Karen Carpenter - Perfect Pitch

[JuanLorenZerimar]

This video is awesome... I learned to sing to a combo of the Carpenter's Greatest Hits and Bowie's Spiders from Mars album...ROFL but true :) saved this...

[judyindisguise711]

The smile at the end is just killer. Karen was the number one influence in my life as I grew up, and I will always be grateful.

Judy Pancoast

[4everKeyz]

Amen

[onetamer]

Amazing talent!

[rsp196607]

Semantics.

[hernje]

When younger, I remember enjoying her voice, yet not truly appreciating it. Now 30 years later, I've regrettably come to the realization she was maybe a once in a lifetime talent.

[theconsigliere1]

@msm318 You're not serious. and your attempt at sarcasm is monumentally sad. She was an angel who was sick. If your intention was to come off as a gasbag, be insulting to her family and her fans, and make yourself look foolish, then congratulations, you succeeded.

[fjohnson747]

@msm318 If you're going to troll, learn how to do it right. The first rule is, don't overplay your hand. Dance the line of subtlety. A too obviously vehement, over-the-top approach with bombastic language - though it may draw one or a few knee-jerking outraged responses you crave - won't fool most people.

But more importantly, it won't much ease whatever pain is compelling you lash out. You'll have to face it sooner or later.

[rsp196607]

@msm318 But have you seen & heard her percuss?

[ostinatus]

@msm318 So what is your story?

I think the rest of us know very well, if it wasn't for Karen, nobody would never ever have noticed the name Richard Carpenter.And I believe Richard him self is the first one to admit so.

[kobie8819591]

@msm318 Rot in hell fuckin asshole jerkoff.

[BigMrMitch]

@msm318 U are a sick attention seeking cunt..Go die in a fire

[onlywhenimdancing]

@msm318 bitter much about something???

[CCRider100]

@msm318 - wow, what a hateful ignorant little moron you are. Richard Carpenter was a brilliant song writer, but The Carpenters will mostly be remembered for THE VOICE that sung those amazing melodies. No over singing, no endless trills and over emoting, Karen Carpenter had the smoothest most pure female voice in pop music history.

[4everKeyz]

@CCRider100 -- Amen.

[spudone1000]

@CCRider100 stop it if i wasnt drunk id try to sort this out quit fighting and respect KAREN and love her memory.. Thank you....

[msm318]

ching ching chong chong...sing a song....yay we love japs! Go karen you skeletal vomit queen....woo hoo....love those japs!

[WyColoCowboy]

I have read that she did have perfect pitch, however this video doesn't prove it. I do not have perfect pitch, but if you asked me to sing a song that I have performed hundreds of times acapella, I'll hit it right on key. Your brain and body has the ability for tonal memory. You just know where it is, even years later.

[VincentPendley]

Regarding whether this proves perfect pitch... not really. It proves she has "relative pitch" which means she can recall exactly the key she sang it in.. which she did.. perfectly.. Although, Karen Carpenter very well may have had perfect pitch.. she was always exactly in tune.. but they are 2 different things.

[greenwich1754]

I'm not knocking Karen (by any stretch!), but how does this video prove "perfect pitch"? Especially to those who can not discern such subtleties? In the live video, she's more "wording", as opposed to singing (in Japanese, no less), so a direct comparison to the original (recording) can't be made.

[ostinatus]

@greenwich1754 Well, the thing is, she simply hits the exact key as the original record, without even looking for it."Perfect pitch" or "Perfect tonal memory", we can call whatever we want, the result is the same.I've never heard Karen off pitch, neither live nor in studio!All this is off course not very interesting for the commend people.But for the one of us who has been working professional with music for decades, it's a fascinating detail to notice.

[jjulius1985]

@ostinatus

That doesn't necessarily prove perfect pitch, however. It just proves that she knew on what note to begin a song that she'd sung thousands of time. That can be a function of muscle memory.

That's not to take anything away from her talent. It's just an observation.

[basschiefly]

@greenwich1754

She's dead on, I'm playing my keyboard with her Tonight show appearance, and she's spot on. You have to have an ear yourself before you chime in about something you know nothing about.

[greenwich1754]

@basschiefly If you noticed, I said how does this clip prove perfect pitch "especially to those who can not discern such subtleties?" I'm essentially deaf without my hearing aids, so yeah, I don't have "an ear" (let alone two). My point was that it seemed that Karen was more speaking the song (at times) rather than singing, so the comparison to the original recording of "Sing" seemed to me not possible. Also notice I said that I'm certainly NOT knocking Karen. If you proved it, God Bless!

[windstorm1000]

@greenwich1754 The video isn't doing anything.  But if we concentrate on the song here--she did have perfect pitch among her other vocal gifts. One of the best singers of the 20th century. I assume they are in the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame, right???

[pattii55]

So many with immense talent and opportunities the rest of us just dream of end up self-destructing via various methods. So sad and such a waste. They reach their dream and then they're gone of their own doing. *sigh*

[ostinatus]

"Sing a song" is the title.From around 1972-73.

[iiAngelic]

which song is this one?

[aurum2007]

Singers I know have told me that after singing for many years you sometimes just know exactly how much vocal tension it takes to produce the first note in a song you've sung a lot. You just know what it feels like in your voice box. It's kind of like knowing exactly how hard to hit a golf ball to get it to go some specific distance after having hit tens of thousands of golf balls before. It becomes a sort of unconscious trained reflex that you've honed to a very high degree of consistency.

[basschiefly]

@aurum2007

Ah true ! Muscle memory is one of my biggest allies as a gigging professional musician, Karen was a musician to be reckoned with. There will never be another you, Karen ! We love you !!!

[ostinatus]

That's true! But I guess you could say, memorizing like this (not even 0,02 flat or sharp) requires quite perfect pitch.I know experienced singers that after years on a song, not even are close when they are away from the backing.

So highly gifted she was, Karen!

[FlStudio267]

this is probably perfect pitch, but she has sung the song so much she could just have memorized the throat positions

[angelsavage73]

I love her humor, and her beautiful voice.

[rttoronto]

immaculate

[nakluts]

bring me the set drums

[wilhub]

think she wasonly 1 didnt how talentd she was...wot a waste

[julikell]

Simply amazing.