Perfect Pitch vs Relative Pitch: Which Is More Important?

[@theoriginalaboriginal3309]

Dylan = Perfect Pitch Lennon = Relative Pitch Me= Sounds like a keyboard, but i can't be sure...

[@theoriginalaboriginal3309]

Cheers

[@mikerodriguez1722]

Would like this but i cant your at 69 likes.... *nice*

[@daisies667]

😩😩😂😂😂 same

[@cesarzambrano7169]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 that's classic 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@rm9308]

Me = plinky rectangle?

[@Fyrlink]

I've had relative pitch my entire life and really just thought it was a half-ass version of perfect pitch until today. I didn't even know it had a name, lol.

[@VenomCold]

half ass xDD love it

[@alexeonbel4304]

lmao you and me both 😂

[@alxxanderr]

Ahaha same 😂 I just found out today 😂

[@FLORIDAERO]

Wish I did.

[@davidsosa538]

Same here

[@SAZIZMUSIC]

Relative pitch + Memorize the notes = perfect pitch in 144p version XD

[@brandonseaborn3112]

SAZIZ MUSIC 😭😭 was thinking just that

[@markopolo2224]

Yes

[@bigblubub]

SAZIZ MUSIC I have this. I can remember the beginning of pieces I play and get the note from that

[@alex_prochazka]

@@bigblubub Lol I have that but only for like half of notes

[@henfinzim]

@@bigblubub Discount perfect pitch, but if it works....

[@UroboricNate]

Can you have perfect pitch and not know it because you have no idea what the names of the notes are?

[@martinkoitmae9432]

Kamizi yeah, possible but you probably would understand if someone is a little off in lets say singing and you would feel disgusted

[@Galdring]

Try to recreate the first note of your favorite song. Check what note you were singing with a tuner. Check if you were in fact singing the right note. If you were: congratulations. You probably have perfect pitch?

[@davidtremblay2788]

wait that's it? this explains so many things

[@diabreucruz]

that can be relative pitch with good pitch memory.

[@justinx.7516]

relative pitch

[@MrPyroguru]

I can do one thing here.... Minor = Sad Major = Happy I can identify the chordal tones.

[@fapasaurusrex]

can't anyone?

[@MrPyroguru]

Fapasaurus Rex Not really. You have to have an ear for music.

[@joel1418]

Nope not really lol, everyone in my class can do this with pretty much no teaching.

[@ericoleal5182]

Michael Williams Dude, i don't intend to put you down, but thats actually the easiest things to identify lol

[@volvoxfraktalion5225]

Michael Williams how u do dis???

[@keithz.rawski6456]

Perfect pitch is a nice party trick, but real magic lies within the melodies and chord progressions~ For that, you need relative pitch.

[@itsmeGeorgina]

And for singing ☺

[@souviksen7497]

True. And the party trick analogy has been used many times by seasoned musicians to highlight how overrated perfect pitch is compared to relative pitch.

[@borgoat1220]

No, you just need music theory.

[@borgoat1220]

@@itsmeGeorgina Perfect pitch is useful when singing a note that you're holding as the first note without needing a reference.

[@borgoat1220]

@@souviksen7497 No, the "party trick" labeling of perfect pitch has been used countless times by jealous people who wish they had perfect pitch. As an analogy using example numbers, relative pitch is identifying two notes as X and Y but knowing that Y-X=5; but perfect pitch is identifying X as 3 and Y as 8 and recognizing 8-3=5. You obtain more information with perfect pitch than with relative pitch. This allows you to compose pieces in your head without a reference note, and as pointed out by "donny bravo," without being forced into the confines of music theory.

[@jazzdaypeterborough3262]

I've always had perfect pitch....and would be able to do exactly what Dylan did. I would identify complex chords----but I'd hear them as a collection of individual notes. But some people do lose perfect pitch with age. Oliver Sacks described that in one of his books....where one of his subjects found that their pitch shifted 1 1/4 tones. I'm in my 70's now....and that's what happened to me as of 10 years ago. I will mistake a G and call it an A or a Bb. I was very dependent on my perfect pitch....and haven't developed great relative pitch. Now I need to develop that....and its a challenge. I wish I had developed it as a kid. The two types of pitches----perfect and relative---are totally independent. If you have perfect pitch, you still need to develop relative pitch.

[@souviksen7497]

This is the most valuable piece of information right here.

[@kanecanedy623]

Jazz Day Peterborough tnx for the valuable info

[@Almightservant]

Very interesting!

[@robinstokes5179]

At what age did you know you had perfect pitch?

[@brucetowell3432]

Well if you have perfect pitch like Dylan you still can do what Lennon does, no? I have relative pitch ...but I also believe on cue I can sing an A, but I do use a reference note from a song, that I know has the A. Richard Carpenter has perfect pitch as I believe the late Leon Russell and Glen Campbell had as well.

[@Masimba]

Oh wow! I just found myself singing out the chord tones as you played. I'm so pleased, my ears were so bad but I've been doing your "7 days to better ears" training everyday for 3 months and folks it really works!

[@koko5498]

mazz sitima but thata not 7 days :S

[@eonstar]

+Sparky Flash lel

[@markkuimmonen2701]

Hi Rick, Sibelius apparently had a perfect pitch as he described seeing tones in colors from the child. He self trained with an out of the 'perfect tune' piano at home as a child. At some point the piano was tuned to a perfect pitch, which shocked his foundations and he changed to violin. As he describes the color landscape was destroyed and he could not touch the piano after the tune was changed.

[@jasoncreative7616]

Markku Immonen what you’re describing is synesthesia.

[@itsmeGeorgina]

Creativity through resistance 😊

[@arnaud78]

That's interesting. I have friend which also sees music as colors... Don't ask me how it works, haha.

[@katepeeters3691]

Didn,t know that about Sibelius but i know Scriabin definitely saw colour in sounds and chords.

