David Lucas Berge- "Perfect Pitch"

GuitarThemedName · #1 May 3rd, 2006

I've seen it advertised in guitar magazines. Has anyone tried it? Does it really work?

allthumbs · #2 May 3rd, 2006

I bought the tapes years ago. His stuff at that time was based around piano and wasn't geared for guitar. That may have changed by now. What I didn't like was that he just assumed that after you got through the basic intro you would have a friend willing to spend an hour at a time helping you learn this stuff. I didn't have anyone to do it with so it kind of fizzled out. I handed the tapes off to a distant friend and he found the same thing and didn't pursue it.

nocat · #3 May 4th, 2006

Can perfect pitch be learned...?!?

WernHalen · #4 May 4th, 2006

Ben,

That is the idea... of David's perfect pitch program. I have wanted to get a copy for a while now but have not been willing to spend the money on a system which I am not sure works very well... A buddy of mine (the sound recording engineer) has got perfect pitch, he recons he learned this only recently... So yes I can be learned, but i think you have to have some sense of pitch in you... Unlike some of the idols wanna bees...

Marty, thanks for the feedback yours was the first meaningfull feedback I have ever heard about the system. I might not get it now... Planetalk has almost negated the need for perfect pitch...

nocat · #5 May 4th, 2006

Man... I would love to learn that... If anyone knows of a system that works, or has
had success with a method, please post...!!!

I know a guy who can test tuners with his voice... But he says he can hear the tones
in his head. Says he could do that for as long as he can remember...!!!

Cheers
Ben

6string · #6 May 4th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by nocat

Man... I would love to learn that... If anyone knows of a system that works, or has
had success with a method, please post...!!!

I know a guy who can test tuners with his voice... But he says he can hear the tones
in his head. Says he could do that for as long as he can remember...!!!

Cheers
Ben

That would be great, we could start a band called The Rolling Tones

allthumbs · #7 May 4th, 2006

Years ago, I saw a course on the net specificly for guitar players that delt with perfect pitch and interval recognition. I am kicking myself for not boo marking it. I never found it again.

nocat · #8 May 4th, 2006

I've always been dubious of stuff like this. Almost seems like get rich quick schemes,
or take a pill to loose weight...!!!

Is this the site: http://www.musicianuniversity.com/co..._training.html

Jim · #9 May 4th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by nocat

Can perfect pitch be learned...?!?

I doubt it. Relative perfect pitch maybe (you're given A 440 and based on that you can tell what any other note you hear is or can produce - sing - the correct pitch after hearing a reference), but absolute A440 perfect pitch...maybe if it's learned in the first few years of life and becomes ingrained.

Jim

WernHalen · #10 May 4th, 2006

Jim,

This buddy of mine, a recording engineer and a brilliant muso... pianist and bass guitarist has learned perfect pitch... He never had it but learned it in the last four years or so... It was not with one of these courses but it came with time... He can now tell me that my third string from the top is out just by listening to me play while I am on stage and he is at the control board... not playing lead but full rhtym... He identifies chords as 13ths 7ths sus4's etc. and of course the best of all he tells you what note it is. He can actually tell you, to within a couple of Hz what the frequency of the feedback is you are getting. I have tested him by playing the notes and looking at the frequency he suggested and he was never out by very much... I must add that he is a musical wizz and always have been...

I wish i could do it though...

Jim · #11 May 4th, 2006

That's pretty amazing!

I have weird-not-quite-perfect pitch -- if someone is tuning up, I often call tell if the note they are playing is sharp or flat (that note played by ITSELF, not after another note or in relation to another sound that has been played), but for the life of me I can't tell you what note it is (or should be if it were on pitch)... I just know if it's the correct Hz of one of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale.

I don't know what this is called!

But I'd sure love to be able to name the note.

Jim

WernHalen · #12 May 5th, 2006

Jim,

I guess that you will be able to get the note names witha little practice. Try playing a note and remebering what Hz or sound it made, then play another and remeber that... Play the notes out of sequence and in no specific order. Then start repeating some of the notes randomly and see if you can remeber them as the notes you have played earlier. It would work better if you had a person playing for you, then you would not have any muscle memory playing into your practice...

What I just said might be complete hogwash but i think it might work...

Let us know...

blarneypilgrim · #13 May 5th, 2006

I recently read about perfect pitch i think it was on the Martin guitar forum where people had said that having perfect pitch was a curse rather than a blessing.One guy said his brother had perfect pitch and could not enjoy any music especially groups and ensembles playing because he could hear instruments that were out of tune ALL THE TIME!!!!!.
He said it was like listening to someone dragging their nails off a blackboard.Ouch!!!!
To quote a man infinitely wiser than I will ever be.
"Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck"
Dalai Lama

cshude · #14 May 5th, 2006

I came across this from another forum a while back when this topic came up:
http://www.solfege.org/Main/HomePage

This link is for free software designed for ear training. For me personally, I like the identifying chords feature- I have a tuner to get me into tune, but beyond majors, minors, sevenths, and ninths, I can't identify the chords by listening to them.

Later,
Chris

WernHalen · #15 May 5th, 2006

Pilgrim,

I agree, the buddy of mine with the perfect pitch says he keeps on analysing music and never enjoys it very much anymore... He would listen to jazz or dreamtheatre or something fairly complicated and then just start playing it... or saying something like a BFlatSus7add13 chord would sound nice right there... You can test and he would be spot on...

He also said it is a curse, but he still plays music every chance he gets so it cant be that bad...