Absolute Pitch -- 6-year-old

[BJtheBassist]

lolololol, I just had to see a video to find it true: If you can learn colors, letters, or numbers, then you can learn 12 different sounds.

[saibertempist]

@scoots707 isn't that synesthesia?

[scoots707]

absolute pitch is the ability to define a note by relating a color to its tonal quality or tambre. ex: any piano sound is red, vocals are blue, horns are grey etc. so when listening to a full band, notes and sounds can be defined by colors.

[Cabbycabbage]

I am amazed that half of you guys are pulling this kid apart! Whether its AP or PP black keys or white he clearly demonstrates a greater degree of recall than most musicians can only dream of. This can only get better and more deeply seated over time. As for those wishing to boast about being able to identify all manner of "harmonic skooby snacks" as I call them, to a certain degree they are unpleasant to listen to and have little relevance to mainstream music be it most of the styles we hear!

[velkyprase]

Absolute pitch is about to recognize any tones (eg, creaking doors, screaming cat, etc.). At the same time to determine the octave row. Check out this video watch?v=Kdp4NHWr7G8

[OCUBOX]

thats very good, well done little one, hope you've progressed into the BLACKS. when I went into it, from familiar WHITES, I always got thrown off, when I get back to the WHITE NOTES I had to reorient my self (probably just needed to listen more carefully because the notes never change), so when you start mixing, I will advice you to do all the BLACK notes like you did the WHITE notes, SEPERATE, than alternate bet. W/B note one at a time and slowly, because the overtones can throw you off. thanks

[JeOmaisEng]

Can anyone confirm this, to be able to play by ear you need perfect/absolute pitch? Correct or not? I'm just curious.

[austinm08]

@JeOmaisEng no, that's not correct at all. anyone can mimic pitches they hear. I can play by ear but I in no way have this "perfect pitch" that some people supposedly have.

[westymatt]

@JeOmaisEng No perfect pitch is very rare and frankly not as useful as a refined intervallic ear. In jazz many times they don't even mention what key it's it. It's just a 1 chord, 4 chord and a 5 chord. In the key of G thats (G, C, D), in A it's (A, D, E). The actual notes are largely irrelevant it's more to do with intervals. Learning to here movements given a starting pitch is one of the most useful skills you can acquire as a musician.

[JeOmaisEng]

@westymatt Ah great, thanks for answering! :)

[anonymous345]

Is this really absolute pitch? I thought the statistics were like 1 in 10,000 or something? This (identifing piano notes) is really easy for me but I play piano, I have a hard time in the absolute pitch test on the UCSF website.

[MozartJunior22]

I'm faster. But I'm 14 so it isnt fair

[fretburner18]

Awesome! I'm in the process of developing it, but I wish I'd have been born with it.. Imagine how much progress would have been made throughout these 12 years of playing guitar and 4 of playing piano.! Let me know when Nicholas starts writing symphonies ;)

[learningperfectpitch]

I have a video on my account proving I learned perfect pitch.

By the way, I'm surprised you guys aren't giving him harder tests. I'm sure he has improved since.

[alika207]

@unknownbandd No, I can do that. But I think if you play a musical phrase and are asked to either sing it back or tell the person what the notes were, it's not a test of perfect pitch, but total recall. Those are two different things. Also, I want to find out the maximum number of notes I can pick out when they are played at the same time. Anybody wanna test me somehow?

[WARCRAFTDUDE23]

wow nice... i guess i have perfict pitch now too... memorize what to play on piano/what to say in front of camera

[UnknownReceiver]

i could probably do that when i was six.(with black notes) i have perfect pitch and can sing a note perfectly in tune with no external reference. :)

[UnknownReceiver]

i could do that when i was six probably. (plus black notes) i'm pretty sure i have perfect pitch

[A528107]

He's displaying relative pitch, not perfect pitch. Most musicians can do what he does. Try playing clusters of notes (both black and white), not individual notes and ask him to identify the notes played. If he can do that instantly, then he has perfect pitch.

[claus93Sethsen]

@A528107 Agree, they should try confusing his ear by playing random tones fast and test him.

[Amulius]

Your piano is a bit out of tune, have you had it tuned recently?

[SousukePanic]

.18 is that a d not an e?

[FightingPolygonTeam]

@SousukePanic

Sounds like a D

[rancherocnido]

Hes cheating!, hes asian! roflwafffle

[OaGish]

It's so nice~

He was almost right at all of the video! (I have Absolute pitch)

it's nice to know others were born with it around the world. :)

I'm now training on hearing black keys (which is harder its goes like- Faol~ [Fah + Sol] lol )

Keep on trainig! I know I will~

xoxo OaGish.

[turtleguy910456686]

i got about half of them right =O

[MozartJunior22]

Amazing!

[Seniarth]

this kids amazin !

[phinaleung]

white key is easier to distinguish, if u have played piano for a long time, u can do it

[41224jason]

if you have perfect pitch, they are easier, but if black keys are played with other black keys in a sequence (ex. F#-G#-C#), it's a lot easier. the ultimate test is what most of these do-jump from black to white almost every note. that drives me nuts trying to figure out

[ryandallarosa13]

have the absolute pitch too

[XxSIMxXrunescaper]

Its because hes asian.

[F0nkyNinja]

If perfect pitch normal? Never heard of it until now. Seems crazy.

[41224jason]

well, considering 1 out of 10,000 people have it, i would say no

but then again, only about 1 out of 10,000 people are considered normal.

[supermatt1998]

I have perfect pitch too. I bet he couldn't say the really high or the really low notes. Which I can do

[nacho3rdbowler]

you're so cool.