[@blindknitter]

That sounds like such a major trauma!

[@Blue0000FF]

This kid has a very big and a bright future ahead of him. So talented.

[@KKMDStyle]

I may not have perfect pitch but I have Pitch Perfect on DVD :-)

[@ohjesusitsnathan5649]

Good one

[@benkockert982]

uff

[@nimluikham11]

Uff

[@nimluikham11]

But good one

[@MrDanee22]

🤣🤣

[@xydex99]

You have pretty amazing pitch memory for someone who doesn't have perfect pitch

[@TheJayBee1990]

I think its training and getting used to certain sounds. I play guitar since 11 years now, and I can identify all major chords by sound blindly, also powerchords (even the difference between the same chords played on the low E string or the A string). The trouble comes with single notes, thats where I normally get lost. In most cases I am either one full or a half step above it (its always above, never too low).... I have no perfect pitch, not even relative pitch, but I am used to the sound of the chords so much. you play E minor, it would just make plrrrrr in my brain and like yeah thats that chords used in that part of that song.... etc. you know. E is one of the examples where you could play it as single notes one after another and I could still identify it, because I am also used to not only strum it, but also play it as a picking pattern....

[@aidenmoroney2632]

JayBee Jones can you identify them on instruments other than guitar?

[@anonymouse4003]

@@TheJayBee1990 You have true pitch

[@celticcheetah6371]

You can do a lot with ear training. From 7-17 I played a lot of ensemble music (brass) and sang in choirs a lot too. By the time I was around 15 I could sing a C just by imagining it on the piano. Then I could get any other pitch I needed from that. It didn’t always work perfectly, but it was reasonably solid. I can’t do that any more, though I can still get intervals fairly easily. Relative pitch is fun, but takes work.

[@celticcheetah6371]

@@anonymouse4003 no, i think he has really well-trained relative pitch

[@JariSatta]

The legend says that Charlie Parker practiced between 10 and 15 h / day when he was a kid. He had relative pitch though.

[@souviksen7497]

As did Coltrane and Wagner. And they did just fine I reckon!

[@BrunoNeureiter]

"they had relative pitch though" thank your for the shaming

[@sovietspy749]

get relative pitch get tinnitus perfect pitch

[@nach000x]

lmfao

[@AlejandroPerez-mg3fc]

Genius

[@mikerodriguez1722]

This level of intelligence is beyond measure

[@johanhansson4574]

My tinnitus is intermittent in pitch so I need autotune.....

[@nicolabonetti7956]

Johan Hansson HAHAHAH

[@edgotsis]

It's wonderful to see your talented children! By the way, a friend of mine with perfect pitch lost it - actually it was "misplaced" by a semitone lower at the age of 70. In the begininng she thought that her piano went out of tune but then she listened to the radio and she heard music of which she knew the tonality a semitone lower. So what she does now? She listens to a tone and say she recognizes as C#. Knowing her problem she makes the correction and she answers D. Wonderful job you do Rick! Thank you so much!

[@NeverDoubtTheWorm]

I love that you included Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Oscar Peterson in “The greatest composers/musicians that ever lived” ❤️

[@greenmonk]

my concert choir in high school was able to blow people away at festivals because we could start a capella songs without a reference note from a pitch pipe or piano. our bass section leader had perfect pitch and could just quietly hum the bass starting note and the entire 80 voice choir could build the opening chord from it. it was awesome, and in 20 years of a music career, i've never met anyone else who had true absolute pitch.

[@sunshinegirl1967]

Ugh! Reminds me of my high school choir days. I was the one who had perfect pitch and was immediately and continually used as the pitch pipe. I wanted to die, being a very shy teenage girl. I should have kept it secret.

[@AlexisLionel]

Very interesting, thank you! A major advantage of PP is an ability to very quickly chord out the songs, even if the chords are atonal or the progression is unfamiliar, while most people with only relative pitch, including myself, when asked to chord the song out, can only hear the memorized patterns. I can confidently hear only the tonic, the dominant 7th, the second dominant, and several others. I don't hear the individual notes, sometimes I can't even sing the root note of the chord, but I recognize them by their "flavor", the specific feeling, like the "instability" of the dominant 7th. A very high level of relative pitch can compensate it, too, I suppose =)

[@GioMioLioDemBoyz]

“A major..” unintentional pun

[@franny231123DMT]

what is an atonal chord?

[@franny231123DMT]

oh wow i just googled it, i didnt know this is a thing to do ahaha, awesome, ima gunna try this in the next track i write, cheers for that, see if i cant get some results :)

[@thehoodlen]

For me, I have really really good relative pitch, (I can identify half the notes without a reference) and when it comes to chords, I can hear all the notes in a chord, but for some individual notes it takes me a couple guesses to get right.

[@souviksen7497]

I used to think the same. But if you play complex diatonic or altered chords over and over again pitch memory kicks in and you'll be able to recognize them. For example I know what an augmented 5th sounds like. How do I differentiate between a dominant 7#5 and a major 7#5? The latter is more dissonant sounding. The key here is to recognize the #5 in the chord. Same thing with a 7b9 and 7#9 note. I can here the 11th in a major and minor chord as well. It's all because of pitch memory, playing those chords repeatedly.

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

Damn Rick, you not only have two of the cutest kids on earth, but sharp and very talented. Dylan's abilities are staggering. And Lennon being able to instantly identify an interval without knowing the notes...I hope they stay with it and allow music to carry them forward.

[@pumagutten]

Rich, you are blessed! Two adorable kids! Great to see that you named them after great names in music history. I guess you know that Brian Wilson also named a son Dylan!

