[techmind]

Mozart was supposed to have had very perfect pitch - he would know even if an instrument was a teeny weeny bit out of tune. He is said to have been able to hear a long piece of music once, then play it back from memory.

On my website there is a page which has a signal-generator and a frequency-counter/instrument tuner you can download.
 http://www.techmind.org/audio/
It will tell you what frequency you are playing/humming, and its corresponding musical note (based on the scientific scale though!).

In the past I've also found some fun musical-ability tests at this site (nothing to do with me):
 http://tonometric.com/
Note that you may have to fill in a brief mini-survey before you can see your results for the adaptivepitch (or other) tests.

[Simulated (OP)]

Wow that was cool. I went outside and opened the garage door. And I hummed the pitch came in and the first note i played was b. and of course it was it hahaha..well its c on my piano since i still haven't tuned it yet..for some reason someone tuned it a half step higher then it should be. i have no clue why.

So you actually thought it was a b when it was actually a c []

No its actually a b, but its a c on my piano since its HIGHER then it should be.

and no. i was taught how to read sheet music with my saxophone in band before i even got a piano..but i still can't just read and play it. even though i did teach my self guitar and piano completely

[Simulated (OP)]

and thanks techmind..

[Onanist]

Wow that was cool. I went outside and opened the garage door. And I hummed the pitch came in and the first note i played was b. and of course it was it hahaha..well its c on my piano since i still haven't tuned it yet..for some reason someone tuned it a half step higher then it should be. i have no clue why.

thats not perfect pitch.

perfect pitch would be if you heard the note, and instantly recognised it as b.

it sounds as though you remembered the note, then replicated it on the piano.

all humans could do this, with the exception of a few completely tone deaf indiviuals.

the only difference between you and a complete novice in this is that you would be more likely to play the right note first try, and this is just experience.

[Onanist]

playing a piece of music by ear is a learned skill for most people.

you hear the music, guess at the first note, then replicate the melody or chord progression using guesswork, and a knowledge of scales, a familiarity with musical styles, and with your instrument.

for me its mostly instinctive, i just work out whats being played through trial and error, but i've been playing long enough that i mostly just know where the next note will be.

[Seany]

Wow that was cool. I went outside and opened the garage door. And I hummed the pitch came in and the first note i played was b. and of course it was it hahaha..well its c on my piano since i still haven't tuned it yet..for some reason someone tuned it a half step higher then it should be. i have no clue why.

thats not perfect pitch.

perfect pitch would be if you heard the note, and instantly recognised it as b.

it sounds as though you remembered the note, then replicated it on the piano.

all humans could do this, with the exception of a few completely tone deaf indiviuals.

the only difference between you and a complete novice in this is that you would be more likely to play the right note first try, and this is just experience.

Yup yup.. I don't have perfect pitch.. I don't think I even have relative pitch.

But I can still do what you wrote up there [] After a few attempts

[Simulated (OP)]

Alright how could you just listen a note and know it? I mean I could probably get middle c, but yeah.

[Seany]

Yeah, that's perfect pitch.. Not many people have it.

Most people have relative pitch.. Which is like, if someone tells you what a C is and they play you something 2 notes higher, then you know it's an E..

But I don't even think I have that []

[Simulated (OP)]

yeah i see i see