Perfect Pitch, and why almost nobody is tone deaf.

Perfect Pitch is the ability to recognize and produce notes by name on command. You probably can't develop perfect pitch if you don't already have it, but you can get pretty close with relative pitch and pitch memorization.

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[BradHarrison]

Take private lessons online with me! Trumpet, brass, theory, composition & arranging, improvisation, or whatever musical/life coaching you’d like to work on. More information at www.bradharrison.ca/lessons

[xscarbeats]

I am norwegian and “gift” is actually poison in norwegian aswell, just like in german. So “gift” can mean married AND poison, it just depends on the context of how it’s used in a sentence. Don’t ask me if there’s a reason for why…

[EmiPianoMX]

Pitch memorization: - Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down.

[sansundertalefrommegalovania]

Very interesting and educational video that doesn't hate perfect pitch or think that people without it are worse musicians. And your examples were perfect, congratulations!

[ForlebTF]

I was never musically inclined as a kid. I started taking band in middle school for the easy grades, and after a few years I started to develop an "early stage" of perfect pitch, where I could tell you what a played note was most of the time & sing an instructed note less often. Jump to today, and I have the curse of total perfect pitch; I call it a curse because _everything_ has a pitch that my brain now automatically tries to listen for. Even after stepping back from band & choir entirely, some friends still want me to "do the note thing" as a party trick, and that's honestly the only enjoyable part of it right now.

[kirjian]

I rarely ever talk about my absolute pitch or even demonstrate it at rehearsals because I know it's socially a touchy subject; even when, for example, I know the key a singer's in and the other musicians are trying to find it, I've learned to keep quiet because it can come off as being pedantic, which I guess is understandable. There's also a lot of misinformation online.

Something to add to this great video is that you can improve your AP with practice: you can learn to recognize microtones and all the notes in really complex chords for instance :)

[oscarmalistee]

back in elementary school, when we had music class, i used to practice scales on melodica and recorder. it's so repetitive to the point where it's engraved inside my brain. i can identify any pitch on different instruments too. now my friends think i have perfect pitch, but in reality, i don't have it. i can't tell if the note is exactly on pitch or not.

[karencolon]

I learned piano when I was ten, on an old piano that had not been tuned in years, so it had been tuned to itself, but nearly one semi-tone lower than A-440. This messed with my sense of pitch.

[peteroselador]

My freshman music theory professor memorized what a G was from binge-watching The Office and not skipping the intro. No perfect pitch, but now he can find stuff pretty well without it.

As for me, I have perfect pitch (or “the curse” as I call it) and learning B-flat trumpet years after starting piano was well…a trip and a half. Also, American music schools emphasize relative pitch over absolute, so in sight-singing and dictation classes the examples would almost always be transposed some amount

Edit: Should also mention, a lot of people with perfect pitch (especially untrained) don’t hear key relationships well. For the longest time, I could sing a song in a different key just fine, as long as there wasn’t a key change. It took years to be able to mentally transpose key changes. Also, for me, hearing something in a different key changes the meaning, so if there’s a song I like, being sung by someone who’s voice I like, but in a key that I feel isn’t amicable to the song, I can’t listen.

[bunchesofmusic]

Something that I really like is that you emphasized that you don’t have to have AP to be a good musician. I’m a singer, and most of my peers think they can never reach my level of musicianship BECAUSE of my AP, which is definitely not true. They also reduce my 7 years of experience in vocal practice and rehearsals and performances to having AP which is frustrating because I worked hard to become a better musician too! There’s so much more that goes into music besides reproducing “correct” notes. I haven’t finished the race by any means, I just have a head start. You can always improve your musicianship, even with AP.

[vee_emm_jay_ess]

I am the UNM. When I was a toddler, my parents knew the love I had for music so they provided me with stereo systems groing up and basic low quality instruments. During middle school, they tried getting me into learning guitar, but I quit after a couple of months because my fingers couldn't handle it. Decades go by... I still have a love for music and I got into DJing and music production using drum machines. While making drum grooves, I needed to add rhythms and melodies, so i purchased a midi keyboard and some sound modules. I started playing around with the keys and I blew my mind own what type of grooves I came up with with no prior experience. Later on, I needed bass lines, so I bought a bass guitar and blew my mind once again when I was able to identify the pitches I was looking for. Today, I am able to play bass lines and follow along to songs I've never heard before. I still can't read music, but my friends who are experienced musicians were blown away at what I could do because they require sheet music in order to play. They told me that if I was able to read music, I would be a musical genius. I agree, I should havenever stopped learning the guitar.

[seanellis]

9:34 I saw what you did there with your John Mulaney reference sir, well played.

[Lantanana]

Even though I have played both piano & flute (both badly) in my youth, in my old age I am going to learn keyboard. Your channel is a godsend! I appreciate so much that I can learn from the bottom up from your videos. I have a lot to learn and you make everything crystal clear. Thank you very much !!!

[seththemage]

As a singer, my perfect pitch gets in the way when I listen to or sing with a harmony that is in Baroque tuning. I was in a chorale that was performing a Bach piece with a keyboard tuned to A440, but the practice recordings for my tenor part were in Baroque (likely A415) tuning. It became painfully obvious that my relative pitch was lacking because I could not get any meaningful practice with the recording.

I also get completely lost if the song I've been practicing is suddenly played in a different key that I haven't practiced with. If I have sheet music, I would have to transpose to the new key in my head, which is exhausting and much slower than using relative pitch and thinking in intervals. Sort of like translating to a different language on the fly.

[LiviaBrash]

Thank you for also pointing out what true tone deafness is! As a singing teacher, I have come across people who find it difficult to match pitch when singing and assume they are “tone-deaf”, but are actually quite good at picking up nuances in music as they listen. A lot of people jump to recommend ear training in that kind of situation, but in my experience, it actually comes down to the relationship between what you hear in your head and how you coordinate your body. It’s oftentimes an issue of breath management (which can determine how fast your vocal folds vibrate, i.e. the pitch). If you don’t realize you’re singing out of tune at the time, but listen back to a recording and notice that you are, you’re definitely not “tone-deaf” 😁

[shahargabay]

Pitch memorization feels amazing. I don't actively practice it, but every so often I'll hear a sound like a car horn or a motor humming or a piano chord and immediately a song jumps to mind and I know that it's 100% the starting note of this song

[kingarthr]

Ive gotten to the point with pitch memorization and relative pitch that everyone thinks I just have perfect pitch because I can name whatever note on command.

[tristanperciful]

I've got pitch memory for G, Bb, A, F, and C but G is strongest. Years of choir have trained my ear. I can tell pretty quickly what key something is in if i have a moment to pick out a reference pitch.

[alexgood]

"This is an f, just kidding, it's an e flat" a joke that sadly not many people would get 😂

[dariodeluna]

I FUCKING LOVE YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR. And it helps me so, so much to engage with the first-class information that you provide. I hope you already know this, but I'm sure that many of us can appreciate your authenticity and dedication. Thank you. Saludos desde México:)