I have no musical knowledge so bear with me.
How can people hear a note played or a word sung and this to themselves “oh that’s an A flat” or something along those lines. Or how can they identify that they are not singing the right note and know how to modify it to get to the correct one?
What about tuning instruments. How can someone do that by ear and just know that it’s in tune?
The mind boggles!
In: 10
Like the other person said, identifying a note with no reference is perfect pitch. What I want to emphasize is that this is an uncommon ability. The majority of musicians, even professional ones, don’t have it. It doesn’t matter that much. It can be handy, and a funny party trick, but lacking it is not a barrier.
Tuning an instrument by ear is different, because if you’re playing solo, it doesn’t matter if you’re in tune with some standard. Your A doesn’t have to be exactly 440Hz. What you’re listening for there is the *relationship* between two pitches. Is my bass string a perfect fourth up from the one below it? Is my mandolin string a perfect fifth up from the next? This is something you do need to be good at and a skill almost everyone can develop, unlike perfect pitch, which you pretty much either have or don’t.
This is also how marching a pitch works with voice. I can hear a new song and repeat the melody with the precise pitches the original used (if it’s not too complex or out of my range). But unless I have an instrument or tuner handy, I have no idea what notes I’m singing, only the relationships between them.
I know, for instance, that Star Wars starts on the first and then fifth notes of the key. But as I don’t know the key, I couldn’t tell you what they are. If you told me the first one was A, I would know the second one was E. Or if the first one was F, the second one was C. And that’s what matters.
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