Perfect Pitch?

taygull · #1 03-09-2003, 01:07 AM

What do you (fellow TGFer's) think about the cd set in the back of Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Perfect Pitch.

Have any of you purchased this, it is expensive! Does it work, help, etc..

Just curious. I have a tough time hearing songs in my head. If I put a cd in I can sing along in tune with the vocalist. If I had to just start singing by myself, kareoke, or trying to play the song on my axe I can't seem to find the notes.

I've been playing less than a year and even on the simple songs playing along with the cd I have not mastered singing and strumming.

How do you overcome hitting the correct notes without singing along with someone?

Does anyone else find it impossible to sing happy birthday. Everyone is singing in a different key, some of them are not in any key!

anothersmith · #2 03-09-2003, 07:55 PM

Taygull - there's a thread about this in Open Mic right now. (You have to log in with your password to access the Open Mic section, in case you didn't know.) The bottom line is no one in the forum has tried it yet, but one person has bought it and said it looks good. An e-bay seller raved about it, but you have to take that with a grain of salt.

Cheers,
Sandy

architectx · #3 03-10-2003, 07:36 AM

Doyle Dyke's definition of perfect pitch:

"When a banjo is pitched 50' into an empty dumptser"

He used to play with Grandpa Jones, and loves banjos, but I thought it was kind of funny.

ME@VT · #4 03-10-2003, 12:01 PM

It was my impression that people were only BORN with perfect pitch and couldn't attain perfect pitch through practice.

I don't want to chance wasting the money on the CD's... read around on the net and see what others have said about it. If it seems like it could help you, take the chance

Worst that could happen is you lose a few bucks on some drink coasters.

Devon

mapletrees · #5 03-10-2003, 12:54 PM

I'll say it again....(see other thread)

Ear Training is for real....

it is taught in every music department of every college and university...JUST GO LOOK

it's nothing new...

it's not the big new secret to wealth, success, and happiness...

it won't give you shiny white teeth and fresh minty breath...

I would be a bit cautious of something that advertises itself like an infomercial with claims of 'perfect pitch'

they might be wonderful books....

they might suck barf nuggets...

Daddy, you must start hanging out with older kids....I insist...

hum and find, hum and find, hum and find....

do just like you did when you were a baby...

start with sounds...then move to very short phrases...

hum and find, hum and find....

CDT...is your kazoo canary yellow or mustard yellow?

CDT · #6 03-28-2003, 01:29 PM

canary...

pretty cool how you saw me reading this..i hadn't responded before lol...

ok..hum and find...got it..

hey, i wouldn't buy this package..anyone seen the dude in the magazine ad? he looks like a canary flew up his rear end lol..

nhsmitty · #7 03-29-2003, 01:25 AM

question.. Other than an accurate banjo toss.. What is perfect pitch?? You hear notes and can name them without an instrument to compare them to? Does perfect pitch mean you can play any piece of music by ear?? Is it the same as playing by ear??

I can find notes by ear to some lead parts but I'm working on that. The faster the lead part, the more difficult it is. I can find chords by ear, or at least the root note and then I may have to work it out further if it is minor/7th/or whatever. As I practice more, picking things out by ear gets easier.. Am I on the road to perfect pitch with my practice??

The best thing that happened to me years ago was a friend showed me barre chords and said to listen to AC/DC and play around with them to match the chords.. That's when I learned to at least find root notes and go from there. Before that I was no good at picking out songs by ear..

So yes, I believe one can develop the ear through practice. Yes, I think some people are born with great ears and have to apply little effort to playing by ear. But what does perfect pitch mean??

12strings · #8 04-03-2003, 08:46 AM

Perfect pitch is not the same as playing by ear.

Perfect pitch as defined by most people is the ability to both name pitches when they are heard without a reference point, and to be able to sing pitches when given the name. (for example my buddy who has perfect pitch: i can say, "hey, i need an E", and he can just sing an E. ) He can also tell us the pitches of things like fire alarms, feedback screams, and other various sounds.

Obviously this does help him greatly when playing by ear, BUT...

what you have described is relative pitch. once you have a reference point, you can find other notes fairly easily.

when you know what key a song is in, you can pick up quickly what notes and chords will come next. much of this is because you've been doing it for a while and lots of songs follow the same patterns. I don't think just playing by ear will give you perfect pitch, but it will help your relative pitch.

I rely on my relative pitch when i play guitar and piano. If I know a song, i can play it. But i can't sight-read worth squat. My pianist friends can't stand that i can just play a song if i hear it. but at the same time they can play anything i put in front of them, and that makes me jealous. but i'm off on a tangent...

hope this helps.

-andrew

micalal · #9 04-05-2003, 12:00 AM

perfect pitch can also be a curse. i know a man with perfect pitch so if a piano or guitar is tuned a quarter or eighth step off it about drives him nuts. this guy always played piano at our family camps when i was young. my mom and dad used to sing once in a while (with guitar) and this guy would just start playing along. this didn't go over well with my dad so he would often tune his guitar a quarter step or so off.

sometimes it's better not to be perfect

bradley dr20 · #10 04-08-2003, 02:05 AM

My mom has perfect pitch. She plays piano. It's funny because if my guitar is a little off she'll leave the room

But she can name any note or combination of notes that I play, on guitar, piano, anything.

She says she's losing it in her old age, however. Is that common? She's only 45...

Gecko · #11 04-08-2003, 11:21 AM

About 1 in 10,000 people have perfect pitch. It's quite rare. It is a natural ability to instantly recognize pitch. Everyone has some degree of pitch perception and if you work at it, you can improve your ability to recognize and reproduce pitch. Singers can improve their pitch with practice. Likewise, with training, most people can improve their recognition of pitch (someone plays a note of the guitar and you correctly identify it).

Those with perfect pitch recognize it instantly. It really is quite freaky. Jeff Martin of the Canadian band The Tea Party has perfect pitch. He tunes his guitar by ear and he can also calibrate his guitar tech's tuners (his techs have to use tuners). Really nuts...