Graham English

Simply put, absolute pitch is more subtle and accurate.

With relative pitch, there are twelve major chords. With absolute pitch, there is only one C major chord. The distinctions you can make with absolute pitch are finer and smaller. And each note has its own sound. Transpose a Beethoven symphony into another key and it doesn’t have the same feeling anymore. Each key has its own mood.

With a more refined ear, you have more precise options to help you make the right musical decisions.

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Tags: Absolute Pitch, relative pitch

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 6th, 2006 at 10:46 am and is filed under Music Education, Prose. You can leave a comment if you follow my Living Room Rules. If not, you can leave a trackback from your own site.

Comments

1. Heather says:
   

   July 6th, 2006 at 9:24 pm (#)

   This is a great blog! My husband found it and sent me a link to check it out.
   Now, about this post–I learned relative pitch while earning my Bachelor of Music degree and found it very intriguing.
   I’ve never understood absolute pitch very well–how it is heard so accurately. After reading several entries in this blog, however, I think I’ll give it a try to see if I can learn it. I can see how it would give me an advantage over just knowing relative pitch.

2. Graham English says:
   

   July 6th, 2006 at 9:56 pm (#)

   Thanks Heather
   I’m subscribing to your blog right away.

   Please keep us all posted on your absolute pitch progress. Good luck!

3. Thomas D says:
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 6:48 am (#)

   Sounds bogus to me. Take two pianos or harpsichords tuned with the same temperament, but at pitches differing by a semitone. You can play the same piece on both and it will have the same fingering, the same intervals and practically identical timbres. Where is the difference in character?

   Key character only makes sense relative to the pitch standard of the instruments you have.

4. Graham English says:
   

   July 11th, 2007 at 9:41 am (#)

   It sounds bogus to you because you do not have absolute pitch. And based on your other comments on this blog, you have no desire to learn absolute pitch. Anyone with absolute pitch will tell you that every pitch has its own character.

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