My daughter is studying to be an Opera singer. In high school, she had a classmate who has perfect pitch. My daughter told me that her friend didn’t get why everybody couldn’t hear what she heard. The way she described it to my daughter was that the different tones were as clear to her as being able to see different colors with your eyes. It was that obvious to her. In high school, my daughter did not have perfect pitch but since she has been studying at the university, she has developed it. It is not as instantaneous as being able to see different colors, but play a note for her and she can tell you want it is in about 2 seconds. ---------- Tom Halchak Blue Moon Harmonicas
I've mentioned here many times that perfect pitch is like color hearing...Tom's daughter's friend described it spot on...it can be learned as well. It may take some a few years, as it develops slowly over time.
Those that don't believe it can be taught will never be able to learn it.
I suppose there are some that, even when taught correctly, just won't get it.
I believe that if it is taught to very young children as they are learning to determine sight color recognition that it would be more prevalent. ---------- The Iceman
My late girlfriend Tuula had it naturally and said that since she was five years old (she started playing at age two, when she demanded her first fiddle from her dad, who obliged her) it was as sure as knowing the sky was blue or the grass was green (she never elaborated further on the color thing). Her son Colin seems to have it as well. I have good relative pitch and deduce actual pitch from clues, though I noticed that after singing in choirs for a few years I could pick up an unfamiliar piece of sheet music and sing it at the correct pitch.
For an example of clues, I was just listening to Carlos Santana's recording of Neck Bones and Home Fries. I hummed the tonic note and compared to my usual lowest note (usually E, though it varies) and deduced that the tune was in A. Picked an A harp, and sure enough. =========== Winslow
Like most, I was not born with it. So I've been trying to learn it slowly. Sometimes now I can immediately grab the appropriate harp and other times I still have to scramble. So then I utilize the circle of fifths to narrow it down quickly. I know others here have done the same thing. I've also used Winslow's method. Still working on it. Perhaps there are on-line tutorials to practice, but I haven't checked for that as of yet.
I have pretty good relative pitch. Most of my songs, when I start singing them (maybe 85% of the time, not quite perfect, better if I'm warmed up), I don't need to hear Do to know where to start, and if I happen to know the name of the note I can say the note. I can sing a note that I hear back, but I can't name the note. I could try to find it by referencing one of my song notes but when I start to hear more notes I start overthinking it and get muddled.
To support Iceman... I have a friend who says she developed her perfect pitch over many years with the Seattle Opera Company. We were talking about the subject one day on her back porch. She sang what she said was an "A". We went into her house and she sang it again then hit her piano key. It was dead on.
She said she had a good ear in her teens but at that time could certainly not pick out a note or sing a perfect A without having a reference point. We also talked about relative pitch and how it related to my newly found appreciation for playing by ear.
I'm sure playing the harmonica has improved my relative pitch skills and vice-versa.
I suspect most musicians develop good relative pitch and can also hear a mental note for some period of time after it's been played. I worked at prolonging a mental A and did see improvement from my effort but I didn't feel it was as productive as time spent on relative pitch exercises.
My son would be the complete opposite of the kid in this video. He has been taking piano lessons for about 6-7 years and voice lessons for about 3 years. I hate to say it, but he has a terrible voice – incapable of singing on pitch – although he is improving. However, he plays the piano quite well. Just the other day, he was commenting about how much easier it is for him to play sheet music than to play by ear. He hasn’t made the connection between the notes he hears in his head and the keys on the piano. He has made the connections between the little dots on the paper and the keys on the piano. I read music but hardly any diatonic players play by reading sheet music. We pretty much all play by ear. If I can hear the song in my head, I can play it on the harp or pick out the melody on a piano, even though I don’t play the piano (much). I have also heard stories about how world class orchestral musicians have a difficult time with improv and vice versa. I guess we are all wired a little differently.
Tom, I started play trumpet in 4th grade, by the time I was in high school I could sight read music like a newspaper but I couldn't play by ear worth squat. I've always had a good ear for pitch but I always relied on notation, even when I memorized music I saw dots. I’ve always envied great earists. Against my personal wiring I’ve worked hard to develop playing by ear skills with the harmonica.
As you pointed out it is a matter of wiring. The piano is a fabulous instrument and a good one for folks that may not be wired to hear small degrees of pitch, as opposed to the cello or trombone for example. It's cool that your son is playing piano. I say play to his strengths and keep it fun.
Good relative pitch is obviously critical to singing and I believe it's an important key to playing by ear. But I'm inclined to believe Dylan when he says perfect pitch is not all that useful although I think it is very cool, especially at his level of ability.