[@JakobBruhnke]

I don't really have Perfect Pitch but I have an almost Perfect Relative Pitch and I can play piano by ear no problem :)

[@themonroes4]

Jakob saaame

[@jackweslycamacho8982]

@@sleepydrifted it almost asks as if you want to be challenged. Try playing Preparations or from the musical "Natasha Pierre and the great comet of 1812"

[@qlvinc]

kimikokat i can hum songs in the correct tone pitch exactly how they sound or whatever it’s called but I don’t know the note names but I play clarinet in band for 6 years now

[@BenSleightMagician]

Playing it from hearing can be accomplished from relative pitch (you have a reference not) Playing it from listening once and then A week later playing it from memory that would be more like perfect pitch Or hearing a car sirene and you know the notes its making

[@lil_weasel219]

same heh

[@ABCD27814]

John Lennon and Bob Dylan, how wonderful

[@Jordarr8994]

Rick ain't slick lol

[@eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeo]

It's actually like Vladimir Lenin

[@shawn980]

I just noticed the word “note” is an anagram of the word “tone”. How have I never noticed that?

[@stevenkoehler6018]

Because you actually have a life

[@haywoodgiles713]

Those "perfect pitch" musicians also had relative pitch though. Without translating the perfect pitch to relative pitch, perfect pitch is near useless. I knew guys in college that had perfect pitch and didn't know B-D-F-A made a half diminished chord.

[@MaggaraMarine]

Exactly. Music is about a lot more than individual notes. Perfect pitch doesn't give you the instant ability to "understand" music. It just helps you with pitch recognition.

[@LatchezarDimitrov]

Stop all useless bla bla about one absolute perfect pitch! Please! Nothing in the real life is perfect and all is relatif. Let talk about good musicians instead!

[@julianossa3578]

yeah, but that's not only because he has perfect pitch. he probably plays a lot and practices, etc

[@neilbolima9694]

Haywood Giles you might be confusing relative pitch and knowledge of music theory. A relative pitch person can hear a diminished chord and say oh that's a diminished Someone with perfect pitch can say oh that's B D and F. If they have no music knowledge they don't know what chord it is. But with extensive music theory knowledge. They can use the knowledge perfect pitch gives them then use music theory to figure what kind of chord it is.

[@woodybear8298]

What a stupid comment.

[@mattrobertson_music]

wow listening to your boy describe the detuned piano as a mixture of 2 notes is so fascinating! Ive never thought about it like that before (I dont have perfect pitch) but I assumed that people with perfect pitch would just hear an 'out of tune' note, but he hears 2 different notes mixed together - liked a mixture of red and blue or something to make a new color. I love these videos - I'd love more!! It still seems like magic to me - that someone could have perfect pitch. Its like being able to look at a color and say the pantone number. Where does it come from!?! :)

[@gidikalchhauser]

Would have loved to hear Dylan sing the neighboring notes to the detuned piano

[@GeorgeBletchly]

Fascinating. I wish he'd say more about "pitch memory" since this is what enables you to follow harmonic progression even if you only have relative pitch.

[@robinstokes5179]

I haven't come across "pitch memory" specifically before but I guess, with relative pitch I, like many others, must have a good ear for notes moving - harmonic progressions, & coming back to the right place. I've always improvised a lot without knowing the key/s but have done it long enough to just go with whatever is being played, even up to a point, quite "free" stuff. I started as a kid just by playing along with the radio, including classical music & don't have much trouble working out chord sequences in most songs, also just from memory. More complex stuff I can do but it takes more time & careful listening, although many popular songs are not often complex. I just don't know what the keys are (other than by looking at guitar fret positions) but now kind of "know" where the music is going minor/major etc. In a nutshell, I can sound like a jazz player but in reality I'm a very poor one!

[@PhilShary]

Wow, very nice. I just hope your kids don't hate music when they become adults as it's often the case with those who were exposed to it so early.

[@eli.eli.eli.0]

Phil Shary While that is a valid concern, the way he treats his kids shows us he probably makes it fun for them, or doesn’t force them too much.

[@moonlapse_vertigo]

As someone who has delved into theory for the past few years, music has became very "textbook".

[@kittenloveer1625]

That's why I don't take violin anymore. Three years and I'm done. Now I just listen to different songs I like and then play them.

[@AutomatikSystematik]

In 7th grade I was the only one in my class that scored 100% on a relative pitch test which makes me think I had perfect pitch as a kid but it was never developed because I didn't have parents to guide me. In school orchestra I never read a note of music. I memorized each piece by listening to the other bass players then just played it back. One teacher was pretty amazed when he gave me an individual lesson.

[@robinstokes5179]

That is similar to my experience; As a kid in school recorder groups I just remembered the tunes & played along. The teacher never noticed & I never had lessons. I never knew if I was playing an A or Bb & still don't.

[@walnoemispoyt5604]

Wow actually this was a very informative video. Thank you very much for the demonstration. What I really like about the videos is that you have addressed many interesting points like some people have good pitch memory or levelling up your relative pitch level to a point where you cannot tell the difference between perfect pitch and relative pitch. Now I think I can claim that I actually have a very good level of relative pitch rather than claiming that I have perfect pitch because I can tell relatively fast what all the white and black keys on a piano are within the middle octaves of the piano whereas when you get to the far ends of the piano that it becomes really difficult to tell.

[@gregoryjclark81]

Perfect pitch is inborn. Relative pitch is something one can develop. Throughout my teenage years it was requisite all music teachers I encountered--from private guitar lessons to choir director--hammered home developing relative pitch ear, which I will say now at 37, nearly 38 years of age was most beneficial aspect of music training aside from basic theory and reading. Knowing if a song is being performed in original key, identifying interval relations, etc stronger than ever in my ear brain. As for perfect pitch, I have met only a handful of cats with such ability. I remember reading somewhere that perfect pitch is absolutely an inborn talent and there are zero documented cases of anyone 'developing' perfect pitch post-birth.

[@regaul4248]

Rick's kid did lol

[@heromang]

How can i know if i have perfect pitch even though i dont know the name of the notes?

