Perfect Pitch
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You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
To the musicians on this board,
In your opinion (or experience if you possess it), do you think perfect pitch/absolute pitch is a blessing or a pain overall?
Also, if by some off chance, some of you here have experienced it, how do you find it? I have it and have never spoken to a single soul that also has it.
>>61301055
I'm blessed with perfect pitch. I grew up singing in my church choir, and I can really thank that for why I have it. I don't believe it to be a genetic thing, rather a learned power. I have never needed to sit down and write chords or such, as I can play things by ear.
>>61301126
That's exactly how I feel about it, except on the flip side I find that I can't silence my mind whilst listening to anything that isn't harsh noise due to the analytics.
>>61301126
to add to that, the best way to describe it is taking the most powerful emotions within you and using them to help you with perfect pitch. the way perfect pitch works for me:
if im trying to write a love song, I dont just write a love song. I feel it, the way one might feel the leather in a luxury car or the sun on your skin. its not something you command, such as "I will now feel the leather in the luxury car." no, you just reach your hand out and literally feel it. everything has a note, as a sound, as a feeling, even if in reality it is silent, like forests for example. I know this is weird to understand, but this is how perfect pitch works in some people. its like being dragonborn in skyrim, desu.
>>61301265
When I'm writing music, this is how I get. But like you say, it's not a conscious thing and I really only find myself in spots of great creativity once every two months or so, if that.
It's really frustrating because I get motifs from every other song known to man stuck on loops in my head.
now I know this isnt a soundcloud thread, but I want to show you music made by someone with perfect pitch. I made this song using my emotions and the energy I have within. I partied a lot freshman and sophmore year of college so I wanted to capture that epic trap vibe (the intro) and then mix it with reality and warmth (when the beat drops).
https://soundcloud.com/garrettdavisofficial/gulfstar
TL;DR I mix notes and emotion like I mix paint and then paint a picture.
>>61301397
>>61301265
>>61301126
these are my posts, just so this thread makes more sense. I hope I helped a few out with understanding the crazy complex world of perfect pitch.
>>61301397
I don't know if this is a troll or not, but this is awfully straightforward and emotionless. It sounds like something my 10 years old self would create on Dance eJay 1997.
>>61301413
I'll be honest, it's nice to talk to somebody about it. Like I said, never met anybody with it and haven't spoken to anybody with it before now.
I find it odd that I'm told it's a gift by people without it, but the first person I talk to about it who has it says it's more of a thing you train yourself into, the kind of thing I try to tell others.
>>61301583
I wouldn't go that far.
It has potential musically but the mastering (or apparent lack of) seems to leave a bland taste
my shit used to be the same, but i've been really trying to teach myself how to use some decent tools and I think I'm getting better
not him btw (if you didn't figure that out)
>>61301751
Always remember it is a learned skill which will come to you naturally as you embark on your musical journey through life.
We all watch movies about the heroes journey, but in real life, only few put themselves up to the task of actually taking our own heroes journey. The struggle will be difficult, painstaking, daunting, and there will (not may) come a time when you will think about turning back. My advice: keep walking the path. Crawl the path if you have to. Any way yo can, and when self doubt appears, sprint as far as you can down the path. It is up to you to strive for greatness.
I can pick out like the melody to any song on the piano since I was a little kid. Give me 10-15 mins and I'll give you the whole song back. Still can't read music. What's that called, besides being lazy?
>>61302323
It's called an ego-driven dillusion. I think it might be going around in this thread.
Am I the only musician who doesn't like to make it sound like I have a special ability? Seriously, almost anyone can do this shit. Dame Evelyn Glennie is actually full-on deaf and she is a better musician than you or I will likely ever be
>>61302523
No that's not what I'm saying. I hear what you're saying and it's a fair point. I'm saying I could do it when I was like five. I'm not a musician at all. I just enjoy listening to it.
Like Knives Out is playing right now. I don't know shit about notes and chords. But I could go sit down at the piano and figure out the guitar on my right hand and then do Thoms' voice on my left hand and then put them together with the fills, boom a song. I can do this fast. Is that absolute pitch? Or is that what you're saying, that it's not that fucking hard?
>>61302523
there is a difference between absolute pitch and relative pitch you know
apparently you can't train absolute pitch
I can play almost anything by ear, melodic/harmonic dictation etc etc. I'm especially good with remembering rhythm
However, I can't identify pitch which is like my musical kryptonite. Just, like, horrible at it. If you tell me what pitch you're playing in I can go from there tho.
So I'm cursed....with like half-assed perfect pitch.
You can from not being able to hit a single note to being able to sing a long to simple to intermediate melodies and harmonies.
All you have to do is become familiar with tonality, scales, and what not
>>61301265
>if im trying to write a love song, I dont just write a love song. I feel it, the way one might feel the leather in a luxury car or the sun on your skin.
like a supreme gentleman
>>61301265
I honestly went into this thread not thinking i was gonna be able to contribute anything, but reading your posts makes me think I'm closer to understanding pp than I thought - the bit about everything having a sound, stuff like how even when i was first learning guitar I thought a D major was the designated chord for like, sunshine and happiness and shit. people tell me that i create good atmosphere and ambience in the music i make. maybe this is why. appreciate ya posts anon
>>61302842
Would just like to add , getting to that level which I described only takes months?
>>61301265
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6laGvKtPZYQ
>>61302860
that guy is just a self loving idiot. just saying.
>people tell me that i create good atmosphere and ambience in the music i make
Oh so this is the culprit. It should have been so obvious.
If you do anything musical at all, expect people to appear impressed. People are stupid and even when they aren't stupid, they're nice and they know to encourage artists. Don't let the praise inflate you too much or you'll end up sounding like the people in this thread.
D major is just a chord, it doesn't sound more like sunshine than any other major chord. The only reason it sounds like sunshine to you in the first place is because of conditioning.
>>61303129
>D major is just a chord, it doesn't sound more like sunshine than any other major chord. The only reason it sounds like sunshine to you in the first place is because of conditioning.
no, it is because of the voicing on guitar with the 3rd as highest note for example. no magic here in any way.
>>61303196
You have a very poor grasp of the English language. You should just post in your native tongue and perhaps we'll be lucky enough to have some one translate for you.
>>61303244
Now i am sad. One ticket to London please.
>>61301055
My friends seem to think I have it. Although now that I haven't played in awhile, it's gotten a little worse.
It's kind of annoying sometimes, when I was a kid I would always try to find what pitch random things would make, like vacuum cleaners or fans. And now I still feel the need to do this even though I'm a grown-ass man.
It's really handy when I need to transcribe something though.
I'm not sure if I have perfect pitch or anything but I can pretty much pick out the individual notes in a melody instantaneously. I'm not good at telling apart chords or anything, though. Couldn't tell you if it was diminished or augmented or anything, just the notes that stick out. Would taking music theory classes be good?
>>61303496
yeah that's easily trainable.
training perfect pitch is impossible though
>>61301055
I have mild synesthesia, and my perfect pitch arises from this. I know what certain notes are because they have unique colors. It's never been anything overwhelming, just subtle background variations.
I learned I had it in middle school when I realized I could tune my cello with no reference pitches. It's a blessing because I'm always in tune whenever I sing or play my cello, but it's also a curse because if I learn a song or piece in a certain key, modulating becomes impossible. The original key is all I can hear in my head, and if I'm singing in an ensemble that collectively sharps or flats, I have a really difficult time following them to the new pitch and end up sticking out as a result.
