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Perfect Pitch Ad

W

Wade10987

Sep 27, 2011
246
2
38
Tampa, FL
#1
So I have been playing and reading Guitar World and Bass Player for ten years. Every issue has had that same double page ad with the same screaming guy with his red Strat, promising perfect pitch or my money back.

Anybody have any experience with this?

I already searched and did not find a previous thread.
 
#2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_pitch#Nature_vs._nurture

That entry says it's not possible for adults.

I've heard anecdotally of people getting very familiar with a certain tone and using it as a reference to work out other tones using relative pitch. But that's different to absolute pitch I think.

I've tried courses and none of it worked for me. Others may have their own success stories but I've not met anyone yet who's developed it, only people who just have it.
 
#3
Wade10987 said:
So I have been playing and reading Guitar World and Bass Player for ten years. Every issue has had that same double page ad with the same screaming guy with his red Strat, promising perfect pitch or my money back.

Anybody have any experience with this?

I already searched and did not find a previous thread.
Click to expand...

I've known two people with perfect pitch. They were born with it. They were also constantly annoyed.
 
#4
miltslackford said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_pitch#Nature_vs._nurture

That entry says it's not possible for adults.

I've heard anecdotally of people getting very familiar with a certain tone and using it as a reference to work out other tones using relative pitch. But that's different to absolute pitch I think.
Click to expand...

Yup, relative pitch is different, and if someone's good at it, just about as useful as perfect pitch.

I've met a couple of people with perfect pitch. I had a bass teacher who turned his head, told me to play any key, and told me the note within a second. He would teach me how to play songs I wanted to learn off a cd, he'd hear a part once, pause it, and take about 10-20 seconds to figure it out in his head then show me how to play it perfectly. Bastard!
 
#5
i have it. but it was a long time before i realized i had it. i assumed everyone could hear things in their head and then just play them.
it isn`t a big deal when you have it; it is only natural.
a person can develop a high degree of relative pitch which is almost as useful if not equal in practical applications.
 
#6
You are born with perfect pitch, those ads are bull. Just like some people are born color blind. It's been said but you can get good relative pitch which helps hearing chords and intervals but you won't be able to hear the exact pitch like you can see a color.

I haven't done the whole course but going through a bunch of my grandfather's old stuff he had the first tape and some of the paperwork. It was clearly from the early 90's, it was dated. I listened to a bit and read some of the stuff but if seemed to be a waste of time.

I had an ex who had perfect pitch, her choir teacher figured it out when she was young. I didn't believe it so I had her tune a guitar and check it, she was on, I was amazed. It is a pretty neat skill. Apparently it is more common in regions where people use a tonal dialect like Viet Namese.
 
#7
The whole "perfect pitch" thing gets thrown around a lot. I've come across a lot of people who think they have it but really they don't.

When I was in music school there was a guy that could turn his back and you could just drop all ten fingers randomly on the piano, and he would name the notes just like that, top to bottom, bottom to top, whatever. He could "see" the notes plain as day.

In my opinion, if you can't do that then you don't have perfect pitch.
 
#9
Pretty sure my doughter has it. She is 4. Her violin teacher pointed it out to me 6/8 month ago. By the way she asked to play the violin and "get a Teacher" @ 2. My family has a good ear. My brother has what all of his friends and music instructors have called a "magic ear" but I would say he has a very well developed relative pitch. My daughters violin instructor has asked her to sing the notes on the page first thing in the AM. No playing, totally cold, and she will. He was shocked the first time, said he had his suspicions. She has repeats this over and over. With no tape on the fret board she fixes notes if they are the slightest bit sharp/flat. I am amazed. I have played chords on a guitar with one string slightly out of tune and she knows exactly witch one it is. I have intonated my bass and she just KNOWS when it is right. I would agree that you can develop a very good scene of relative pitch. My little girl can just hear it, no development needed. It's scary. Saying it is like telling the difference between colors seem accurate. I would agree with the ten fingers on a piano theory. every thing else is just a good ear.
 
#10
Pretty sure it's this course:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Perfect-Pitch-Training-SuperCourse/dp/0942542908
One of my students has used it and it helped him with relative pitch. You can vastly improve your relative pitch by transcribing bass lines or melodies and solos (either writing them out or playing them on the bass or another instrument like piano) without spending anything but your time.
I have a student who has perfect pitch right now. It's hereditary-his mother has it as well. As nutdog said it can be a pain in the butt-the world sounds out of tune a lot to him.
 
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#11
We had a vocalist/rhythm guitar who had perfect pitch. Drove us all crazy. He was either leaning over and telling one of us we were flat or stopping in the middle of a tune and returning his guitar.

Notice I said we had a vocalist/rhythm guitar, it was not long before the director stopped sending him the schedule.
 