[@Pinklaeti75]

I used to rely on both, when I was younger. Without knowing. But as I develop my musical abilities more and more, I tend to recreate the note directly, without any reference.

[@nil2k]

What happens to Dylan if you tune your keyboard to A=432Hz? (Should have been the clickbait title)

[@Amber57499]

I guess he'd have a problem. I don't have perfect pitch, so I can only compare it to language. Say you have a dictionary. Left side is the word (representing note names), right side is the explanation of that word (note pitch). Changing the pitch is like moving the whole right column one word down, the whole thing wouldn't make sense. If for all my life I've been calling an apple apple and someday, somebody comes and tells me this is a pear now, I'd probably would have a hard time getting it. I think thats what it feels like if someone were to change the pitch.

[@thomasleguenne8817]

It's kind of gymnastic, it's more like "ABC" become "BCD" so "apple" would be "bqqmf", it takes just few more seconds but it's not so difficult This phenomenon would be with A=415Hz (baroque pitch), not 432

[@natemantle5933]

My guess is: Dylan would notice right away that it was out of tune. Perfect pitch is actually just extreme long term memory of pitches. BUT a study happened where people with perfect pitch were listening to a song, but the song was being constantly (but slowly) raised in pitch. By the end of the song, they were still unaware, but then when it was played from the beginning again, at the original tuning, they suddenly thought that it was out of tune. SO, you *could* fool someone like Dylan with that method, but not by simply tuning the piano differently. He'd just think every note was out of tune, which it would be.

[@shanearnold7781]

I perfect pitch and 432Hz just sounds like a slightly different note, it's almost a quarter tone but I can still tell what note it is

[@matrixarsmusicworkshop561]

What happens to Dylan xD he dies

[@marianasiller6715]

omg rick you have literally made my day! i thought that what i had was perfect pitch and i was confused because i couldn't do what your son does, but i'm just like your daughter, i can easily mimic every sound or note i hear, so that means i have relative pitch..awesome!

[@singmysong4444]

Well done, Rick! Very interesting and of course adorable when you bring in your very talented children. Bravo!

[@McOuroborosBurger]

Amy time I hear C and then F my brain immediately goes to smells like teen spirit right before the lyrics come in.

[@evarinagarmguardian113]

Sounds like you have synesthesia.

[@mattbailey7049]

Thats the way i could tell what he played also. Hahaha

[@LuisGarciaMusicMaker]

hahaha the same here. At 5:36 that song immediatly came to my mind

[@franny231123DMT]

lolol the notes in that track are far easier to understand than the lyrics :D

[@kieranmccarty1604]

Evarínagarm Guardian Games and Stuff doesn’t have synesthesia, not saying he *smells teen spirit* when he hears C and F, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is a song by Nirvana, those tones are in that song so that’s what he thinks of like Dylan thought of notes as “Star Wars” or whatever.

[@kalicose]

So does that mean that people with chromesthesia (sound-to-color synesthesia) have perfect pitch?

[@maturitypending]

Alyssa Arellano interesting question.

[@rmullhaupt]

yes

[@kitemanmusic]

There is a brown note!

[@anamartinez7006]

Alyssa Arellano not everyone. Only if each note has 1 colour. I have sound to color synesthesia but if you play a C I might hear red one day, and then yellow the next. Today I hear green. If people hear JUST yellow with every G and just blue with every B, then yes they would have perfect pitch.

[@lmac6635]

I have sound-to-color synesthesia and I definitely do not have perfect pitch!

[@Spinz99]

I've been working on my relative pitch. I get results. It seems the longest lasting results come from songs you listened to as a child. Learn them today. See what intervals you were listening to back then. You can still learn them. Also your melody lines. The ones you like to play naturally. See what intervals you're playing. I think it's possible to really improve your relative pitch with a bit of dedication. In solfège "do" shifts for the different keys. You can still get your understanding of intervals to improve. Not really learn the note names much. That's hit and miss.

[@Kjintae]

This. Video. Is. So. Freakin. Fascinating.

[@AimeeNolte]

GREAT video

[@jasondotson]

I agree. Although benefit is spelled "benefit", not "benifit." I'm looking at the Tull album right now. :)

[@Richard_is_cool]

Confessions: I have read Yo-Yo Ma as Yo Mama.

[@nimhard]

I always thought I had perfect pitch but it seems I have relative pitch. I was experimenting with alternate tunings when I was 8 and discoverrd by listening that Soundgarden had drop D songs. At the time I didn't even know drop D existed so I tuned the whole guitar a step down to achieve the sound. I can recognize the tuning of any song and tune accordingly. I guess it's relative but as a 37 year old I'm happy with what I got. Dylan is impressive!!!!

[@speedspeed121]

Don' singers have "relative pitch"? If they didn't have relative pitch, they wouldn't be able to sing in tune, right? Wow, you got really close to a perfect G

[@davidzvonar]

singers need relative pitch

[@kitemanmusic]

Close but no cigar (lol)

[@kitemanmusic]

Apologies! It was G. Spot on.

[@borgoat1220]

At the beginning of the video, the first and second notes sung were a high A and low A an octave apart.

[@devrimabaci2466]

borgoat12 are you stupid

[@adambrown5172]

I love how you can say fascinating to something your son says

[@kyuubigeassanims]

it was a G lol

[@marxer8665]

wasn’t it kind of flat

[@ddude1212]

The 2nd time, yeah. The first time it was pretty spot on. (From what I remember this was the case, but I don’t feel like rewinding).

[@McOuroborosBurger]

Ddude121 it was a bit sharp

[@ronenrozenberg8742]

@@McOuroborosBurger the first time it was almost spot on, the second time it was like something between G and F#

[@orf2072]

it starts with a F# and then goes to a G

[@Geotubest]

You've got such great kids. Reflective of what a great father you are. Well done.

[@palmomki]

Wouldn't you agree that "having perfect pitch" is just an acute form of "having a great pitch memory"? Or do you think there's something substantially different between the two concepts/talents/skills?

