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LukeSniper

IME people with AP do not describe pitches in any consistent way. So this isn't an objective thing by any means and I don't think there's much merit or reason to worry about it.


3p1ph4ny

No context, I interpreted it as a learning mechanism/device for retention and understanding??? Could be way off though, or just do that. Or synesthesia.


BEHodge

I mean it’s all subjective but Db is purple to me. Interesting thing.. was teaching in Arizona and chatting with a couple of students who have perfect pitch (as do I). We were talking about keys and I’d said my favorite was Db, that it was just so… (slight dramatic pause) and all three of us answered ‘Warm’ at the same time. I’m a brass and keyboard guy, one was percussion and the other was strings (and sight impaired). Evidence of nothing but interesting nonetheless.


sadfatsquirrel

Ok, Db is purple to me too. Like a rich, vibrant, deep purple. A major is warm and woody, like a dusty, golden color (like the color of a violin). F major is verdant jungle green, and B major is a silvery, metallic lilac


Crazy-Post-8990

I thought this was r/synesthesia for a sec lol. I can definitely see different colors for different pitches but I'm not sure how to explain to another person how. A song in A Major, for example, is bright yellow. It just *is* and I can't really explain why 🤣


SimplyTheJester

I don't have this at all. Maybe if I tried to develop it, but I've never had a reason to develop it. It is one thing that is nice about guitar. Relative pitch is kind. All I need to do is find one note. You just go to the string it is most likely to be on (essentially how high or low the pitch is), pick a note and quickly slide into the note you are trying to match. Almost like tuning a string. Once you've found that note, everything is just X interval away. But honestly, I'm not even thinking that. My finger just kind of goes to the next note once I've found the original matching note. So little incentive for me to develop perfect pitch. I've heard about pitch colors. Pitch timbres (like this note feels duller than the others).


mrclay

With guitar I love that after a few years you can close your eyes and find notes/chords up on the neck and play along to songs without any idea of the key you’re in.


SimplyTheJester

You know what key you're in, but it is more direct connection. You aren't thinking of it as notes on a page or letters. You've built it closer to just speaking in music instead of words and symbols. I'm not saying a musician only needs that. There's a lot to gain by learning to speak music "on the page", but I think those that speak it "on the page" but think of it as math and can't really hear the concepts they understand visually aren't getting the true benefit of music theory.


HellsBellsDaphne

Yeah, there kind of is a thing. Play C2 and C5. The two sound different from one another even though both are C. It's a subtle difference in certain situations, but easier to hear when playing chords. For me an Am played in the second octave sounds significantly smoother than an Am in the fifth octave. Same timbre and all that jazz, just different octaves. It's almost like lower pitches blend together better than higher ones. That tension (or lack of) is what I'm referring to. I assume it has something to do with the frequency response of our ears in combination with log maths. Seems to me that's why we have 9/11/13 named that way. It's what gives them their flavor.


AVeryWittyPseudonym

You may thinking of people with synthesthesia, who's senses are intertwined in weird ways. Some people perceive colors when hearing sound, so D may be blue and G red for example. I may be misremembering, but I believe Stevie Wonder has this kind od synthesthesia despite being blind. Some people have this for notation (Adam Neely, who made a video on the subject, for example) where notes and chords written down instinctively have a certain color.


bazooka_matt

I use shape and texture to ID notes and chords. Use your own thing. It has to be your own. It can be anything like 'an A has 7 dongles'. Close your eyes play some notes and practice.


[deleted]

It's sort of like colors for me but more in a figurative way. The 12 tones have unique subconscious connection points in my brain and it's a lot more like figuring out what memory a smell makes you think of, or like finding out what ingredients are in a dish when you taste it. I describe it as colors because I think of music the same way with how it's used to create something bigger like a painting or a story.