I just thought I`d let the word out, because ever since I found out about 4 years ago, all the band students at my school have been incredibly jealous of me.

I am getting rather tired of this, and I really want to know if there`s anyone else out there!!

erm, you really like telling people that don`t you

anyways, no, i can tell if someone is off key, but i can`t even tell what note is being played if i hear it. LOL! i haven`t trained my ears enough

Nope, but I have relative pitch, which is where by using intervals, I can tell what pitch is being played. For example, if someone plays a C, then plays a mystery note, I know exactly what that mystery note was. If you take out the C though, then I`m completely lost.

I have nearly perfect pitch. I can identify the notes being played, but if it gets incredibly complex, dissonant and chromatic I have trouble identifying the pitches in the harmony.

I have perfect pitch. I am 24 years old and I learned it starting a month ago. Now I can have my friends play me notes and I`ll tell them what note it is no problem and I don`t need a reference note to do it. Having learned it, I can prove that it is not something you are "magically born with" although some people happen to have a natural ablitity for hearing music this way. The truth is, that perfect pitch and relative pitch work together and both are vital skills (but not necessary, of course). Learning it is much like learning relative pitch, it takes time, practice and consistancy and MANY MISTAKES. Mistakes and questions are the only way we learn. Simply - perfect and relative pitch are opposites and compliment one another and work together. If you go to prolobe.com you can learn perfect pitch. Do not try to suppress your natural tendency for using relative pitch when learning, this will only hold you back when trying to break old habits and form new ones.

To add - it is not yes or no. There are levels and both ways of hearing are in constant development. Food for thought.... Anyone can learn it.

umm question: will it make you go crazy becuse every time you listent o your favourite music you end up examining the chords and what key it`s in instead?

No - if you don`t want to analyzed the chords, then there`s nothing in your mind that "makes you do it by force" that I am aware of. As far as I know you are the only one who can make you go crazy.

AIM is deansays - I`m always down to chat about anything sound.

Well that`s a surprise to me! I thought it was something you were born with!

It worked out completely different for me, though. I started taking piano lessons at age 7 (am 16 now), and I didn`t have any bad habits to break. It kind of fits into the "clean slate" analogy.

Even after taking piano lessons for about 5 years, I didn`t discover that I had perfect pitch until grade 8 (3 years ago). The guest conductor at summer band camp had a hunch, so she took me aside after rehearsal and played a few notes on the piano. Sure enough, I could name them without looking at the keys.

I also notice that whenever we do intervals in class, a lot of people have trouble with even that. And after 5 years we are still doing the basic major and perfect intervals. Like, whenever my teacher plays some out of whack interval like a tritone, or a minor 9th, everyone gets confused.

That program on prolobe.com looks really cool. I might just check it out and see if I don`t pass everything the first time!

Also:

Jay,

I concur with Dean`s response. Not surprisingly, this is a common question among my musical peers. The simple answer is no, it is a completely voluntary thing. Like if you`re on the bus, and you hear some people talking around you. You can either choose to listen to their conversation, or just go off into headspace and daydream.

You should try this prolobe.com thing, Jay. You might learn something.

first off, it`s not something you are born with. some are just better at learning (though there are naturals) than others. There is Perfect pitch and absolute pitch which shouldn`t get mixed up. i have absolute pitch and i guess i`m one of the fortunate ones who didn`t get trained, though i`m sure that if i did get trained, i could always improve. it`s easier learned when young though, and i started playing an instrument when i was 6 so that might ahve something to do with it...it`s not really amazing and nothing people should be jealous of...sometimes it just happens

I know that it`s not all that amazing. All my other musical peers who don`t have absolute pitch think otherwise though. They think I swallowed a tuner for breakfast or something. But then again, they`re not all that smart...

I have a decent pitch; I have heard the clarinets play this chord thng over and over, and on my sax I copy them, it`s kind`of funny. Also, another alto plays a note; I play it, though it annoys them sometimes. Before football games, they have rap going (the simplist music on the earth) and I copied the stupid little piano line almost immediatly, that was pretty funny.

As for analizing the songs, I guess it depends. I do it sub-consiusecly (sry I butchered the spelling) most of the time. It`s kind of fun to analize songs though.

So, you can tell I enjoy it I guess.

hmm ok. cool. i`ll look into it... would be a cool little trick to show friends... `the crazy piano psychic`.. ahaha since no one i know has perfect pitch ¬_¬

Kind of. I can hear a note and say what it is, yes, but I make errors a bit. I do it by playing scales in my head and matching it up. If that makes sense.