Questions tagged [relative-pitch]

Relative pitch is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note by comparing it to a reference note by identifying the function of a given pitch and/or identifying the interval between those two notes. Relative pitch is often used in contrast to absolute pitch, or the ability to know pitches without reference to any other pitches.

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Isn’t pitch memorization almost as valuable as absolute pitch?

I think a high majority of people are capable of singing songs in the original key and singing the correct notes. Taking it a step further, wouldn’t paying attention to the name of notes that we ...
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Perfect Pitch: Are tones recognizable by themselves or only in comparison with another tone?

Are the frequencies C4 260hz and A4 440hz actually noticeably different to someone with “perfect pitch”. I ask myself, What did they learn differently growing up to notice the difference in these ...
Lecifer's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
888 views

Typical pitch interval of the exclamation "uh-oh!" [closed]

When one encounters a problem, one might exclaim "uh-oh!" What is the typical pitch interval between "uh" and "oh"? The absolute pitches of "uh" and "oh&...
notmySOaccount's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
551 views

Perfect Pitch vs Relative Pitch, which is Considered Better [closed]

I have a question here about Perfect and Relative pitch. So basically, my friends have been arguing about which of Perfect and Relative pitch is better, but I cannot decide. Perfect Pitch can make you ...
Cheese Cake's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
41 views

What is the piano melody to this song [closed]

in the beat of Distance by Beast Coast, I think the first note is a D# but I'm not sure about the others.
8i7ty8's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
666 views

How can I learn to sing swaras (notes) correctly without an accompanying instrument?

I'm trying to sing swaras correctly without the harmonium or identify a swara when played. But I'm finding it very hard to do. What is the best way to gain mastery over swaras so that one can sing ...
Beta's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
525 views

How do I practice relative pitch effectively?

The cause of a lot of my anxiety, and the reason I've been too frustrated to practice music for the last few months, is because I do not have an effective way to work on my relative pitch. I taught ...
コナーゲティ's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
217 views

Relative and absolute tones: does this really make the difference?

Often, in improvisation, you think of the notes of the scale not as the actual notes you are playing but as the notes of the C scale. The concept I'm talking about is that of the movable C, or ...
LeoAn's user avatar
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2 answers
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Why is absolute pitch so fetished/sought after in the Western music world? [closed]

I often come across accomplished musicians with good relative pitch (can figure out melodies, chord progressions) beating themselves up for not having absolute pitch. In general, reading people's ...
abelian's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
210 views

Is this an F below middle C? (check my relative pitch estimation plus my math)

I'm listening to a "tone" and estimating its frequency and need some help checking both my relative pitch estimation and my math. In this noisy part of this video the Mars helicopter ...
uhoh's user avatar
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1 answer
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Why do I have more ease with the higher pitches?

There is something I always had, but then I realized now it is also affecting languages: First, I do not have perfect pitch, but I can recognize the common intervals if I pay attention. And, my last ...
Thomas's user avatar
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6 answers
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Relative Pitch and Solfege

Can one teach themself relative pitch by using solfege? Any tips or recommendations that I can implement in my journey to learning relative pitch? I understand fixed and moveable do already. Just ...
BLG's user avatar
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9 votes
6 answers
400 views

Why is it easier to remember a melody as opposed to a simple interval? [duplicate]

There's already a question similar to this here, but most of the answers raise questions like, "If you can throw an object a certain distance but not tell precisely how far you threw it, how do ...
ApplePieGiraffe's user avatar
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2 answers
96 views

Perfect or Relative Pitch? [duplicate]

I am wondering whether I simply have relative pitch, or some sort of pitch memory that is well developed. I can sing any note without a reference pitch that is sounded aloud, but does it count if I ...
ivy's user avatar
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21 votes
9 answers
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Is it possible to have perfect pitch but zero sense of relative pitch?

I'm sure that most musicians have a good sense of relative pitch. Given the name of a well-known song and a starting note, they can sing it in that key, whether or not it is the original key. I have ...
chasly - supports Monica's user avatar
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2 answers
2k views

Sometimes I naturally sing songs in the right key. Do I have perfect (absolute) pitch?

Sometimes I'll be singing a song, and then I'll play a recording and discover I was singing in the same key. Does this mean I have perfect pitch?
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Can someone have perfect/relative pitch without knowing it?

