The ability to reproduce the pitch of a pitched sound by your voice. The time time that can pass between a heard pitch and the correct reproduction of that pitch. For the first point, we simply measure the pitch of your singing for one second. PitchBlitz helps you to improve your relative pitch skills (interval precision). PitchBlitz prepares you for the Pitch Grid Test. The Pitch Grid Test is a relative pitch test that evaluates your ability to discriminate pitch-distances (interval precision).
Wouldn’t it be nice to know where you stand on the road to perfect pitch?
Having an indicator that can show you your progress towards perfect pitchhelps you to recognize and improve your weak points.
PitchBlitz is a Education::Teaching & Training Tools software developed by AlgorithmsAndDatastructures, F. After our trial and test, the software was found to be official, secure and free. Here is the official description for PitchBlitz: PitchBlitz prepares you for the Pitch Grid Test.
Unfortunately, the definition of perfect pitch is very complex. Wikipediaredirects a search for the term “Perfect Pitch” to the page “Absolute Pitch.”In this way, perfect pitch is often used as a synonym for absolute pitch.
In my opinion, the term “perfect pitch” should be used for describing theprecision of relative pitch. Let me explain:
Wikipedia states as one of the criteria for perfect pitch (absolutepitch): being able to sing a pitch in the equal-tempered system without havinga reference tone.
Unfortunately, this definition combines two aspects of pitch skills:
2)Remembering a pitch perfectly
This aspect addresses relative pitch skills. If you can match a pitchperfectly when singing, then this is a relative skill, since you match a pitchyou’ve heard with your voice. Now, matching a pitch has nothing to do with theequal-tempered system of frequencies. You can match a pitch that is off theequal-tempered system. In fact, there are other music systems in which you haveto match other frequencies to be in tune. Even in the equal-tempered system, thepitch frequencies have changed several times: “Thestandard pitch has not always been 440 Hz. It has varied and generallyrisen over the past few hundred years“ (“The History of Musical Pitch inEurope“, Hermann von Helmholtz, referenced in the Wikipedia article “Equal Temperament“.)
Since to be/sing in tune is the mostimportant aspect of harmonic music, relative pitch is independent of absolutepitch frequencies. Therefore, the term perfect pitch should be used to expressa perfect match of any frequency.
To be able to match a pitchperfectly, you must be able to recognize deviations from a given reference frequency.This is a skill that can be trained and improved with appropriate feedback. Measuringthe deviation-recognition ability does not only apply to recognizing deviationsfrom equal-tempered frequencies but is valid for any frequencies.
This insight let to thedevelopment of a relative pitch meter (see my post “Relative Pitch Indicator”).
Remembering a pitchperfectly
The second aspect addressesabsolute pitch skills. You must be able to remember the sounds of absolutefrequencies. Since you are not allowed to hear a reference tone, you must beable to recall the sound of a pitch from your long-term memory. Now, we all canrecall song-melodies. The question is how accurately – in relation to absolutefrequencies – we remember the pitches.
Recall can be learned and improvedtoo. For example, with exercises like “growing melodies”– in which a melody grows by adding a newrandom note at the end and your task is to recall and replay the growing melody– you can train your pitch memory. Unfortunately, in a growing melody exercise,you will use also relative pitch skills, since you can build on the previouslyheard note.
To eliminate the relative pitchpart, we must introduce a silence period. That means, before you are allowed torecall a note, there must be pitch-less period of a certain duration.
If we use the Wikipedia criteria,“Accurately sing a named pitch without a reference tone,” then we can – for agiven silence period – measure your recall precision directly. A reproducibletest can be built by letting you hear a tone – in your singing range – andafter a specified silence time, requiring you to sing that tone back. Thereproduction of the pitch through singing allows us to measure the deviationfrom the original pitch. If we need to match the pitch within a predefinedprecision, then the silence period – within which we are still able toreproduce the pitch correctly within the required precision – can be used toexpress our pitch memory as the silence period in seconds.
This insight was used to develop an absolute pitch meter (see my post“Absolute Pitch Indicator”).
