Prolobe Online Absolute Pitch Ear Training

One thing about the old note sequence is that I never walked away from a training session with a scale stuck in my brain. I don't know maybe this is a good thing. It definitely would be if it stays forever. The chords are easier too. Major 3rds, P4ths, and P5ths are just so damn easy to recognize.

Stop bragging!! HA!! I guess it's my horrible RP at work again. I seriously think if my RP was good, I'd be on level 15 by now (on course 1). 1/2 the time I don't know a perfect 5th from an octave!

Once you do all 35 levels in C major, move it to G major, etc. and do the whole circle of 5th!! That should even things out! Then do the F#/Eb sequence BACKWARDS.

Glenn

Hey, I'd be bragging if I made it to level 26. I'd be dancing around this forum rubbing your face in it. Hahaha. Doing the course again backwards is a good idea. I don't know what good moving the course in a circle of 5ths would do. If you have all 12 notes enabled then there is no tonal center so it would all sound the same, except for people under level 23 (sheeesh I don't want to give them MORE work to do).

It's quite possible to get "addicted" to the way the notes sound in one scale. You aren't really hearing the pitches completely absolutely. I can do all 12 notes because I have C memorized and after I hear a C, it seems like every other note immediately gets connected with it. Every note has a specific sound in relationship to a particular key center. In solfege, you have Do, Ra, Re, Me, Mi, Fa, Fi(Se), Sol, Le, La, Te, Ti - twelve different relative sounds that any one of the twelve absolute pitches can have depending on it's relationship to a tonic.

What ends up happening to a lot of people who try to learn PP is that, for example, they might get used to hearing E as the 3rd in relationship to C, so they will be able to identify an E because it sounds like a 3rd even if a C isn't played - even if a piece of music ISN'T in the key of C! This would be fine with me if it was a completely solid method for identifying pitches. Unfortunately, what happens is that certain keys will play tricks on you. You'll be listening to a piece in Db and hear an F which is the 3rd and because the F is so close to E and it sounds like a 3rd, you think it's an E.

It's possible for certain notes to become almost permanently identified with other notes so that when you hear one note, the other one sort of creeps up in the background of your mind even if it wasn't played. How many of you did the Burge course, started with the F# and Eb and now everytime you hear an F# you hear a faint Eb in the back of your mind, as if you're using it to "check" your judgment?

This is why pitch color is so elusive to the RP'er. RP sounds are actually, in my opinion, similar to pitch color in the sense that the sound qualities are somewhat etheric in nature. It can be easy to confuse what's a relative sound and what's an absolute sound.

I think it's of great value to do the whole course in every key! That will be the only way to completely and truly break up any attachment you might have to hearing pitches in certain tonal contexts. This is what I'm trying to do. I'm going forwards and backwards through the circle of fifths. This way, I'll get to hear what each pitch sounds like as a 5th, a 3rd, a b2nd, a 7th, etc., etc., of each other key. I think that's the most thorough way to do it. Then there will be no residual PP/RP inconsistencies in my mind.

Absolutely! See, this is why I like this C major scale course better. After a few questions I can tell what "key" I'm in, but after a little while of listening for pitch color, I lose that sense of tonal center....This is when I know I'm doing it right, cuz now I'm answering purely on the impression the pitch gives me. I never got that this strong using the Eb, F# course. Also with the chords, I lose my tonal center way faster, so I feel I'm doing most of my training there.

"...It's possible for certain notes to become almost permanently identified with other notes so that when you hear one note, the other one sort of creeps up in the background of your mind, even if it wasn't played.

How many of you did the Burge course, started with the F# and Eb and now every time you hear an F#, you hear a faint Eb in the back of your mind, as if you're using it to "check" your judgement?..."
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YES! This F#/Eb thing happens to me on every lesson! It's called the "The Law of Association" of memories:

http://www.oldandsold.com/articles06/memory-17.shtml

In fact, whenever I hear that descending minor 3rd (melodic) interval, it reminds me of the vocal soundfont used in "Rocky Road" by the late Tim Conrardy. (Although in Rocky Road it's a "C" followed by an "A" instead!)