect pitch, synesthesia, japanese-gurus, quite a few math geniouses and basically anything short of an übermensch.

We should submit our members to MIT or some other fucking nerd facility and profit. Anyone with me on that? (Commission will of course be distributed among staff members only...)

It's funny how I don't force any assests I have on people. I think I'm coming across losely by mentioning them. Also, as far as I know, Absolute and Relative pitch are the same, yet Perfect is different. I though I had perfect since my band teacher in middle-school would play a note, and I could say back what it was (and it was always correct), but after a while I noticed that I couldn't always diferenciate the exact pitches, yet when I am told to sing a note, I know it by a half-step or so; I concluded that I have absolute/relative pitch. So, please don't go attacking me on some little quote such as that. Thank-you.

But I am a fan of loosenes, and I simply wanted to convey you're even a bigger pathological liar than I am.

Correcting myself, Perfect Pitch and Absolute Pitch are the same. If I have referred myself to having absolute pitch, change that to relative. And thanks Noir7 for trying to ridicule me, when it was--obviously--a misunderstanding.

i can tell most notes straight off based on the starts of pieces i know really well.

example i know Bb from the start of Syrinx
i know Ab from the start of Clair de Lune
i know G from the start of Liszt Sonata

thats how i do it anyway... not true perfect pitch but closest you can get if you're going to try and "learn" it

Hah, that's how I do it. Except I can tell a C whenever. So I have 1/12 perfect pitch. -_-

I tend to play by ear, whether I mean to or not, so I'm not too bad at pitches, but I can match them easily enough - but then, I'd say everyone can do that. Quite frankly, it's not something I've really given much thought to - I don't need those skills any more than I have already, and if I do, I'll muddle my way through.

Let's say you have synesthesia, and you can recognize the notes on the piano because only for that particular timbre you see colours or taste a taste in your mouth,etc. Only hypothetical by the way Skorch describe it.
You're absolutely correct. In fact, one of my friends has that very condition. He also get distinct feelings from the different key signatures.

@Mazeppa: I'm sorry, my intent was not to ridicule so much as filter some of the crap that has been going on here through the years. I had no clue that you mixed up the terms. If you had been hanging around here as long as I have, then you'd know all the claims people had had about themselves, and once you claimed you had absolute/perfect pitch when clearly you don't, my bucket overflowed. Besides, that's what I do - I make people loathe me so I don't have to.

@Noir- OK. I can totally agree with you when you talk about people claiming to have perfect pitch, blah, blah. etc. etc. It's even more annoying when people at my school, almost literally, kick me off of the piano, and show me that they figured out Smoke on the Water's riff, Crazy Train's opening, and a badly known Fur Elise. And then I try to figure out something that I never heard (going on their humming) and if I miss one note, they're like, "Haha, see I know you don't have an ear, but you have the technique, so that's where you make up." So I really would like to critisize that perfect pitch is sometimes an opinion of stupidity. :) (Not discrediting anyone honorable here, by the way).

It's even more annoying when people at my school, almost literally, kick me off of the piano, and show me that they figured out Smoke on the Water's riff, Crazy Train's opening, and a badly known Fur Elise.
Oh yes, I know how that is. <_<



And then I try to figure out something that I never heard (going on their humming) and if I miss one note, they're like, "Haha, see I know you don't have an ear, but you have the technique, so that's where you make up."

Wow, that's pretty harsh coming from someone who can't even play something everyone's heard a million times right. >_____<