Everything Piano | Piano Sheet Music

What Is Absolute Pitch?

Do You Have Absolute Pitch?

Absolute Pitch, or Perfect Pitch, is the ability to name or reproduce a tone with nothing but your mind.

To master absolute pitch does not mean that YOU must be an accomplished concert pianist or composer. In fact, absolute pitch can be demonstrated by reproducing that tone on an instrument, rather than just verbally stating the note. So, someone who has completely learned music unprofessionally (by ear, for example) with no musical notation, can still exhibit absolute pitch.

People who have mastered absolute pitch have the ability to do the following, without any reference to an external source:

• Identify, by name, individual pitches (e.g. A, B, C#) played on various instruments
• Name the key of a given piece of tonal music just by listening (without reference to an external tone)
• Identify and name all the tones of a given chord or other tonal mass
• Sing a given pitch without an external reference
• Name the pitches of common everyday noises such as car horns

Many musicians may possess both absolute pitch and relative pitch, varying in different degrees. Both work together to help individuals listen and practice their music.

What Is Relative Pitch?

Relative Pitch can mean a number of things. A person who has achieved relative pitch recognition may be able to:

• Identify the distance between a musical note from a certain point of reference, for example, “three octaves above Middle C”
• Identify the intervals between certain tones, no matter what their relation to concert pitch may be
• Correctly sing a melody as they follow musical notation, by pitching each note in that melody as followed by is distance from the previous note
• Alternatively, hear a melody for the first time and name the notes that are relative to a specific known initial pitch.

Blech, Sounds Complicated! How Can It Help Me Anyway?

Yes, it does sound complicated, and I know that you’re wondering how mastering absolute pitch and relative pitch might really help you, considering it’s highly unlikely that you are a professional concert pianist or composer of music. (If you are, then wow! That’s amazing!)

Some people believe that one must be born with the talent of absolute and relative pitch. According to some, there is a “gene” that some individuals are born with absolute and relative pitch. However, absolute pitch is a cognitive function, and therefore must be learned.

So, what can YOU do after you have mastered absolute and relative pitch? You will be able to:

• Hear your favorite song on the radio and be able to create your very own arrangement on the piano, completely by ear
• Take easy piano pieces and add your very own notes and chord progressions to make it sound more advanced
• Understand the structure of musical notation much better and you will find that your learning abilities will improve and quicken because your mind will understand the chord progressions and patterns of the music
• Allow you to master the amazing skill of improvising! Great for jazz and ragtime pieces
• Write your own musical pieces
• Help with transposing a particular piece to a more attractive key, or adding a dramatic key change to a self-composed piece (for example, transposing one piece originally written in C Major to D Major)

Want To Learn More?

If you are seriously interested in working toward mastering absolute and relative pitch, do not get discouraged from all the hype about needing to be “born with the gene.” Honestly, anyone can achieve perfect pitch recognition, and that’s the real truth.

I advise you to check out the Pure Pitch Method, which is a highly effective absolute pitch and relative pitch training kit. Click the link below to learn more about mastering absolute and relative pitch!

Click Here To Learn More About Absolute Pitch And Relative Pitch