Despite thetitle “Perfect Pitch Meter,” no perfect pitch meter has been presented. However,by assessing the values of the relative pitch meter and the absolute pitchmeter, a kind of a perfect pitch meter could be constructed.
Theabsolute pitch meter seems to be nearer to capturing the most difficult part ofthe Wikipedia definition for perfect pitch. On the other hand, hearing relativepitch distances accurately is much more important for music. Harmony means thatthe pitches relative to each other harmonize. Therefore, a relative pitch meteris much more useful than an absolute pitch meter. Progress in relative pitchhas a direct observable influence on a performance.
Nevertheless,absolute pitch training is memory training and helps to overcome forgetfulness.However, it is very exhausting. For example learning a growing random number isvery tedious and therefore abandoned quickly. The merits are not easily visible.The same is true for acquiring perfect pitch.
Is the effort neededto achieve progress —compared to the merit— the killing factor for acquiring absolutepitch?
Accordingto the article “Acquiring Absolute Pitch in Adulthood Is Difficultbut Possible (July 2018)”, the authors Yetta Kwailing Wong, Kelvin F.H. Lui,and Ken H.M. Yip, believe that the findings of their studies suggest that absolutepitch continues to be learnable in adulthood. So, why then don’t we see morepeople that acquire absolute pitch? The simple answer —that themerits don’t outweigh the effort— deserves a closer look.
To myknowledge, there exists no definition for the term “pseudo-absolute pitch.” Theterm is used to express that there is always a noticeable difference betweenacquiring absolute pitch abilities in childhood and adulthood. While this maybe true, it does not prove that the brain is unable to acquire “real”(indistinguishable) absolute pitch at any age. To support this thought, let uslook at the ability to learn a foreign language. You can start learning aforeign language any time after childhood. The question is: How perfectly canan adult learn a foreign language? Can an adult learn a foreign language perfectlyat all? To answer these questions, there are three main topics that we have tohonor:
- The term “perfect” is always relative to subjective interpretation.
- Learning exposure: The environment where the learning takes place (e.g., a foreign country) is important
- There is limited available time
Sincethe first aspect is subject to personal preferences, I will not dive in deeper.I will only say that the fact that a person who has learned a foreign language canget better marks on tests than natives does not mean that his languageunderstanding is better than that of a native speaker.
Thesecond aspect points out that, for learning a foreign language, moving to thecountry of the language’s origin makes a huge difference. The constant exposureto the language has a great influence on learning. However, an iron will isstill necessary to overcome shortcomings. Especially, to get rid of one’s ownnative accent is not easy. In this way, active training is needed. In contrast tothe constant language exposure, acquiring perfect pitch is much more difficult,since there is no permanent utilization of absolute pitch references. As Imentioned before, music is always based on relative pitch. Therefore, it willbe much more difficult to acquire absolute pitch than to acquire a foreign languageperfectly to the point where native speakers can no longer differentiate thepersons origin.
Thethird aspect, a limited lifetime, makes it clear that a 70-year-old personprobably does not have the chance to learn a foreign language perfectly. Buthere, we must recognize that even a 70-year-old person can still make progressin acquiring a foreign language. If we assume that acquiring perfect pitch hasa lot in common with learning a foreign language —both are based on audio(listening and expressing) —then thequestion comes down to this: If it is possible to learn a foreign language perfectlyin adulthood, why shouldn’t it be possible to acquire perfect pitch? To answerthis last question we must find out how our brain functions.
Toanswer this question, I propose the following thought experiment: Let us assumethat a person stops aging after 70 and lives for another 1,000 years.
In thiscase, I will argue that after 1,000 years, a person living in a foreign countrywill be as native as a real native, since during these 1,000 years, the personwill make progress, even learn all the customs. And if the person is activelyworking on his or her accent, then he or she will no longer be distinguishablefrom natives, especially since during that period, the use of the vocabularywill change —new words will be added, and other words will vanish. This personwill even be part of this process and help form the language.
