Eli5: how do people hear musical notes?

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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!

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23 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

People who can just “pick out the note of anything” are said to have “perfect pitch”.

We don’t know how perfect pitch works, or if people are born with it or develop it. But there is no conscious thought about discerning pitch.

If I asked you what color your shirt was, you wouldn’t need to think, you would be able to look down and respond “red”, as soon as your eyes saw the color.

Similarly, if I asked a person with perfect-pitch what note I was playing on the piano, something in their brain just *tells them* that what their ears are hearing, is an A flat.

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