The Perfect Pitch Test

[Lucien]

My computer won't let me play the sounds, but from what it looks like I know I'll get 12/12. Having played the upright bass for 6 years, I know exactly what G, D, A, and E sound like, and I use those 4 notes as reference to find any others.


So I have acquired perfect pitch? 

You can't acquire true perfect pitch, but you might just have perfect pitch, and have memorized those particular notes. Or maybe you just have a well trained pitch memory.

This seems a bit more likely.

[Kotowboy]

I know for a fact I don't have perfect pitch but through training I have really good relative pitch.

I started playing guitar aged 15 and learned to play songs by ear.

On my music degree - one of my tutors who had perfect pitch said I had really good hearing for music and I should try and develop it.

[rumborak]

It always struck me that perfect pitch is more of a hindrance than a benefit. It would be like constantly noticing that you didn't start facing north every time you dance.

[BlobVanDam]

It always struck me that perfect pitch is more of a hindrance than a benefit. It would be like constantly noticing that you didn't start facing north every time you dance.

It's much more of a pro than a con (once you've trained yourself to utilize it of course), although there are certain situations where it can be a hindrance compared to not having it.

I find humming/recalling something in a different key more difficult than someone who isn't pitch perfect, because my mind is trained to recall it in the original key. Even with the great sense of relative key, it can be jarring to shift it on the fly. I can do it easily enough, but it just requires a more conscious effort.
Whereas a normal person remembers it in relative terms rather than absolute, so it's much more natural for them to do so.

Also it makes it painful to watch PAL region movies.

Aside from that, it's mostly very helpful, as long as you have the musical knowledge to support it. There are situations where I don't know how people do without it.

[Lucien]

It always struck me that perfect pitch is more of a hindrance than a benefit. It would be like constantly noticing that you didn't start facing north every time you dance.

It's much more of a pro than a con (once you've trained yourself to utilize it of course), although there are certain situations where it can be a hindrance compared to not having it.

I find humming/recalling something in a different key more difficult than someone who isn't pitch perfect, because my mind is trained to recall it in the original key. Even with the great sense of relative key, it can be jarring to shift it on the fly. I can do it easily enough, but it just requires a more conscious effort.
Whereas a normal person remembers it in relative terms rather than absolute, so it's much more natural for them to do so.

Also it makes it painful to watch PAL region movies.

Aside from that, it's mostly very helpful, as long as you have the musical knowledge to support it. There are situations where I don't know how people do without it.

I'm constantly nagging at my brother if he's humming something I know and it's in the wrong key. Just one of my pet peeves. I always remember a song in its original key. I guess I am perfect pitch?

[BlobVanDam]

It always struck me that perfect pitch is more of a hindrance than a benefit. It would be like constantly noticing that you didn't start facing north every time you dance.

It's much more of a pro than a con (once you've trained yourself to utilize it of course), although there are certain situations where it can be a hindrance compared to not having it.

I find humming/recalling something in a different key more difficult than someone who isn't pitch perfect, because my mind is trained to recall it in the original key. Even with the great sense of relative key, it can be jarring to shift it on the fly. I can do it easily enough, but it just requires a more conscious effort.
Whereas a normal person remembers it in relative terms rather than absolute, so it's much more natural for them to do so.

Also it makes it painful to watch PAL region movies.

Aside from that, it's mostly very helpful, as long as you have the musical knowledge to support it. There are situations where I don't know how people do without it.

I'm constantly nagging at my brother if he's humming something I know and it's in the wrong key. Just one of my pet peeves. I always remember a song in its original key. I guess I am perfect pitch?

Judging from that, I would be inclined to think that you are pitch perfect.

[Kotowboy]

I'm not pitch perfect but I know when i'm not singing a song in the right key.

It just doesn't *feel* right.

I think i'm just used to hearing certain chords so I can tell what they are.

[jsem]

My computer won't let me play the sounds, but from what it looks like I know I'll get 12/12. Having played the upright bass for 6 years, I know exactly what G, D, A, and E sound like, and I use those 4 notes as reference to find any others.


So I have acquired perfect pitch? 

If you know instantly what keys certain song is in, then you have perfect pitch.

I mean, I know pretty much from memorization what an E, G etc sound like, but I could never be 100% sure. Sometimes the pitch is off on some recordings by a quarter tone, and I wouldn't notice that. People with perfect pitch would definitely notice.

My singing voice is very limited on the lower range, and my lowest note is a G2. If I sing a G2 quietly, I can figure out what key something is in using relative pitch. Maybe you can do the same with the bass string notes as relative points.