Relative Pitch
Although you can’t hear the sound waves you
produce accurately from inside your head, you can and
should develop your ability to mentally “hear” music or
notes, using your imagination. For example, think of the
tune of your favorite song. Can you hear how it goes?
All of us have an auditory memory that stores sounds in the
same way our memory stores images and smells. Some composers
can even compose music inside their head, with no instruments
at all. This auditory memory is essential for reading music, as
it allows us to associate a note on a staff with a particular
sound.
So what is relative
pitch?
When it comes to actually singing sounds from memory, things
become much more difficult. Without perfect pitch it is almost
impossible to sing a middle C without having just heard a
middle C played on a piano or other instrument. Few people can
hit a note out of nowhere. However, what you can do is listen
to the note and use it as a base to hit notes above and beneath
it. This is called “relative pitch.” With the aid of an
instrument to provide the base note, most people can easily hit
the rest of the notes they wish to sing.
Relative pitch is a guessing
game
Relative pitch is guessing at a musical note and usually
getting close to the exact pitch. Unlike perfect pitch,
relative pitch can be developed through intense training. Most
singers develop relative pitch from singing scales or even a
certain song over and over. Singers often begin on the correct
note just by knowing the way it feels. Also unlike perfect
pitch, relative pitch is common among non-musicians and can be
developed through ear training. Relative pitch has not been
known to develop into perfect picth. Perfect pitch may sound
cool but it's not necessary for good singing.
A great way to train your relative pitch is to use relative
pitch training software for example the Perfect
Your Pitch Trainer Pro software included as
part of Singorama's
Ultimate Guide to Professional Singing
Related articles:
singing pitch and tone,
tone
deafness, perfect
pitch, matching
pitch, learn to sing at
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