What’s The Most Powerful Technique For Perfect Pitch? by Graham English

What’s The Most Powerful Technique For Perfect Pitch?

February 7, 2006

Jim: Ok, I just want to know what you think the most powerful technique for perfect pitch is. I usually just play an A chord and then randomly choose a note to figure out. It works pretty good but Im sure you’ve got a better trick.

Graham: Jim, here’s what I think the most powerful technique for absolute pitch is.

First, spend a week or two “opening up” your listening or “unlocking” your listening. Spend a single day on each note for an entire 15 minutes. Describe what you hear outloud. Describe your experience using all 5 senses. I use a method similar to this in Absolute Pitch Power and I call it the Journey Method.

Then, use the “inside/out” approach. Think of the note in your imagination (inside) and then hum the note or play the note on your instrument (outside). If your wrong, correct your mistake.

Finally, use the “outside/in” approach. Listen to notes being played (outside) and then identify what you think the note is (inside). Start with single notes - don’t use recorded music unless it’s monophonic. Then move up to polyphonic music once you’re 80% correct with single tones.

I use a combination of the last two steps in my pre-recorded Pitch Language Units.

Hope that helps.

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Thanks for your question. But research says that you weren’t actually born with it, or rather, it’s an ability that is implanted within us all and just needs to be activated. So while it’s true that your way of thinking about music is different from people without absolute pitch, it is a learned skill.

Of course you don’t remember learning this skill, just as you probably don’t remember learning your colors. Most likely, you learned it at a very early age, before you were conscious of such things.

And yes, you can speed up the process of learning active absolute pitch. Have you seen my course? That will help.

If I knew what you were doing right now to improve your active ap, I could give you some pointers.

12 comments on “What’s The Most Powerful Technique For Perfect Pitch?”

- Awen said:
- Feb 23rd, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Wowowowowowowowow

Dude, your stuff is just BRILL and gets me all excited!!! Thanks SO much!!

- Graham English said:
- Feb 25th, 2006 at 10:43 am
No, thank YOU so much

- Aripitch said:
- Jul 13th, 2006 at 7:19 am
I believe that perfect pitch can be learned, but only by a select few that have the capability present (and maybe have not realized it). In others words, a person does not have to be born with perfect pitch, but does have to be born with the ability to learn it.

1.What do you think of this theory?

2.How many people with perfect pitch also experience synesthesia?

- Graham English said:
- Jul 13th, 2006 at 11:01 am
It’s my opinion that everybody begins life with absolute pitch.

See: Born With Perfect Pitch?

I don’t know how many people with perfect pitch experience synesthesia. Interesting question though. I would imagine that there’s a high percentage of synesthetes that are absolute pitch possessors.

- Aripitch said:
- Aug 7th, 2006 at 9:28 am
I was born with AP - the “passive” form, the ability to name notes, chords, and notes in chords with no reference tone. Although I always knew that my way of thinking about music was different, I didn’t find out that it was called AP or began to knowingly use my AP until I was 19. I used to transcribe melodies as a child with no instrument, but I didn’t know what I was using to do it.

Now that I know what it is, the “passive” form is beginning to turn into the “active” form, and somewhat quickly. Is there anything that I can do to speed up the process and become even more accurate, or is it too late - given that I was born with it and I used it, but did not know what I was doing?

- Graham English said:
- Aug 7th, 2006 at 9:42 am
Thanks for your question. But research says that you weren’t actually born with it, or rather, it’s an ability that is implanted within us all and just needs to be activated. So while it’s true that your way of thinking about music is different from people without absolute pitch, it is a learned skill.

Of course you don’t remember learning this skill, just as you probably don’t remember learning your colors. Most likely, you learned it at a very early age, before you were conscious of such things.

And yes, you can speed up the process of learning active absolute pitch. Have you seen my course? That will help.

If I knew what you were doing right now to improve your active ap, I could give you some pointers.

- Christina Norwood said:
- Aug 10th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
I think learning to discriminate and identify pitch is about the same as learning to discriminate and identify wines - takes practice, but just about anyone can do it if they work at it.

- Graham English said:
- Aug 10th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
I think you’re exactly right, Christina.

- Edwin said:
- Sep 21st, 2006 at 11:14 am
I have played the saxophone by ear since I was a child and easily can pick up on any song with the first note, but I can’t tell the keyboardist or guitarist what key I’m playing in if I were to start playing while following a singer - who don’t know what key they are singing in and expect the musicians to find it. Makes since? What excerise would help me?

- Graham English said:
- Sep 21st, 2006 at 11:24 am
I’m not sure I clearly understand the question but I’ll give it a shot. So you can play by ear but you don’t know your key signatures? And maybe you don’t know how to figure them out if you do know them? If either is correct, then I would suggest you learn your key signatures. You would also need to be able to figure out the root key of any song you are playing in. That skill requires relative pitch.

Good luck, Edwin!

- Aripitch said:
- May 2nd, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Since my last posting, my “active” absolute pitch has improved dramatically. I have not worked on this improvement; however, I practice my instrument a lot more than in the past.

Now, I can sing any note on demand and identify any note instantly. It is like having “perfect” absolute pitch.

What has caused this dramatic shift? (I’m quite thankful!)

-Aripitch

- Graham English said:
- May 3rd, 2007 at 8:15 pm
You tell me! What have you been doing since you last posted? It’s great news.

Graham English