[@remon563]

great question. I think it is "similar" but I think the difference is that if a child "learns" it at a young age he will not forget about it. It most likely gets learned and imprinted in a different brain area then the area we use for pitch memory.

[@14jemima]

I may be wrong but I think I would define perfect pitch as pitch memory that never has to be refreshed.

[@14jemima]

You may be right. Let's say just this then: if it's not true, at least it seems to "work" in most usual cirucmstances.. Incindentally, Rick did say (in this video or another one) that perfect pitch could be lost when you're over 50 or 60.

[@arneherrmann9666]

14jemima That is probably because, the human ear loses its quality & ability to hear higher frequencies with age going on - regarding the overtone series, I guess, that the neural frameworks need the layers of frequencies, especially the higher ones in the ots to clearly identify the pitch

[@Nat.ali.a]

Actually there's a physical difference in the brain.

[@Tunz909]

Appreciate your comments on the great classical /jazz composers who have or don't have perfect pitch, but what about our "pop" composers? McCartney, Bacharach, Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Billy Joel, Jimmy Webb, etc...any thoughts or proof?

[@jackjack3320]

For the case of Mozart though, I think perfect pitch helped him learn new music styles just by hearing and reading scores, composing without testing on an instrument. Thanks to his father being a musician, he learned music from a very early age, and he could memorize really difficult organ pieces he heard in cathedrals and replicate them himself from memory. When he went to Leipzig to pay homage to Bach, he heard Bach motets performed there, he memorized those just by hearing as well. In most of Mozart's liturgical works and symphonic works, his contrapuntal writing is too advanced for his age (look up "10 great fugues not by Bach"), and part of the reason I think is because he could learn just by hearing lots of music and reading lots of scores.

[@midiexpert]

I am similar. I believe I had perfect pitch as a small child, and it stayed, but now I'm 67 and I don't always get it right, sometimes off a half step. But my relative pitch is still "perfect." I agree with the idea that development of relative pitch is most important, as is pitch memory, which I still have.

[@oomphlau]

Just for your information, I have had relative pitch all my life, but with some caveats. I can identify the tonic in most songs, but minor keys can confuse me. I have tested many people and have never found anyone else who could do this tonic identification trick. When I was younger I could name intervals instantly, but now, at 87 years of age, it's a little less easy. So I guess aging affects relative pitch as well as perfect pitch.

[@normmacdonaldrules4602]

Majors are a lot easier to identify because of their strong pull towards resolution. Minors have differing layers of tension...and the really interesting ones are extensions played with no root added. Majors are more of an all-in-one sound that already have strong resolutions built in. Thats why on the surface...they are much easier for the ear to clearly define their note of origin. Sometimes context mixed with movement can muddy their waters...but generally they are pretty straight forward.

[@trottlespiano6302]

Thank you Rick. Big respect for how you enrich your kids with the gift of music -- I wasn't brought up in a musical household but I am trying to get my son Elliot (I'm using his youtube account) involved as much as possible. You have been a huge inspiration to me. Best, James.

[@rainyday6430]

What I find most interesting is that having perfect pitch is not mutually exclusive with having musical talent. Granted, my 'evidence' is purely anecdotal, but I've known a handful of people who I would place in this category.

[@rebelfountain85]

If Coltrane would of had perfect pitch we probably wouldn't have gotten his sheets of sound because he said he played so many notes to find the one line through the chord changes. He was always searching. If you have perfect pitch you already know what everything is gonna sound like. Relative pitch makes it more of a mystery.

[@RobertDannyDavis]

It is kinda interesting in the start and singing the G. I wonder if this is due to guitar playing? I often walk around and just suddenly think of what the "G" string sounds like, sing it, then go to the guitar and walla, it is G. Same with all the other open strings.

[@remon563]

from experience, playing the violin increased my pitch memory by 200%

[@jerryfreedman5258]

I agree Robert. When restringing a guitar I usually get the bottom E to within a few cents of concert without a reference. I started playing when I was 8 and spent a lot of my teens learning Elton John, James Taylor and Beatles songs by ear. And found it SO frustrating to know I hadn't found quite the right chord yet. Drove my mum batshit..but glad I persevered in hindsight.

[@martinrerolle1921]

Even if that G was actually an A flat... :)

[@jerrymammoser1509]

Put it like this: trying to “develop” perfect pitch is analogous to trying to “improve” your foot size.

[@blasterblaster4015]

ok so I have a question, in this video it seems like Dylan obviously has perfect pitch, and Lennon on the other hand doesn't seem to have it. having watched your previous videos on how to develop perfect pitch and understanding that it is teachable to an infant, did you just choose not to teach Lennon perfect pitch or did you sort of not succeed in teaching her perfect pitch. I'm sorry if the question is rather rude, but I am just curious because I myself aim to teach my kids perfect pitch (when I actually have kids)

[@shadowxneo]

from his other videos, it sounds like it wasnt something he actively taught, it was just the music he would play in his home. so the lesson is, dont just play soulless pop top 100 songs, play some jazz, some classical. lots of different types of music.

[@MrTrashcan1]

Watch his videos on perfect pitch. It can't be taught. But to maximize their chances of developing it, play sophisticated jazz and classical (especially Bach) a lot during the first 2 years of their lives. Once they have it, later on you can teach them the names of the notes. In any case, they'll probably have relative pitch, and the likelihood of being tone deaf will be zilch.

[@darrelldiaz]

Just a little info. Both of my kids have perfect pitch which they seem to have inherited from their mom. (Who has it as well.) We didn’t actively teach them either, but we are professional musicians, so they heard all the right music in the house as infants and we later discovered that they had it. Noticed both had it by age 2.

[@winterlongone]

Ironically, I have relative pitch, but *nobody* in my family was musical. I begged my parents to buy me a piano.

