Relative pitch and absolute pitch are 2 different skills. While most people can learn relative pitch, some people say that absolute is genetic and can’t be learnt.
I don’t believe this is true (at least in my case). My technique is to learn songs that start on a specific pitch (C for example) and internalise the pitch, imagine the sound and try to sing it before comparing with the original. Try this exercise every morning, take notes and see if you improve over time.
That’s how I’ve done it, too. Once you know what pitch your favorite song starts on, for example, or what key it’s in, learning pitches becomes much easier.
This assumes that you can recall music from memory in its original key, of course. If you can’t, your first step might involve strengthening that kind of recall.
Relative pitch and absolute pitch are 2 different skills. While most people can learn relative pitch, some people say that absolute is genetic and can’t be learnt.
I am one of those people. Fact is, I’ve spent ten years in a conservatory, surrounded by dozens of people heavily selected for music-related skills, and basically all of them agreed on absolute pitch being genetic. In a conservatory, relative pitch is considered a very important skill, taught to students of all courses through specific exercises, and some mandatory exams are almost impossible to pass without a decent relative pitch. Absolute pitch is treated the opposite way: no one tries to teach it to you and absolutely no exam requires it. The majority of my professors claimed to not have absolute pitch themselves (the choir director always carried a tuning fork with her, being unable to recall the exact frequency of 440 Hz necessary to intone the choir). These people have spent their entire lives practicing and teaching music at high levels for countless hours, and still don’t have absolute pitch. I would be truly shocked if it turned out that you can learn absolute pitch through simple practice.
Relative pitch and absolute pitch are 2 different skills. While most people can learn relative pitch, some people say that absolute is genetic and can’t be learnt. I don’t believe this is true (at least in my case). My technique is to learn songs that start on a specific pitch (C for example) and internalise the pitch, imagine the sound and try to sing it before comparing with the original. Try this exercise every morning, take notes and see if you improve over time.
That’s how I’ve done it, too. Once you know what pitch your favorite song starts on, for example, or what key it’s in, learning pitches becomes much easier.
This assumes that you can recall music from memory in its original key, of course. If you can’t, your first step might involve strengthening that kind of recall.
I am one of those people. Fact is, I’ve spent ten years in a conservatory, surrounded by dozens of people heavily selected for music-related skills, and basically all of them agreed on absolute pitch being genetic. In a conservatory, relative pitch is considered a very important skill, taught to students of all courses through specific exercises, and some mandatory exams are almost impossible to pass without a decent relative pitch. Absolute pitch is treated the opposite way: no one tries to teach it to you and absolutely no exam requires it. The majority of my professors claimed to not have absolute pitch themselves (the choir director always carried a tuning fork with her, being unable to recall the exact frequency of 440 Hz necessary to intone the choir). These people have spent their entire lives practicing and teaching music at high levels for countless hours, and still don’t have absolute pitch. I would be truly shocked if it turned out that you can learn absolute pitch through simple practice.