Help with ear training

[Olimar12345]

Sigh, this isn't up for debate-it's scientific fact. People ARE born like this-look it up. Some of my best friend have perfect pitch. Recognizing pitches isn't a problem for them, but things that are easier for us are harder for them(Like sight transposing). Like I said, this isn't up for debate. It is real.

And relative pitch is called perfect pitch because people with relative pitch can be wrong(hence the "perfect" part).

[Brassman388]

Well, what you call born with it I call learnt when very young which is probably more true. Either way you're basically saying that you can get that ability through practice but you don't call it perfect pitch because it takes effort to learn. Also, I don't think even those that were "born" with perfect pitch all have the same degree of it. For example some maybe can recognize single pitches at the time, others several pitches, some can hear how much out of tune a pitch is while others can't, some can estimate the pitches of random sounds while others can't. Maybe I'm wrong. Either way, like I said, it's a matter of generalisation to other sounds and timbres and octaves or maybe just improving the pitch recognition in general by more practice on one timbre. Anyways, yes, using some kind of reference tones and relative pitch for other tones could also work but I'm not sure how I would practice that.

These guys who have that ability, they like, see colours, shapes and taste flavours and such. It's more of a cognitive recognition rather than them hearing it and being, "Yeah man, that's a middle C." Which of course, requires no training.
 
And because they have no training usually don't know how to do things like transpose or transcribe. I have relative pitch because i've been working at it for almost 7 to 8 years. Yes it's achieve-able. Does it work all the time? No, but I know enough of my theory to correct any mistake that I make 99% of the time.

Overall, just keep working at it, and don't worry about what you can't do but, what you can do.

Edit: Oh yeah, it also helps to join a choir and sing and recognize each tone. It really does.

[Ricky]

Edit: Oh yeah, it also helps to join a choir and sing and recognize each tone. It really does.

Well, in a book I have about ear training ("Hearing and Writing Music") the author does state that singing is important for ear training (in fact it's one of the key elements in the book). Sometimes it seems you can make things easier by singing. However I'm not so good at it and would probably need singing lessons. Eventhough I can recognize intervals it's hard for me to sing correct intervals or hitting the right pitches when singing. Ofc it's all about practice and so lessons should help. Joining a choir certainly sounds interesting but I don't think I'm ready for it.

Edit 1: @Olimar, actually the science community studying this topic isn't sure about that. Some state that perfect pitch can indeed be learnt when very young.

Edit 2: @JDMEK5, I like the tip you gave about working with something and if it turns out too hard to move on to something easier and practice on easier stuff until I'm ready.

[TheZeldaPianist275]

@Olimar, actually the science community studying this topic isn't sure about that. Some state that perfect pitch can indeed be learnt when very young.

You apparently have never gotten in an argument with Olimar before.

[Waddle Bro]

Something that no one probably even cares about:

Being born with it and having perfect accuracy with no training.

That is a VERY common thing in our family. My mom, sister, FSM and I have it.

[JDMEK5]

Well, in a book I have about ear training ("Hearing and Writing Music") the author does state that singing is important for ear training (in fact it's one of the key elements in the book).

I have absolutely no singing exposure except that which I sing in church, and sing in the shower. And I've got relative pitch. So singing isn't necessary I guarantee you. But it helps. (Apparently*)

*Don't get me wrong; I'm not in the least bit skeptical

[Olimar12345]

Singing does help immensely, though.

[Ricky]

So here's a quick update:

Basically I've taken a break from trying to transcribe video game music and I've instead been focusing on easier pieces, namely pure piano pieces and not especially hard ones (in terms of figuring out stuff by ear). Lots of such pieces can be found on G Major Music Theory and there are also pdfs so you can check if the thing you wrote down when listening to the midi is correct. So far I've worked through three such pieces and intend to work through a few more (possibly just 3). The results have been good but sometimes I miss some notes in chords and do various other mistakes. Maybe I will try to find some easier video game music pieces to transcribe once the G Major Music Theory ones are done. If you have any tips of easy video game music (maybe such that hasn't been transcribed yet) feel free to share it.

[Dudeman]

8-bit music is usually an easier way to start. 8-bit has only three channels that play music and this makes it somewhat easier to arrange. That said, some of the composers of the 8-bit era were incredibly skilled, so not all 8-bit music is simple.

[Ricky]

8-bit music is usually an easier way to start. 8-bit has only three channels that play music and this makes it somewhat easier to arrange. That said, some of the composers of the 8-bit era were incredibly skilled, so not all 8-bit music is simple.

I see, I will try to find some.

[JDMEK5]

8-bit is really easy to arrange if you're playing the game at the same time.
Because they only have 3 channels, the sound effects always bump one out.
Leaving the second, harder track underneath exposed.

(Try getting some coins in a NES Mario game and see what it does to the sound)

[blueflower999]

That said, some of the composers of the 8-bit era were incredibly skilled, so not all 8-bit music is simple.

Dr. Wily's stage 1-2 from Mega Man 2 is a good example of this.

[Ricky]

One thing I've been thinking about is that I should practice writing down from my mind directly instead of listening to a segment over and over to write something down. While writing down from my mind is harder for now I think it can be very useful. After many of the musical ideas come from the mind and if you understand what you hear in your mind and can write it down then you can pretty much start working with composing. Also in your mind you can change the music after listening: you can make it sound on a different instrument, you can change the speed and you can repeat a short segment over and over if you remember it. If you have any experience with doing this feel free to tell me how you learnt it and how it works for you. I suppose the best way to start is to work with something you are quite familiar with like for example "Happy Birthday to You".

[JDMEK5]

One thing I've been thinking about is that I should practice writing down from my mind directly instead of listening to a segment over and over to write something down.

I suppose the best way to start is to work with something you are quite familiar with like for example "Happy Birthday to You".

That's right. Something you know really well. It's a neat skill to arrange from memory, but you don't need it nearly as much as simply listening to something repeatedly.
So basically, you can develop that, but you also need to be able to do the other as well.

[The Deku Trombonist]

I find that listening to a short tune or segment just once or twice and trying to sing it back is really helpful. Then after you can sing it, try writing it down. You don't need to be able to work out the starting note by itself, just make sure the interval pattern is the same. Being able to sing it pretty much guarantees that you can hear it in your head.