Perfect Pitch – Is it possible?

The terms “perfect pitch” or “absolute pitch” are well know to most musicians and are looked upon as great attributes possessed by only a select few. In reality, “it isn’t all that great”! As a member of this so called select few, I can speak from experience that, although at times it can be helpful, the inability to turn it on and off does cause problems.

Advantages of Perfect or Absolute Pitch

Photo Credit: timsnell on Flickr

The following activities are made easier for a person with Perfect Pitch-

1. Centering notes- With Perfect Pitch, you see and feel your notes before you play them and as a result, you are playing in the center of every note, or at least what you hear in your inner ear as being the center of the note.
2. Recognizing modulations- As you hear the pivotal or modulatory notes begin to change tonality you are led to correct pitch through your inner ear which makes playing the wrong note nearly impossible.
3. Playing in tune- With a well grounded center to your pitch reference, your intonation can only be affected by constant intonation problems overriding your natural ability.
4. Performing jazz improvisation- “If you can hear it, you can play it” (within reason).
5. Playing tunes “by ear”- “If you can sing it, you can play it” (within reason).
6. Composing music- When you visualize the note on the page, you can hear it.
7. Harmonizing melodies- While looking at a melody, the harmonic choices can be heard instantly in your head.
8. Sight singing- Before you sing a note, that pitch is sounded in your head.
9. Memorizing written musical material- You are led by the pitch, not the written note.
10. Accuracy on difficult entrances- Unusual intervals are no problem for you hear them before you play them.
11. Transcribing solos- Every note comes to you instantly. You are only limited by your retention of the sequence of these notes.
12. Repeating notes played by someone else (imitation)- You can repeat their notes as fast as they play them (within reason).

Disadvantages of Perfect Pitch (Absolute Pitch)

The following activities are made more difficult for a person with Perfect Pitch

1. Listing to someone out of tune- You have to leave the room. If someone or something is out of tune, I have to leave the room. I first break out in sweat and start fidgeting in my seat. If I remain, withinseconds my throat will tighten to the point that I will literally loose my voice. If they are way out of tune, it doesn’t bother me as much as it annoys me.
2. Trying to perform with someone out of tune- You develop physical and mental tension.
3. Playing on an out of tune instrument- Impossible to play if really out of tune.
4. Listening to any pitched sound  and knowing what pitch it is- Never ending practice.
5. Having Perfect Pitch in one key and reading music in another- Mind boggling until you get used to it.
6. Having to transpose notes from a non-concert pitch to a concert pitch- Takes work and is a big inconvenience and at times becomes confusing.
7. Having developed Perfect Pitch only within the range of your own instrument- A small area is very accurate but beyond your instruments range, it doesn’t work at all.

How I First Learned that I Suffered From Perfect Pitch

My first experience with Perfect Pitch happen during ear training sight singing class in my first semester of college. My professor would give us our weekly melodic dictation exercise and every day I would fail. I was missing every single note on every single test every single week. One day after class my professor asked me to stay after class to discuss my failing tests. He began playing notes on the piano and asked me what note was played. After each of my responses, he told me  I was wrong. This went on for another ten minutes until the light finally went on in his head.

Every note I named was exactly two half steps off. You would think this consistency could have been detected sooner! Then he shared with me the fact that I had perfect pitch, in Bb not concert C. From that point on, I never missed another note in melodic dictation. I eventually recognized the note in Bb and transposed it into concert before I entered my answer.

How I Developed Perfect Pitch in the First Place

My development of Perfect Pitch began when I was in the fourth grade. During those two years….. (That’s another story) I began playing the cornet in Moline, Illinois. I took to the instrument quickly and in a short time I was the featured cornet soloist with the Moline Boys Choir under the leadership of Dr. Fredrick Swanson. Every week our choir would give concerts and on many occasions I would play either Handel’s Let the Bright Seraphim or the Battle Hymn of the Republic. From that exposure I became a playing musician and to prepare myself for this questionable occupation, I practiced every day.

Much of my practice time was give to playing along with stacks and stacks of 78 rpm records. My selection was limited to what was in the house which led me to the memorization of every trumpet solo Harry James, Clyde McCoy or other such players were in my parent’s collection. Fortunately for me, Bix Beiderbecke was also in my collection. The neighborhood was filled every day with the sound of the trumpet greats as well as that of a skinny, red haired cornet player. My “play along with the greats” would last for hours at a time and gradually I became proficient at stealing every note and nuance from my heroes coming out of my HI-FI record player. That is how I developed my Perfect Pitch. Some may question if Perfect Pitch can be learned, to which I would say, “didn’t you read what I just wrote?”

Perfect Pitch is Seen, Heard and Felt

A person with Perfect Pitch goes through the same process every time they read music or improvise a phrase. If reading written music, the first sensation for the player is to visualize the note and in doing so, triggers a sensation of hearing the note in the inner ear or brain, after that, the fingers react by that pitch with a corresponding sensation of what it would feel like fingering that note.  The reaction speed is incredible and completely involuntary. The see, hear, feel sequence is amazing and with practice can be developed. The speed and level of achievement will differ among individuals as in any thing else but improvement can happen.

It is interesting to note that the consistency and accuracy of my pitch recognition is affected by several conditions.

1. Pitch recognition is best if I’m holding my instrument- When I feel my fingers resting on my valves, my fingers immediately go to the correct fingering of the designated pitch.
2. If I have been working in the music sequencing program Finale for continued periods of time, I tend to drift between Bb center and concert pitch center.
3. If I’m physically tired, I‘m less accurate.
4. If the ensemble I am playing in is tuned off A=440, I struggle with accuracy.
5. Playing on different pitched trumpets will through me off for a short period of time.
6. Transposing parts sometimes lessens my accuracy for a short length of time.
7. I struggle with any notes below the normal range of the trumpet.

Now that you have learned a little more about Perfect Pitch or Absolute Pitch, you might be interested in finding out how you can develop this skill. In part 2 (How to Learn Perfect Pitch) of this posting, I will cover ways to improve your skills in this area. Not everyone has the ability to develop 100% accuracy in this area but you will improve and that is worth a few minutes of practice each day.

In tomorrow’s post, I will talk about how you can develop perfect pitch.