Hey so I've been in music for about 7 years now and it's gotten to the point where I've developed actual skill. I principle French Horn and second Trumpet (with self taught guitar on the side that ...
Dawsen James Van Ede's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
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What part of the sound of notes to focus on while ear training to correctly identify notes?

I am using different instruments from my Keyboard to do ear training. In practicing ear training, i have learnt from the forums here that I should focus and pay attention to the pitch of the note. ...
Bodhi's user avatar
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3 answers
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Finding intervals on an instrument vs. naming them

I would like to piggyback on this question: If someone can sing a melody, why can they not also recognize the intervals within that melody? The OP is asking why it is easy to sing a song we know, ...
Thomas's user avatar
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28 votes
11 answers
5k views

If someone can sing a melody, why can they not also recognize the intervals within that melody?

Surely everyone who struggles with relative pitch already has in-built relative pitch, so why is it so hard to actually recognise intervals? What I mean is from a child I (and most other people I ...
smotala1's user avatar
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5 answers
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Do Musicians Who are Trained on Other Instruments Automatically Acquire Singing Ability?

I watched a guitarist on YouTube discuss some concept about harmony, and he played a note and sang an interval above. He prefaced with "now, I am not a good singer but...", and proceeded to sing notes ...
Alan's user avatar
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10 votes
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Perfect pitch on only one instrument? [duplicate]

So I was wondering if, theoretically, it would be possible to have perfect pitch only on one instrument. For a bit of background, I grew up as a Suzuki cello student and thus have been playing the ...
Jackalope's user avatar
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2 answers
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What is the term for people who sing lower pitch?

Coming from this question link I am looking for the English term for this singers: They might be able to sing in tune, but they sing always too low low pitch - singing only with the breast voice). In ...
Albrecht Hügli's user avatar
6 votes
6 answers
353 views

Why do humans have relative pitch?

Why does the brain learn to form a strong connection between some pitches and other pitches like having the internal sense that two notes are a fifth apart?
Timothy's user avatar
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16 votes
6 answers
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Do we have any particular tonal center in mind when we are NOT listening music?

Let say I sing or play song in C major. I feel that C note as home, or in other words, it has the quality of the tonic note for me. I stop playing the song. After 24 hours or any longer period, ...
Kudryavtsev Dmitry's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
4k views

Sometimes I hear a top note that isn't there. Is this related to Harmonics?

When I try to copy a tune or watch other people play the piano, I sometimes hear a note that isn't there. Especially top note is the case. My teacher said that it is related to harmonics, told me that ...
Victoria's user avatar
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10 votes
7 answers
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How can I develop relative pitch if I have perfect pitch?

As someone with perfect pitch, I can do the usual things associated with perfect pitch such as name a note instantly without a reference note, name the key, and name a chord. Sight-singing comes ...
DiscreteElite_'s user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Do I have perfect pitch or good pitch memory?

So I started learning music theory this January 2019, I've learned very quickly from basic to advanced because I've been playing guitar (self-taught) for 9 years... I can now identify any interval by ...
user58503's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
273 views

Having learnt all the intervals by ear, how does one learn whole melodies? [duplicate]

This might seem like an easy step, but having learned how to recognise all the intervals upto an octave: ascending, descending and harmonically, how does one figure out a melody by ear? I can pick out ...
Jack Griffiths's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
1k views

Transcribing as music and relative pitch practice?

I've read some good transcriptions recently and watched transcribe videos from 8-Bit Music Theory on YouTube and I was thinking if it's considered to be a good relative-pitch / interval / music ...
atanii's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
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Is relative pitch trainable from scratch?

I know perfect pitch is not obtainable for adults (I'm over 20.) and I accepted it, okay. I even watched Rick Beato's video about it (youtube.com/watch?v=816VLQNdPMM) and read about it on the internet....
atanii's user avatar
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2 answers
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is it possible to learn instrument based perfect pitch?

Perfect pitch is impossible to learn especially since I'm 19 years old but I have heard of people who developed perfect pitch on their instruments. For example, Aimee Nolte is able to listen to the ...
Sky Star's user avatar
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5 votes
3 answers
218 views

Absolute/relative pitch?

