How To Acquire Perfect Pitch

Some people have the ability to identify the exact pitch of any sound merely by ear. That’s right, any sound, including sounds coming from a guitar, piano, speaking voice, car horn, doorbell, cricket and so on. They can tell if the pitch is, say, F# or B.

Many have offered their own explanations for this kind of skill. Some say that perfect pitch is something innate, you have to be born with it to have it. Others say that perfect pitch is a mark of a genius or a special gift, only a blessed few like Mozart and Barbra Streisand possess it. Yet another group say that it’s a matter of genetics.

And yet another group say that I have it.

But speaking from my own experience, I don’t believe that perfect pitch is such an inborn, special talent. Perfect pitch can be learned, just like any other skill. And I’m going to share with you how I learned it.

Hearing Is Like Seeing

Most of us have normal eyesight since childhood. Yet when we were still very little kids, even with our normal vision, we  still couldn’t identify the objects around us. Even if an apple were placed right in front of us, we wouldn’t know that it was an apple. Our moms had to tell us that it was an apple, that we were seeing an apple. Then after we learned about it we only had to remember what we saw and what it was called, so that the next time we would see an apple, we would know that it’s an apple.

So is the case with hearing and pitch. Even with normal hearing, we still can’t identify the pitch of anything we hear, unless someone or something else can pinpoint to us the exact pitch we are hearing. So the secret to learning perfect pitch is to remember what we hear and what its pitch is, so that the next time we hear it, we know the pitch.

What You Need To Hear

So now I’m going to pinpoint to you the basic pitches you need to memorize. Pitches are named after the first seven letters of the English alphabet (A, B, C, D, E, F, G). Some pitches are accompanied by an accidental (either a sharp (#) or a flat (b) symbol) next to their letter name. For starters, we will not include pitches with accidentals here.

Here are the basic pitches. Listen carefully and remember their sound. Humming them repeatedly can help.

C

D

E

F

G
 

A

B

 You should also familiarize yourself with the concept of octaves. Two different pitches can sound "alike" if they are a multiple number of octaves apart. For this reason, these pitches have the same letter name. For instance, listen to the various pitches below, all named "C":

C in various octaves

And here’s another one for A:

A in various octaves

Learning By Association 

Just as in learning any other skill, you will be able to memorize things faster if you can associate them with familiar objects. So that’s exactly what we will do today.

I will facilitate your memorization by associating a pitch with a song. Each pitch will be partnered with a song written in the same major key as the pitch. A side benefit of this is, not only will you memorize each pitch faster, but you will also memorize how each major key sounds like.

So here they go:

C

Best Of My Love  by The Eagles

D

Paano by Shamrock

E

Pagdating Ng Panahon by Aiza Seguerra

F

Yesterday by The Beatles

G

When You Say Nothing At All by Ronan Keating

A

What’s Up by 4 Non Blondes

B

Ulan by Cueshe

So the next time you hear something, try to "listen in your head" if the pitch sounds like one of the songs above. If for instance the pitch sounds like the song Yesterday, then the pitch is F. 

Practice Makes Perfect Pitch

You must listen to the basic pitches everyday. You must always associate them with the songs above. You must practice, practice and practice to master perfect pitch. In time, it will become second nature to you.

Learning to play a musical instrument greatly accelerates your learning in perfect pitch. So if you have an instrument nearby, grab it and play it now!

Test Yourself

To gauge your own progress, I created a sample melody that tests your mastery of the basic pitches.

Identify all the pitches that occur in the following melody, in order:

Pitch test

You may also want to identify the major keys of the following songs:

Sundo by Imago

Kisap Mata by Rivermaya

Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day

I will post the pitches with accidentals in a future post.