#13
nutdog said:
I've known two people with perfect pitch. They were born with it. They were also constantly annoyed.
Click to expand...

:cool:

I have a good ear but not perfect, I can listen to a song once and play it but I can't tell you the notes. But tempo and dynamics issues do this to me.

I'm glad I found this, even the slightest issues with timing and dynamics get to me so much that even while I don't ever say anything, my band members read my face and get pissed off anyway. It never occurred to me until now why practice and sometimes gigs can occasionally make me so annoyed.

I try to explain concepts that I 'hear' (feel) such as lagging behind the beat and they look at me as though I am trying to sell them a bag of mushrooms. I don't understand how others can't feel it too I guess and it gets frustrating to explain.
 
#15
Perfect Pitch is an inborn aptitude, just like basic pitch discrimination, tonal memory, rhythm memory, finger dexterity and other aptitudes necessary to be a good musician. The thing with aptitudes is that you can't tell you don't have it - you can't be in someone else's brain for comparison. Those dolts in American Idol tryouts really can't tell how bad they are!

You can improve what you have a bit, but you cannot develop what you don't have, just like trying to make yourself taller or change your natural hair color.
 
#16
I feel bad now. I was born with perfect pitch though it's deteriorating with age (there was a time I could do the piano bang thing but now I can't), but I never suffered from any freak-out stuff over it. Tugs at my ear to hear it, but doesn't drive me crazy.

But listen...let's say that the best that this "perfect pitch" course does is give you much better relative pitch...it's still worth it.
 
#17
DiabolusInMusic said:
I had an ex who had perfect pitch, her choir teacher figured it out when she was young. I didn't believe it so I had her tune a guitar and check it, she was on, I was amazed. It is a pretty neat skill. Apparently it is more common in regions where people use a tonal dialect like Viet Namese.
Click to expand...

I work with a guy from Nigeria. His native tongue is Yoruba, he teaches French, and he speaks several other languages. Since he plays the talking drum, one term I invited him to speak to my psychology of music class and do a drum demonstration. It was a most interesting lecture, and one thing he mentioned is that the concept of tone deafness is pretty much unheard of among people who speak tonal languages that are used in Africa and Asia.

His talk prompted me to read a little more on the subject and I came away wondering if we all have the potential to hear and reproduce musical tones accurately, but many of us who don't speak tonal languages get that ability trained out because it's not required for communication. In contrast, people who are raised with tonal languages have to be able to discriminate subtle differences or they won't be able to speak.
 
#18
BBox Bass said:
I work with a guy from Nigeria. His native tongue is Yoruba, he teaches French, and he speaks several other languages. Since he plays the talking drum, one term I invited him to speak to my psychology of music class and do a drum demonstration. It was a most interesting lecture, and one thing he mentioned is that the concept of tone deafness is pretty much unheard of among people who speak tonal languages that are used in Africa and Asia.

His talk prompted me to read a little more on the subject and I came away wondering if we all have the potential to hear and reproduce musical tones accurately, but many of us who don't speak tonal languages get that ability trained out because it's not required for communication. In contrast, people who are raised with tonal languages have to be able to discriminate subtle differences or they won't be able to speak.
Click to expand...
This makes a lot of sense too, there could be needs that triggers the necessary 'wiring' very early in our lives. If not triggered, they are adapted for other uses. The brain is kind of efficient in that way, potential neural pathways that we are born with are economically adapted for other uses if they are not triggered or used early in life.

Could be a 'feature' most all of us have that is either turned on in our infancy or discarded if not needed.

For practical purposes though, we could substitute 'born with' to mean 'emerge from infancy with' and it is the same real world result. You either 'get it' or you don't...
 
#19
First of all, THANKS to everyone. I love your stories, your input, etc.


I know the difference between perfect pitch and relative pitch. I should have been more clear. But I am asking because I am wondering if this program would grant relative pitch. Still pretty useful if it works, right?
 
#20
BBox Bass said:
I work with a guy from Nigeria. His native tongue is Yoruba, he teaches French, and he speaks several other languages. Since he plays the talking drum, one term I invited him to speak to my psychology of music class and do a drum demonstration. It was a most interesting lecture, and one thing he mentioned is that the concept of tone deafness is pretty much unheard of among people who speak tonal languages that are used in Africa and Asia.

His talk prompted me to read a little more on the subject and I came away wondering if we all have the potential to hear and reproduce musical tones accurately, but many of us who don't speak tonal languages get that ability trained out because it's not required for communication. In contrast, people who are raised with tonal languages have to be able to discriminate subtle differences or they won't be able to speak.
Click to expand...

Wow! Thank you for the information, that really makes sense. :)
 

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