[ObsessedwithBroadway]

Ah, perfect pitch... it can be quite a pain to the rest of the world when you start naming what key they're singing Happy Birthday in, haha. Great job, Nicholas! Wish I could say I had perfect pitch at 6!

[ctgartland]

Very good, but your piano was mostly flat (I have percect pitch also), but try to keep your piano in tune while he is developing his perfect pitch because when he is older, whatever he associated with an in-tune note will then always stay the same, so you don't want him thinking of an out-of-tune note as perfectly in tune. Trust me, if he will ever play an instrument like the violin, perfect pitch is most helpful!

[cromed0shoe0lace]

IT doesnt work like that wana be smarty pants. it doesnt matter if its sharp or flat by a little

[arturcraft2]

yeah, I noticed one of the A's played is a bit out of tune.

[jesemus33]

this is not perfect pitch....this is tonal memory,

[mlachaise]

Well, this kind of tonal memory is often referred to as "perfect pitch," but is more correctly called "absolute pitch."

[ObsessedwithBroadway]

Just a question: Is the there a difference between absolute pitch and perfect pitch? Thanks :)

[first4the2nd]

nope.. same thing.

[arturcraft2]

there is no such thing "perfect pitch". Everybody have relative pitch even the one's who think they are AP.

No one can distinguish a 440HZ A from a 439Hz

[crafteron]

no one can distinguish 440 hz from 339,99999999999999999999999999­999 hz so what? it does not mean that people have no ap.

[flipflopalot99]

@arturcraft2

actually people can ...

some of the major orchestra's tune their A to things other than 440

the New York Phil tunes to 442 Hz

... and even I can notice (a lot of people with a good ear can) ...

i definitely can't tell the difference if it was 440.1 Hz, but a single hertz is pretty big

[FightingPolygonTeam]

@mlachaise

Perfect Pitch: the ability to identify notes of any voice (piano, flute, lawn mower, etc.).

Absolute Pitch: the ability to sing any note in tune when asked/desired.

He has perfect pitch and could have absolute, but this video demonstrates perfect only.

[flipflopalot99]

@FightingPolygonTeam

i have perfect pitch (asian) and i've googled a bunch on the topic to make myself aware

perfect pitch is a synonym for absolute pitch

the term was renamed absolute because perfect implies perfection which really isn't the case

people with PP/AP can identify and sing a pitch (they're one in the same really) ... but that doesn't mean you can sing in tune (Hz wise) ... therefore lack of perfection

your son has AP, whether learned or inborn idk? you're in for a few shocks :)

[1919dpg]

@mlachaise no dude, that's just memory. get the piano out of tune and have him tune it. then you'll find out if he has perfect pitch

[mlachaise]

@1919dpg Yes, "absolute pitch" = tonal memory (as I've said above). It's just the term used. To me, a note is a note, unless you tell me what it is and I try to extrapolate other notes relative to that one. But after a while, I'll forget what, say, a "C" sounds like. That is what's called "relative pitch" and is what we all have. "Absolute pitch" ability is more rare, where, even if you haven't heard a note in a while, you can identify what it is and where it is, say, on a piano.

[whereisthiscity]

@mlachaise no! absolute pitch is not called tonal memory !!!!!

[TheSinginggod]

@jesemus33 thats what perfect pitch is. you know the notes youve been exposed too. people with this quality may not know all the notes, but can sing songs theyve heard in the key in which its written

[Unknownbandd]

does anyone else have this problem:

i have perfect pitch and can do this easy...even black ones

but as soon as it gets to 0:57 ( 2 notes played in succession my brain trys to put them togeather into a song and i cant distinguish them anymore anyone else have this too?

p.s i can do cluster chords easy too

[roflcoptersoysoy]

The kid did a good job, but no sharps or flats?

[mlachaise]

No. He was only able to name those notes he had been exposed to. He was still playing white keys at this point.

[LionDomoRaawrs]

im jelous, GRRRR.

[AcerSiXX]

Williams syndrome?

[Chemiecta]

Haha I have perfect pitch and I used to do that all the time when I was little.

[xXINfinitiXx]

0:20 chords of canon listen closely ;D

[Selendomono]

not in the right key though

[tjmend532]

0:18 -- he said it was e when it was a d

[twrestler]

he said d... it may sound bit e

[arturcraft2]

yeah and it is a D a bit out of tone as well

[tjmend532]

ok thanks

[rockingbmxer]

they played he notes... and then the gy filming him showed him wats letters 2 say by wrihing it on pieces of paper..

[CJGJ12]

Thats really Cool! Do you know what Chord is played too like A Major, D Minor, E Dim, F Arg?.

[jennythemusicmaker]

Well you can get different kinds of perfect pitch: Active and passive. I happen to have active, where you can name chords, keys, individual notes and quite often individual notes within chords. Also with active perfect pitch, someone can play a note on the piano for the listener, then half an hour or so later the listener can tell you what note it was. I can also identify the pitches of reversing pick-up trucks etc. Of course this little guy's still young, so his abilities will grow over time.

[Ravenpulse]

i have perfect pitch too

[crippled82]

cool

you should let/learn him play

[Foorrax]

Well done.

Next level: Black keys!

;-)

[erikmongolia]

Did you hear that?

[mlachaise]

Thanks. I suppose so he was born with it. I just found out about it last week.

[1KOOLRIFF]

@mlachaise

Common misconception... PP can be developed, its just like learning your colors.

[ppo055]

awesome!!! So he was born with this, right? That's very cool.