For a few years now, I've been trying to achieve some sort of absolute pitch. I realise it'll most likely never happen, but several times a day, as I walk past a musical instrument, I'll sing a ...
Tim's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
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How can I tell if I have good relative pitch or if I am just familiar with scales

I have been playing guitar for over 10 years now, and for more than half of those years I have studied under a tutor in order to force myself to learn new techniques and genres of music (everything ...
James Whiteley's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
77 views

Perfect, Absolute, Relative Pitch [duplicate]

I've seen many quizzes on "perfect pitch and do you have it"? They all play sounds and ask you to name it. But perfect pitch or not wouldn't one have to have some music training to know the designated ...
Abe's user avatar
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8 votes
5 answers
2k views

Recognizing intervals without interval songs?

I would love to know all my intervals by ear but where ever I search for help it says to learn interval songs e.g. Jaws theme for minor 2nd. I find this to be pretty ineffective honestly. I don't hear ...
Raymond Visconti's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
1k views

Eartraining: What to learn after mastering interval recognition? [duplicate]

(This is for relative pitch, absolute pitch gods please don't descend from heaven) I've been learning to recognize intervals for the past year or so, and I have to say I'm very good at it. (Mostly by ...
Nelo's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
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How does ear training help me find the key of a song?

I want to understand how ear training to identify different intervals helps me figure out what notes are in a song, and what key it's in.
n00B's user avatar
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9 votes
5 answers
12k views

What is the difference between perfect pitch, pitch memorization and relative pitch?

I am confused by these terms. I heard perfect pitch is impossible to learn as an adult, but if you memorize all twelve notes in the chromatic scale in whichever octave, isn't that perfect pitch? If it ...
n00B's user avatar
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5 votes
5 answers
4k views

Is absolute pitch acquired by training, genetic or both? And if possible, is it much harder than relative pitch?

I have heard many different views of people that absolute pitch is ONLY acquired by training, ONLY by genetics, by genetics but also possible with training or ONLY both. But what is the truth? ...
user46792's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
218 views

Hearing Intervals In A Song

Any tips on hearing the intervals that make up the particular sections of a song? I find it easy to identify intervals when I'm listening to them by themselves however when listening to songs in real ...
Bryant Lewis's user avatar
35 votes
11 answers
26k views

Why do people with perfect pitch perceive tunes not in 440 Hz out of tune?

I do not have perfect pitch, but I heard that people who have it might have difficulty when a piece of music is not tuned to the usual 440 Hz pitch standard; it sounds out of tune for them. But this ...
StefanH's user avatar
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2 votes
4 answers
276 views

What level of pitch interval perception is typically necessary for a child to be considered to have some aptitude for violin study?

I've been a multi-instrumentalist for most of my 40+ years, and with violin as my first instrument, I take for granted an acute sense of relative pitch. My seven-year-old daughter's school has ...
Bacs's user avatar
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4 votes
4 answers
1k views

How can I learn to recognize intervals larger than an octave?

How can I learn to recognize intervals larger than an octave (compound intervals)? I recognize them in the limits of a single octave, but make mistakes when hearing larger ones. Perhaps it's because I ...
VassiaAlk's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
825 views

How important is pitch perception ability in musical creativity?

There are a few online tests that give you a measure of your pitch perception ability (such as the jake mandell tone deaf test). I took the test and I scored a 67% in my first attempt and 77% in my ...
Rana Prathap's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
1k views

Which Blues notes are deliberately flattened?

@slim mentioned in this answer that: In Blues music for example, some notes are deliberately flattened -- but others are not, and a listener with experience of the Blues would still spot badly ...
Doktor Mayhem's user avatar
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3 votes
4 answers
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Is there a term for learned "perfect" pitch?

When I was about 11 years old, my music teacher tried to test me and started playing notes on the piano, expecting me to name them. I knew he was trying to see if I had perfect pitch, but I got them ...
RefTyphoon's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Requesting useful suggestions on ear training, for developing perfect RELATIVE pitch [duplicate]

For those of you that care about it, how do YOU remember all your intervals? As more intervals have become second nature to me, its been a huge advantage in both creative soloing/composing, and for ...
Randy's user avatar
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32 votes
6 answers
2k views

Is there a Relative Pitch Clef?

To start out: I am more-or-less familiar with all the standard musical clef notations, including F, C, and G clefs; as well as the fact that clefs can be movable (tenor clef, french violin clef...) ...
Caleb Hines's user avatar
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9 votes
3 answers
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Feasibility of practising music for a person who are almost tone deaf?

I've always had trouble with relative pitch and hearing music in general. When I was younger I couldn't tell you if it was a major or a minor chord I was hearing (when other people seemed to be fully ...
kqr's user avatar
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