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I have this little problem. At times when I'm fully occupied with my little brass-arranging hobby, I often now the exact pitch of the tones that are in my head.
But as soon as I get back to flamenco, it's getting very unstable due to the fact that I'm using a capo at different positions all day. So when I try to hear the pitch, I'm often one or two notes off.
This isnt really related to "perfect pitch" or not so perfect pitch. Its about relative pitch, and the ability to transpose in your head. Pick up the guitar, put on the capo, and give yourself a reference note before you start to weave ideas in your head.
Let me put it another way. When I'm listening to some music, I'm always trying to figure out what range an instrument is playing in, without a reference tone. When I check it, I'm right 9 out of ten times.
This ability is getting hazy when I play guitar all week with capo in different positions. Somehow my ears deceive me then.
hmmm..... what's this brass arranging thing you do? when i played with sibelius a lot, my ear was really good. then when i started to pick up guitar again, it got a little worse. is this similar to your situation?
maybe it might be because your guitar is slightly getting detuned when you play. for instance, you might be playing then notice the guitar is out of tune. then you tune the rest of the guitar to the low e or whatever when that string itself is out of tune. then your ears get used to it and adjust. just a theory.
RE: [ not so ] perfect pitch (in reply to at_leo_87)
quote:
maybe it might be because your guitar is slightly getting detuned when you play. for instance, you might be playing then notice the guitar is out of tune. then you tune the rest of the guitar to the low e or whatever when that string itself is out of tune. then your ears get used to it and adjust. just a theory.
This is an excellent, thoughtful point. That could very well be what's happening.
Let's give it another try. I have the open strings in my head. When I think of them, I hear the exact pitch in my head. Same goes for the open chords. Especially the G and D chord.
When I play with capo on the second fret a lot, I hear the open strings as F#-C#-A-E-B-F# sometimes, the open G as an A chord etc. So the open string sound in my head has shifted 2 frets.
i'm not totally sure what you are talking about. we're talking about perfect pitch right? so an E should sound like an E to you, an F# should still be an F#, etc. regardless of what you play. so if you play a G chord with capo 2nd fret, you should HEAR an A and recognize it even though you are PLAYING a G chord shape. nothing pitch wise should change. so i'm not sure what you mean. sorry if i'm misunderstanding.
RE: [ not so ] perfect pitch (in reply to at_leo_87)
Ok, maybe this is what you're getting at. You could be talking about the physical chord grips not matching what's in your head. This is related to "transposition", but in a physical/fretboard related sorta way. You're thinking and hearing an "A" (concert pitch), then you mistakenly go to grab an A form chord when you''ve capo'd up? If that's not what you mean, then you've completely lost me. LOL
It's not perfect pitch but more like associating a certain chord with a pitch in your head. It's very comfortable when you're writing a score, but isn't very reliable when you play the chord shapes all over the neck [ due to capo shifting ].
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