Perfect Pitch and Math???

[Ktari]

Wow, really misciel.... miscell... mis.... um, spelling help anyone?   Anyway, here's the thing: out of the 30 people in the high school, Minnesota All-Star Math Team (yes, we're geeks... competing nationwide) at least 6 have perfect pitch. Coincidence? Or no....? What do you guys think? Is it math affecting music (pythagoreas, frequency, etc etc) or music affecting math? or just the geekiness acting?

[rachfan]

I can only speak for myself, so cannot generalize.  I've always had perfect pitch, but my math leaves something to be desired.  So clearly, if you have perfect pitch, it will not guarantee ability in math.

[allchopin]

by perfect pitch do you mean you can sing perfect pitch or hear a note and know what it is?  and is anyone else a music geek as well?

[Ktari]

I mean hearing... like, an elevator dings and 4 people comment that it's an A... something like that. I suppose most people can sing on perfect pitch too, hehe, I used to be able to do that, but even if my voice doesn't hit the write note on the first try i can move it up and down until i get the right pitch. I think everyone else IS a music geek (otherwise you'd be like, huh? why do you know that's an a? how do you know what perfect pitch is?)

[allchopin]

that is tough to do- for someone who cant do it, how could this "skill" be worked up or practiced?

[Ktari]

hm, probably just by hearing a lot of notes on a well tuned piano, randomly play a note and try to guess it, or just, memorizing notes? the quality of the note?

i really dont know, i think i just listened to piano a lot since i was little, so by the time i took theory (and learned what perfect pitch was) i could do it

wow im curious too

[BuyBuy]

I actually think that learning to hear the notes in your head without playing can partly be achieved by relating to familiar tunes.

If for example, you've got a E and go down to C, it's a major third down : just recall the opening of Beethoven 5th in your mind and you'll hear E.

Or if you've got C and go to E, recall in your mind the first interval of a major arpeggio, and you'll get E.

I find that training on hearing intervals this way is useful.

[allchopin]

oh the interval stuff is not the problem, i can do that. but just naming a note outta thin air is tougher. occaisionally i nail one and am excitied (and ppl think im a weirdo when i walk over to the piano witha  determined look, play one note, and jump for joy). but id say my accuracy is only about 50%...

[ayahav]

actually, perfect pitch CANNOT be developed... it is an innate talent. relative pitch - on the other hand - can be developed. The easiest way to do that is to memorise an a, and relate notes you hear to a.
As to the relation with maths, music often breeds maths, but maths rarely breeds music....

[mattkay]

hhmmm... well i have perfect pitch and i'm good at maths too, but i can't really see a relation!! I think you need to have some sort of musical gene or something, but perfect pitch is something that needs to be developed, as you cannot be born knowing what an A flat sounds like for example! It's like saying there's a gene for speaking french, it's something you develop early on in life! And i wouldn't say ne1 has PERFECT pitch, i make the odd semitone error when there's lots of stuff going on in a piece.

Matt  

[chopinetta]

really, ktari? you're in some math group and you're also good in chem? that rings a bell!

i'm in some math group too! it's called mathematics trainers' guild. we're being trained for advanced math and then compete.

i am good in math but i really don't have perfect pitch. but you can have a relation between maths and musics. i think it also roots down from being right-handed, or being a leftie and so on...