[@rogermatthews2760]

1 second ago Pitch discrimination and tonal memory (and rhythm memory) were found or believed to be aptitudes, something we are born with, hence "genetic," by the grandfather of aptitude testing in the U.S., Johnson O'Connor. The institute/research org in his name still tests for it. I wonder how they would account for or integrate what Rick argues in his Perfect Pitch video with their findings and theory. My hunch is that some infants come into the world more able to pick it up than others given the opportunity, but that's just a hunch.

[@Ocean8881]

Greatest wealth of information I’ve ever seen or heard on KZbin. It doesn’t confirm my feelings about Perfect pitch. I use to envy those with such ability then I realize that relative pitch is more practical in my opinion. As a guitarist when I tune the instrument without a tuning machine I can not tell whether or not I’m in concert key and I can still play regardless. With perfect pitch it would be painful to the ear especially if one is a microtone away from the actual pitch. Also It seems to me that one with with perfect pitch does not have to practice sightsinging cuz they can already hear the notes.

[@TechReflex]

If I was your daughter I'd be pretty jealous that the other kid has perfect pitch and I don't.

[@DiegoPujolT]

That says more about you than it does about her. It seems like Rick is a great teacher and father and knows how to manage those situations.

[@moonlapse_vertigo]

As someone with Perfect Pitch, I find it to be a bit counterproductive, as it makes learning intervals difficult, as I tend to hear it as G to D instead of I to V. I have pretty good relative pitch with notes, but chords not so much.

[@Hannah-gj2vb]

TechReflex sammmemeee tho. i feel bad for her

[@coloraturaElise]

She has a GREAT ear...no reason to be jealous!

[@bonkreta]

Welll, I have exactly the same combo - my son does have perfect pitch and my daughter doesn't - and yes, she is a little bit jealous.

[@VideosVarious2]

The kid is SCARY accurate! BOTH of them! Congratulations, Rick. Many Blessings on you and your Family.

[@bignatec1000]

When you all hear your favorite song in your head, can you hear it exactly as it sounds? Is that normal? I can hear most of not all of the instruments and vocals and such. I don’t have perfect pitch, so sometimes I hear it in a different key, which is really weird, especially for people’s voices. I can also hear any instrument I want, like if I think of a random melody, I can hear it played in my head by a violin or trumpet for example.

[@llp9643]

Same! Probably normal. :)

[@DuaLeaD]

Your son seems like a sweet kid - What a wonderful gift you have helped him develop, the gift of music! Rock on brother!

[@TheSeptemberRose]

I was told by a singing teacher that I have near perfect pitch because if he played a note on the piano, I could sing it correctly. But I didn't know what note it was...I could only imitate the sound. Is that relative pitch? I wrote this before you got to the part about relative pitch....okay...I've got that.

[@evaeilea]

Suzanne Dargie that’s not perfect pitch, its just singing in tune no offense though

[@TonusFabri2024]

All pitch is relative: are you identifying notes relative to A=440, C=256, A=442, A=415 or .... You gloss over this but IMO it is fundamental to the issue. When I was a kid, we had a piano tuned a quarter tone low and a gramophone (turntable) that ran 6% fast: I had 3 separate pitches, all "perfect", one for piano music, one for orchestral, and the other (A=440) for organ & choir!!!

[@davidkaszer5278]

How come both of your children don't have perfect pitch since I assume they both had the same musical exposure?

[@andyjacobs7010]

I'm incredibly interested as well. My guess would be that goes to show it is still a statistic, you play the same songs and pitches to children, but only a select number will develop Perfect Pitch. Maybe instead of 1 in 10,000. If all learning was the same, maybe it would be 1 in 100. This a completely random estimate. I have no idea what the actual figure would be, but I am curious.

[@eshaman3334]

why is sky being blue?

[@NaOHFlakes]

I once saw in a video that perfect pitch is genetic. And passed on to them by their parents. Who most of them are singers or musician

[@kitemanmusic]

@@NaOHFlakes Barbershop runs in my family. I found out from my father who I heard singing a harmony line to a song. Years later he told me his father sang Barbershop. My daughters can naturally harmonise. I write B/shop arrangements.

[@ralphscholtze5851]

Rick, thank you for putting in all the time and energy in to making all these videos about perfect and relative pitch. Really love all your videos about this subject beacause you have a analytic look on the subject. A lot of people who put their hard time and energy in music get (sorry for saying it this way) butthurt about perfect pitch, because it gives them the feeling that it makes them lesser of a musician, or that they have fewer knowalage then others of music ( this is just an assumption and not targeted against anyone). This is not the case, everyone is unique in behaviour and feeling. In the end perfect pitch doesnt have to make you a great or better musician( as you stated in more of your other videos), it just gives better knowledge of whats going on. Passion and vision makes a great musician, knowelage is the tool to make people achieve great music and grow further.

[@lynnmorgan3283]

Hope your son develops a passion for music along with his perfect pitch. Your interaction with him is priceless. It will be fun to see him grow musically. Thanks for your teaching ability.

[@whitewalker608]

This is a really really great channel. Very unique. Perfect for my subscription list haha. Saw your channel after your Apple rant, then your response to the ageist comments. You seem like a sensible and smart dude. Keep up the good work! Now off to your "Why do people hate Jazz" video - the question i often ask myself (see? you have a great set of videos) haha.

[@RickBeato]

Welcome!

[@adenwong6646]

Beethoven was such a master he had perfect pitch while being deaf

[@leon.domingo]

This is the best video I've seen about this theme, **just for the kids**. They're lovely!Congrats, Rick!

[@chancescheihing4254]

Relative pitch is something you can learn through ear training. People aren’t really just born with it like perfect pitch

[@dr.davidgerstenaminoacidth2421]

Decades ago I was rhythmically challenged. In the recording studio the engineer, who is also a drummer, would crank up the drums in ny headset to help me find the groove. At 74 my relative pitch isn’t as good as it used to be so I began singing very slowly so I could give each note my full attention, and in one week my pitch is improving. When I perform, my pitch is always good. There is one note I have had a problem hearing, and that’s B. On a guitar I can tell if the other strings are in tune, but not the B. The John if learning in music never ends.