If thisthought experiment is true, then this implies that the brain is built forlearning perfect pitch too. There are no magical wirings in the brain that forbidthe brain from acquiring perfect pitch. If our goal is to understand how the brain works, then we shouldconcentrate on looking at why the brain starts blocking accepting new concepts.One reason could be that the brain feels “overloaded,” like if you have eatenenough and your desire to eat stops. That is, if the brain no longer recognizesa need to learn a new concept, then the brain is no longer willing to transferinformation from short-term to the long-term memory. The brain tries to safeguardour long-term memory from overloading. It is obvious that the capacity of ourlong-term memory is limited. Therefore, it seems plausible that during ourevolution, a sufficient reserve for fast adaption proved to be a lifesaver.Thus, the brain starts to delimit the transfer from the short-term memory tothe long-term memory. Concepts that do not bring visible progress (or reward)during a certain period simply do not get transferred.
The importantlesson we should take from this thought experiment is that the brain neverchanges its essential learning behavior. You can still learn anything you wantat any age if you have enough energy and time to do so. And the second thing weshould honor is that clear, fast, rewarding feedback is a strong supporter inlearning.
For acquiringabsolute pitch, this means that our brain needs direct feedback to see where westand so that we can observe our progress, and therefore, the informationtransfer to the long-term memory does not get blocked. We know that relativepitch deserves more attention and that relative pitch shows faster progresstowards musicality. We also know that we do not have permanent exposure tousing absolute pitch frequencies as references. For making progress in learningmusical concepts, relative pitch will always be dominant, since during musicalactivity, we always have to adjust relative to other instruments. Even withoutother instruments —in a melody— we have to makesure that the tones are relative in harmony to each other. So, it will be verydifficult to acquire absolute pitch, if we do not already have a good sense of relativepitch. Therefore, we must learn to listen carefully for relative pitchdistances first, before we can start to memorize absolute pitch frequencies withthe required precision.
Because wecan derive a similarity between learning absolute pitch and our language-learningthought experiment, it should be possible to acquire perfect pitch — provided that we are given enough time and learning exposure. The factthat our brain will prioritize learning relative pitch just makes it verydifficult to acquire absolute pitch. Most people will give up before reaching thenecessary precision and speed even for relative pitch.
The firstthing you should do is perfect your relative pitch hearing abilities. Sincerelative pitch deviations must be corrected immediately, the skill of detectingpitch deviations is essentially a speed accomplishment. Since the relativepitch meter attaches importance to reaction time, it can be used to achieveimprovements in this direction. The goal should be to reach a level whererecognition of relative pitch distances should become innate.
Second, the observable decline of improvement in the absolutepitch training undermines the argument —that “the effort vs. the merit is the killing factor” foracquiring absolute pitch, and not the “you have to be born with it claim” istrue. To further support this claim,I need about 100 persons who are willing to spend 20minutes a day for a period of 100 days. Please download the program SamePitchPleaseand take 20 minutes each day to document your pitch recall ability progress,thus collecting data on your progress towards absolute pitch. In this way, theabsolute pitch meter will collect information about the starting absolute pitchlevel, the improvements made, and the observable slowdown of improvement. Thespeed of improvement is the critical point for motivation. If the absolutepitch level cannot be improved within a reasonable time, then people will startto give up. If you give up before the 100-day period, please let us know thereason in the comment section of the export dialog in the SamePitchPleaseprogram.
Pitchblende
Together,the relative pitch meter and the absolute pitch meter show you where you standon the path to perfect pitch. Don’t be disappointed if your score is low —this onlyshows that there is room for improvement.
Even though aperfect pitch meter could be constructed from the results of the relative pitchand absolute pitch meter, it does not make sense, since to motivate someone, directevaluable feedback in relation to the effort made is necessary. By measuringtwo aspects separately, you can better see the effect of your effort towards eachof the goals: acquiring relative pitch abilities and acquiring absolute pitchabilities. Combining two meters into one meter blurs the assignability of an effortto an outcome.
