When you hear people talking about perfect pitch, it sounds like it’s one of those legendary skills that’s too good to be true. Approximately one person among thousands is blessed with the coveted ability to recognize, recreate, and name a musical note without any reference to other notes. Perfect pitch is what the greats like Mariah Carey, Ella Fitzgerald, Freddie Mercury, and Mozart have in common.
Musicians with absolute pitch can use it as a superpower to learn the intricacies of singing and instrument playing. If you’re an aspiring pianist, wondering if you have it, you could also be wondering what the perfect pitch in piano lessons is and how it can help fulfill your musical potential. Let’s explore what makes perfect pitch such a special ability, how common it is, and how you can use it to become a better piano player.
What is a perfect pitch?
What makes having a perfect pitch so unique? While it may not look like much when you’re observing someone repeat a note after only hearing its name, if you try doing it yourself, you’ll understand how difficult it is. That’s why perfect pitch is also known as absolute pitch (AP) in music theory – the ability to get the name of the note and recreate it without hearing the sound is extraordinary.
This means that people with perfect pitch can also recognize the note upon hearing it, name it, and then reproduce it. The rare ability is different from relative pitch, which is a part of musical training and can be learned.
Recognizing Perfect Pitch
Having absolute pitch is far more than just having a good ear for music, and there are ways you can figure out if someone indeed has this ability. A musician with AP is capable of:
- recognizing different notes without a reference tone
- instantly identifying different keys and notes in a song or a musical piece
- playing or singing a specific note just from their memory
- pinpointing the pitch of everyday sounds like the buzzing of a mosquito, a doorbell, a siren, etc.
Basically, for a person with AP, no sound in the world is a mystery and they can quickly figure out the note and the pitch of just about anything you play for them. If you suspect you may be one of the lucky ones, you can use these guidelines to figure out whether you are blessed with a perfect pitch.
Is perfect pitch common?
Having a perfect pitch is a distinctive talent you don’t come across very often. While the stats vary from country to country, on average only 1 in 10,000 people has this natural ability. There are some indications that kids who start their musical education in early childhood are more likely to have AP.
What’s interesting is that the increased presence of perfect pitch can also be connected to the language music students speak. There’s research that suggests that you can find more people with perfect pitch among speakers of tonal languages, like Mandarin, Thai, and Vietnamese. While more studies are needed in this field, this connection shows that when a pitch can determine the meaning of the word, it’s more likely for speakers of that language to internalize the attunement to pitch and use it in their musical development.
Can perfect pitch be learned?
This is a great question that’s also the center of debates in the music community. There’s no final answer here – while some claim that perfect pitch is a talent you’re born with, others believe it can be achieved, as long as you’re exposed to structured musical training early in life. There’s a similar conversation happening around the topic of whether singing is a genetic trait.
There’s still no definitive answer to this question, so maybe the truth is somewhere in between where innate traits meet years of education to hone your hearing to perfection.
Perfect Pitch vs. Relative Pitch: What’s the Difference?
Now that we have a firm grasp of what is perfect pitch and how you can recognize it, let’s talk about its practical counterpart – the relative pitch. You don’t need to be born with a perfect pitch to be a successful musician, all you need to do is dedicate time and energy to developing a relative pitch.
What is relative pitch?
While someone with AP can recognize a note without any reference, relative pitch is the ability to identify a given musical note as it relates to other notes, which is where the ability got its name.
If you have strong relative pitch skills, you’ll, for example, be able to recognize an A note by figuring out that it’s a major third above an F#. Musicians, be they singers, clarinet players, or pianists, need to develop their relative pitch because it allows them to quickly identify chords and tunes just by hearing them. This skill will also make it easier for them to play the same music in different keys and be comfortable improvising when playing their instrument.
Which is more useful for piano players?
We’ve come to the most important question – what is more useful for aspiring piano players, having perfect or relative pitch? While having perfect pitch is a tremendous advantage because so few have it, it’s the relative pitch that’s generally more practical for pianists.
You don’t need perfect pitch to become an accomplished piano player, because relative pitch can give you all the tools you need, which is recognizing harmonies and intervals. This will be a crucial skill whether you’d like to compose your own music, play with other musicians, or simply feel free to improvise as you play. So perfect pitch is a perk, but even if you don’t have it, having strong relative pitch skills is everything you need to play the piano well and enjoy it.
How Perfect Pitch Can Help You Play Piano
What is perfect pitch in piano playing and how can it help you grow as a pianist? If you’re one of the few with this ability, you can definitely make it work to your advantage. Having AP gives you the freedom to express your creativity more openly, as well as quickly recognize notes and piano chords simply by listening as they’re being played. Here are a few of the perks you can count on.
Recognizing Notes and Chords by Ear
When you’re able to easily identify notes and chords in a music piece without any reference notes, the way you learn how to play songs on a piano changes dramatically. Not only will you be able to learn songs more quickly, which is a great benefit in itself, but as you practice, you’ll get better at playing music by ear.
This means you’d be able to recreate a melody on the piano after you’ve only heard it once, which is wonderfully handy when you’re playing this highly complex instrument.
Improvisation and Playing Without Sheet Music
Having perfect pitch can do a lot of good for your confidence when you’re playing the piano, which in turn, allows you to relax and improvise more easily. It’s easier to hear a piece of music and figure out how you can build on it by choosing the right melodies and harmonies.
Pianists with perfect pitch also don’t need sheet music as much, as they can remember and replay a song exactly as they heard it. They remember precise notes just like some people remember words, so they don’t need sheet music to learn a new piece, it’s enough for them to hear it.
Sight-Reading and Music Memorization
Building on their fantastic note recognition skills, pianists with perfect pitch are quicker to memorize music pieces, and reading sheet music when necessary comes naturally to them.
So when you’re eager to learn how to play many different pieces of music in a set amount of time, having a perfect pitch will be a game changer. It’s a shortcut that gives you time and space to learn faster and become proficient in whatever genre you’d like to test your mettle.
Advantages and Challenges of Pianists with Perfect Pitch
Learning to play the piano comes with amazing benefits, so whether you or your kids are trying it on for size, know that just like any other skill, perfect pitch has its advantages and challenges you should be aware of.
The advantages include:
- Being able to quickly memorize, recreate, and easily map out the played notes just by listening
- Precisely recognizing notes, chords, and complete melodies, which makes sight-reading of sheet music easier
- Excellent ear-training skills which help pianists understand harmonies, analyze music, and spot errors in playing.
On the flip side, it’s equally important to be aware of the challenges that come with having a perfect pitch:
- Relying too much on the trait can make it harder to develop a relative pitch which is important when you want to play the piano in an ensemble or a band
- It can be near-impossible to ignore if instruments are even slightly out of tune, which can make it harder for the pianist to focus or play with others
- Playing a music piece in a different key, because the brain is wired to recreate the melody exactly as it was heard.
Conclusion
Having perfect pitch is a great trait to have and it brings plenty of opportunities and advantages with it. If you’ve been wondering what is perfect pitch in piano playing and whether it’s crucial to have it, now you know that it’s a perk, but relative pitch is an even more practical skill to hone.
Whether you have perfect pitch or not, dedicating time, energy, and passion to your piano playing is essential to becoming an accomplished pianist. This is where booking personalized piano lessons with a professional instructor can make a world of difference. Working closely with an experienced teacher can pave the path to you becoming a skilled pianist and enjoying every step of the journey.