[@Ilman01]

a person with relative pitch can identify the chord progression of a song, but cannot identify what key it is in

[@lollipop3982]

Ilman Zidni can you possibly explain that a little more by what you mean

[@patinho5589]

@@lollipop3982 the entire video explains this

[@lendavidhart9710]

4:55 proud father smile, Thank you for this video, i learned a ton!

[@kalu00NS]

I have a question for anyone who has some knowledge on perfect pitch. I've got a friend who has no trouble naming a note when it's played to him ( without a reference note), but struggles (and usually fails) to sing a given note. By that I mean, when we ask him to sing a g# he doesn't get it right most of the time, but if we were to play it he would know what note it was easily. Is this a form of perfect pitch?

[@paulmyers5017]

According to wikihow there is active AP and passive AP. Passive AP can distinguish notes but can't sing them, only active AP can.

[@00SNIVY00]

Pitch memory can be learned and lost from my experience. I played a piece so often I managed to keep a hold on a G (the opening key of the piece) for a day or two, but lost it after holding off. It's something you have to keep at on a regular basis.

[@narnigrin]

That "I-don't-know-if-it's-actually-a-G" is pretty damn close to a G. (Spot on if the guitar closest to me was well-tuned, which I can't be bothered to check.)

[@LatchezarDimitrov]

Is really useful the perfect Pitch??? With all fluctuations of the referency A4 I think that this could be an handicap,no?

[@RickBeato]

+Latchezar Dimitrov No

[@LatchezarDimitrov]

Rick Beato Too easy to write "no" or simply you are miserable troll!

[@AustinALiboiron]

"But I don't have perfect pitch" LOL that G was bang on.

[@zenarobinson3851]

haven't watched this yet, but the answer, from someone plagued by perfect pitch which has gone haywire in old age, the answer has to be relative pitch. my comment on another of your videos: "why would anyone want perfect pitch? i was blessed (?) with this (discovered when at a very young age i declared someone's piano out of tune, ("but granny, i played a C & a Bb came out!") and later when i started piano lessons & was accused of cheating in aural tests. it's only good for showing off at parties! i couldn't sight read on Bb pianos, which meant some jobs weren't available to me. as a middle-aged adult, i took up trumpet (Bb here in GB) & clarinet. i had to conciously transpose everything at first, but as time went on, i thought i was becoming really good at this. now, as an old person, going back to the piano, and starting to go to concerts again, i realise that my perfect pitch has gone wrong, i assumed, because of playing Bb instruments. concerts are a nightmare, as i can no longer tell what key the music is in, and if i lose concentration & rely on my pitch only (as i always used to when memorising) i play wrong notes. if my pitch recognition had gone completely, i could have learnt to be good at relative pitch (which i didn't ever need before). it's an absolute NIGHTMARE. i had hoped when i stopped playing Bb instruments, which i blamed, that my pitch would readjust. perhaps it won't. so can someone tell me how to lose all sense of pitch recognition please! incidentally, 1. almost no music was played in my house when i was a child, and none at all when i was a baby. 2. at secondary school, a fellow student, a non-musician from a non-musical family was accidentally discovered to have perfect pitch ........

[@itorres008]

How do people identify notes using relative pitch once you have heard a succession of notes and have deviated somewhat form the initial reference note, do you still use the initial reference note or there comes a point in which you have to identify the note from the interval it makes wuth the last note heard? I suspect some people can remember the initial reference pitch despite the clutter or time passed, but I imagine for most it will fade out as you hear more notes and have to rely on the last note heard.

[@andyjacobs7010]

I actually would say I do best singing/hearing an arpeggio from the last note and/or tonic to the one I am trying to find. I've heard music a lot in half steps, whole steps, and so on in my life. I can fairly confidently arpeggiate to any specified pitch. I am less good at just going from tonic to whatever... kind of... maybe... At my music conservatory, we often used little snippets of songs to remember whatever leap you need for a given interval.

[@Ilman01]

i dont have perfect pitch, but i can sing a song that i know in the correct key and note after a while of not hearing any tone / music. i can sing it in the right key, is because im familiar, and if i dont sing it right, it would just sound wrong.

[@corniatherarefurcorn3575]

You lose perfect pitch over time?!!! Nooooooooo only 50 years of my life will have my beautiful gift no no no no!

[@hudsonshi154]

Cornia The Rare Furcorn I felt attacked when he said that

[@Stuit3rb4l]

It's not a gift, it's a punishment, unless you don't know what you're talking about!

[@pineapplewhatever5906]

Wait what will I do then

[@blewcraft.]

and that's why relative pitch is important

[@phil_fr6732]

You lose it only if you don't practice or listen to music. You have to re-tune your brain after a while.

[@caradeipanema]

Thank you. You just explained everything I've been hearing in head musically for the past 40 years.

[@BrandonPrive1432]

mannnnn i wish i had perfect pitch, it seems like it would become a dream when you are old enough to have a career in music, you could rule the world if your creative, or if you're not so creative you could become the best producer, or session musician or one of a million things in the music industry with a talent like that, its unbelievable, i've been making music since i was 15 so about 12 years, and im still just making it up on the go, i don't know anything, i play piano and guitar and don't know a single chord name or note, i just play and tinker until it sounds good.

[@aussieevonne7857]

Lennon is super lovely.

[@mateusochoa8694]

This made me realize that I have relative pitch! I plucked out the notes on every chord! I can't read music, I've never learned, but I can play most chords on a guitar by reading their names, but don't know what they're made of or how. This has made me very happy, I don't know why, but thank you!! I'm going to learn how to read music in the future.. You boosted up my confidence!! Thank you!