The absolutepitch meter does not really help you to improve your musicality. Musicality isalways a relative task –you must be in harmony relative to a given key. So, is anabsolute pitch meter useless? No —it can help us tounderstand how the brain works. Absolute pitch is a very good field forunderstanding/discovering the functioning of short/long-term memory. Therefore,the observations made during a 100-day period with the absolute pitch abilitytest would not only help to prove/refute the hypothesis that the effort vs. themerit is the killing factor for acquiring absolute pitch, but also give some insidedata on the functioning of our short- and long-term memory. The level where youstart is not an issue –everybody will make progress just by the effort they putin. But everybody will also slow down in the progress curve. And then it getsboring. The aim of this call to action is to document this slowdown inacquiring absolute pitch with the program SamePitchPlease. For relative pitch,the program PitchBlitz can be used to document the learning behavior.
So, pleasedownload the free program SamePitchPlease (https://samepitchplease.com)to start your absolute pitch training, or PitchBlitz (https://pitch-blitz.com) to start yourrelative pitch training. After 5 days please export your statistics and send theexported file to felixthecat @ listening-singing-teacher.com. This way, I will knowthat you have started the training. After finishing the100-day training period,please, send me your statistics report again. Of course, if you give upearlier, I would appreciate if you send me your current statistics anyway(preferably with a short comment on why you gave up).
Pitch Bitumen
When I get fiveemails with a 5-day starting statistic, I will publish a table (https://pitchfeedback.com/Absolute-Pitch-Meter-Stats.html)showing the participant number, the starting date and the starting score. Thetable will contain other columns —initially empty— that will show the score after 100 days, or —if you sendme an intermediate report— your intermediate score and the number of training daysyou have completed. You do not have to send intermediate reports. However, sendingme the first report after 5 days should motivate others to also start toexplore their relative/absolute pitch capabilities, because they can see thatothers have started (to see nothing feels like being a lonely fighter, and ifyou give up before the 100-day period, it is very unlikely that you will sendin your finishing score). If you finish the 100-day period, I appreciate when yoursending me the final report. In case you give up earlier, sending me your lastreport is also highly appreciated. In this case, the table will be updated withthe last score and completed number of training days along with the informationyou reported for the reason for giving up (via clickable choices or comment).
The data Ireceive will be rendered anonymous, so your name will never occur in astatistic. Your email address will never be used except to check back in caseof ambiguities.
Felix
PitchBlitz prepares you for the Pitch Grid Test. The Pitch Grid Test is a relative pitch test that evaluates your ability to discriminate pitch-distances. For the test, the notes are laid out in form of a grid: There are 4 rows of octaves starting from C2 to C5. The number of columns depends on the selected the grid sensitivity. E.g. 100 cents correspond to 12 columns (chromatic scale); 33 cents correspond to 36 columns. In this way pitch-distances beyond half-step precision can be trained. The test starts with a grid sensitivity of 1200 cents. That is the grid consists of only 1 column. That means: to pass the test you only have to click in the correct row, in which the played note was played. After you have passed 10 questions, the test continues with a grid sensitivity of 600 cents. Meaning the grid consists now of 2 columns. Each time you have answered 10 questions the grid sensitivity decreases and the number of clickable columns increases. Therefore the difficulty increases - you must listen more carefully to figure out the destination note - and thus leads to longer answer times.
The Pitch Grid Test may look like an absolute pitch test. However, it is a relative pitch test. The last played tone is highlighted on the grid and marks your reference tone for the next question. Since you do not want to test grid sensitivities that you have already mastered, the Pitch Grid Test allows you to select the starting grid sensitivity for the test. If you fail to answer the ten questions for a given grid sensitivity, then the test stops. Your relative pitch score is then calculated from the last past grid sensitivity and the maximum time you needed to answer a question. To assess your relative pitch abilities, the answering-speed is crucial. The program PitchBlitz has a number of options that facilitate the learning process. The most important is that you can select an option that forces you to answer pitch questions in pitch distances. That is the grid is disabled, and you are forced to give the answer in the distance bar. Another option allows you to select octaves individually. In this way, you can train your listening skills in a narrowed environment. For example, first you concentrate your learning to the range C4 to C5. Then you concentrate on the range C5 to C6. And finally you combine the two ranges: and train in the range of C4 to C6. Another option lets you train to master the notation space: Learn to read pitch-distances and learn to add pitch-distances to a given reference point. PitchBlitz also contains a timeline that lets you observe the progress over time.