An Alternative to Perfect Pitch

Let this be a part 2 to my previous video entitled "How I Taught Myself Perfect Pitch." The title is more accurate too.

Let us all board the True Pitch train.

[Datmexican]

How to get perfect pitch:
1. Get relative pitch
2. Get tinnitus
3. Compare every note you hear to the tinnitus, find the interval, and calculate the pitch.

[chrisfitz]

I just hear songs in my head that start with the note that is played. For E, Tetris theme, for F, Axle F, for G, Bach’s Little Fugue, for B, an etude I played freshman year, for Bb, a Minecraft song, for D, Megalovania or Song of Storms. The others I use arpeggios.

[DoubleP]

3:13 a quote to live by... "If Chris Potter doesn't have perfect pitch I think we're all safe... WE ALL HAVE A CHANCE" 😂😂

[TooManyEditsProductions]

Recently I've been able to identify C by singing "giant steps in C" in my head, no joke.

[neillmoscoso]

I love you comical-ness, it really makes playing music and wanting to learn more fun. Also that C# or Concert E was probably the only note I could recognize because it sounds so nasally on every sax (even though as sax players we should try and make the C# less nasally and middle D less muffled 😂).

[jordanlewisgoodmusic]

I started developing "perfect pitch" in high school, and was pretty 100% (and quick) by college.

The key is to start with one note with which you have a strong association. Perhaps the first note of a song you love or play a lot. The first time I started remembering a pitch was when my high school marching band was repping the first part of our competitive show over and over. The song was "Caravan" and the first note is C. I was telling people "we're starting again back at 🎶C....🎶" and realized I was singing a C, even after a break, and even the next day.

For a while I was using C as my reference point and then using relative pitch (knowing what a fifth sounds like, etc) to find the other notes. But soon, I had a song for each note, and each one learned got easier.

Like Saxologic, I recognize that some people are born with or develop very early a finely tuned perfect pitch, and we probably can't compete with that. But we can remember pitches and develop associations with them. And pitch is not just some abstract idea - it’s a physical process, from the different ear hair cells in your cochlea that detect different frequencies, to the neural pathways in your brain that physically strengthen when one sensory input frequently triggers another. This is pitch memory. And if you can remember pitches quickly and indefinitely, I struggle to find a definition of “perfect pitch” that doesn’t include you.

It’s almost certainly true that this ability is easier to develop at a young age, when the brain is more malleable. And if your brain latches on to pitch early, you can make exponential progress, like those kids who hear cluster chords and instantly hear all the notes. But my friend developed perfect pitch at 25, and mine is still getting better. It’s not too late, and the best time to start learning something new is now.

[ethansmithmusic]

“alright that was just for my thumbnail”
**doesnt use that pic in the thumbnail**

[TrustmeimexperienceD]

you could easily play Owen Wilson in his future 
biopic

[rossedge]

This is actually the first time I’ve never heard of the concept of true pitch before, but I know for certain I’ve only memorized notes based off the timbres of the notes on saxophone. Thank you for answering one of the biggest mysteries I’ve had with music the last few years!

[souldreamer]

I once had a lead singer with perfect pitch, but no musical ear. We practiced a song in F#. We later decided to transpose it to F. With the band playing in F, the lead singer still sang the song in F#, and he could not “hear” that it sounded wrong. In his brain he sang correctly because he sang the notes he had learned. For most humans, singing a semitone out of key to the band is an impossible feat. He didn’t know he had perfect pitch, until I discovered it. I hear he sings in musicals now.

[Musicrafter]

Even perfect pitch itself is stratified into tiers:

Tier 1: can identify single notes instantly.
Tier 2: can identify common tonal chords instantly.
Tier 3: can identify arbitrary collections of 2-4 notes instantly.
Tier 4: can identify basic chords in their harmonic context instantly (i.e. "this is Fr6+")
God tier: can identify large stacked polychords and clusters instantly.

Poor me is a bit below Tier 2. My composition teacher is on Tier 3. A conductor in an orchestra I once played in was on Tier 4. Rick Beato's kid is on God tier.

[dylantrochsler]

It would’ve been more impressive if you played the banging on the keyboard

[NormalLunk]

After four years of band class I think I have a concert Bb memorized just from tuning it so much.

[chrispotter]

Bro you’ve got great content and your videos have such unique, comedic style. I love these videos, and I appreciate the amount of thought and effort you put in to them

[martifingers]

Energy, enthusiasm, actually humility, clarity, knowledge and skill. And good humour too. Thanks for this.

[urmum]

My brother has perfect pitch and sees colors and I’m just here

[PickinNgrinin]

This is so encouraging! It's always tempting to get discouraged when we compare ourselves to other musicians. The cop out is to say to ourselves that they are musical freaks who can make their instrument do whatever they want by virtue of being who they are, and that we just don't have the skill. But the truth is that doing music well takes work. It's like mastering a language. You have to challenge yourself, push yourself to learn new musical vocabulary and to make your playing more colorful. It CAN be done! We just have to be willing to put in the work.

[munzutai]

I think this is kind of similar, I memorized concert C by just singing it a lot and remembering how it feels in the throat.

[euclidera]

I'd like to add to the great advice in this video, for anyone still having trouble remembering the timbre of the instrument: associate the notes with songs you know, specifically the first note of the song.
For instance, if I have any trouble remembering the timbre of the G note on the guitar, I'll sing Wet Sand (which opens with a very clear G chord) by the RHCP in my head, and very quickly I'll recall how the G sounds. You can do this with endless songs you know very well.

[themusicmega]

bro I've been doing this shit for years but never realized what I was doing. great vid