[@shaheerziya]

Hey, you forgot Chopin, what about him?

[@AirGuitar]

Chopin's music is so inspiring

[@jimbrownza]

The chart was full ;). Can't fit _everyone_ on the board....

[@lemartin93]

Luter Luter lmfao 😂

[@freemank8207]

I was also looking for him!

[@leahratcliff4609]

Yessss

[@ilovejazzz-kd4kr]

The thing is- I'm not sure if I have perfect or relative pitch I can identify any white note (like without sharps) without reference But when it comes to black notes, I have to go down a semitone. Like for example, you got E flat right? Sometimes I can identify it without reference, but sometimes idk i just can't figure it out, then I go down a semitone to find that it's a D and then say it's E flat I have synaesthesia and associate colours with notes C - yellow D - orange E - blue F - green G - pink A - red B - brown But sometimes (I dont even know why) I mistake D major with G major. When I hear a G sometimes, I think its D. So I have to go from my C (C is like ingrained in my mind, whenever I hear C, I know it's C) up to G to say it's G. The colours don't get mixed up but they sometimes just don't pop up, then I use my reference C. So what pitch do I have 😭

[@alejandrovelazquez6964]

Hi Rick. How do you know that Stravinsky had relative pitch and Beethoven had perfect pitch?...

[@anasamin8227]

Smoke! or relative pitch

[@zenarobinson3851]

also very good for composing, but see my extra long comment!

[@tindejavu]

Ok my English is very bad but...Im waching your videos each day and learning a lot from you and this things with Dylan are so...wonderfulll...he is little genius with great teacher and this videos makes me verry happy and motivate me :)

[@tindejavu]

Hhahahah ok, thanks for support :)

[@mariexiaotiqin]

I need to lose perfect pitch. I've tried everything but it's so hard. I have to play at A 415hz, 412hz, 392hz... when I have perfect pitch at 440hz. It's truly become a huge handicap and it's holding me back like crazy.

[@Pianistos]

Ok... I'll sacrifice myself! You can give that curse to me.

[@matsandersson3704]

You need to develop your relative pitch. For example, if you play some baroque music in baroque tuning (A4=415.3 Hz) you maybe can move your A4 to that frequency but it´s not so easy. But I think you will keep your PP until you are very old. I am 65 and still have not lost it.

[@DrWhom]

What makes you feel that 440 is optimum? It is still just an arbitrary choice!

[@andyjacobs7010]

It is an arbitrary choice. But it is the choice made by musicians in recent years. Mariexiaotiqin wasn't given a choice to learn A is 440. It is simply what she heard.

[@karlrovey]

My now retired organ professor has to practice on instruments with transposers to prepare for trips to Europe where he would play instruments pitched a half-step higher or lower than A-440. Another professor (brass, mainly trombone) hates working with transposing instruments because she also has perfect pitch. She used to have to transpose the parts to sounding pitch and play from that. Perfect pitch causes more problems than it solves. High level relative pitch is much more useful.

[@k_zildjian4460]

When I was in high school I played tympani in drum corps, and I had to do a lot of tuning changes on the fly. My music teacher suggested that I "memorize" a note, and then use that note as a reference when tuning the drums. For months I walked around with a tuning fork (A=440), listening to it whenever I could. I'm 55 and I still have the relative pitch I developed when I was 16.

[@johnshannon9656]

I guess the question is: If you have perfect pitch, does that mean you have relative pitch as part of the bundle?

[@Sapphirebulletsofpurelove]

John Shannon Technically, yes . If a person with perfect pitch can name notes on command, then they can easily name a note using another reference note

[@oscargasparguitarra]

No, you need to study a lot to develop relative pitch, even if you have perfect pitch. In the video he even explains Dylan uses relative pitch to identify some chords.

[@medievaltwin]

I think what he is getting at is that a person with PP (who doesn't have RP) might not sense the "distance" between notes, they just know if the individual notes match the reference in their head

[@medievaltwin]

I got your point -- I was trying to explain how Rick might be coming to a different conclusion.

[@ramblyk1]

Great to see you're helping Dylan develop his relative pitch to such a level. I agree with most of what was said in the video. But, one other important aspect of relative pitch wasn't mentioned in the video: recognition of notes based on a tonal centre, rather than or as well as interval from the previous note. At least if you have this form of relative pitch well developed, a perfect 4th sounds very different whether it's do-fa ((maj)1-4), re-so ((maj)2-5), mi-la ((maj)3-6), fa-ta ((maj)4-flat7), etc.

[@ilirlir]

damn i can feel his daughters future jealousy of her brother

[@markopolo2224]

Yes

[@markopolo2224]

@@JennyOPKush yeah

[@souviksen7497]

Not at all. Good relative pitch is sufficient to be a great musician. She'll do just fine.

[@souviksen7497]

@@JennyOPKush She's much younger.

[@twoblink]

Naw; she just needs to practice 40 hours a day.. Trumps all perfect pitch.

[@JoshuaNgMusic]

When it comes to functional harmony analysis, a good command of relative pitch is a must, and it also requires a lot of practising for people with or without perfect pitch.

[@robertschlesinger1342]

Thanks Rick, very interesting and helpful video. You're doing a great set of deeds in sharing your music knowledge. My teenaged daughter is learning a lot from your videos.

[@matthewmjb6860]

The ad before this said at the end, "Learning songs by ear is usually ineffective." I must be special, I learned everything I know about music apart from the note names and major scales from listening to songs, playing them, and comparing patterns. 🚀 🌎

[@TheZenytram]

ok i dont have the perfect nor relative, i'm screwed.

[@manindersingh6748]

Zenytram Searom he's just bullshiting many musicians does not have perfect pitch it's his views to flame his ego through his child to show him talented

[@andyjacobs7010]

... Rick does not have perfect pitch. He admits *most* people, even musicians (including himself), do not have perfect pitch.