Survey: Perfect Pitch V Memorization Options

[hero]

Ok, here it goes...

1 4 years old
2 very close to it - I can tell what note is being played and can tell if it is out of tune.
3 yes, for both.
4 yes, although it takes more time to memorise a piece on the piano...
5 auditory
6 if it is single-line instrument, I can rely on my auditory memory, but if it is on the piano, I use muscle memory. I train my fingers bar by bar...

hero

[sarah123]

1) 6 or 7
2) Definitely not!
3) Can sight read one line of music fluently, two is not as good.
4) Mostly not
5) Visual, although I'll remember the tune before i remember what the notes look like on the page.

[DaisyChain]

1) At what age did you start musical training
2) Do you have perfect pitch
3) Do you play be ear and/or sightread fluently
4) Do you memorize classical pieces easily
5) What form of memory comes easiest to you - visual or auditory
6) Anything else you want to add

1. 39
2. No
3. No (but it's much better than it was).
4. No (but again, this is improving)
5. Visual
6. My memorising, auditory and sightsinging skills have greatly improved since I started teaching. My singing lessons are also helping.

[Roseau]

1) At what age did you start musical training
2) Do you have perfect pitch
3) Do you play be ear and/or sightread fluently
4) Do you memorize classical pieces easily
5) What form of memory comes easiest to you - visual or auditory
6) Anything else you want to add

1) 8 or 9
2) No
3) Sightread fluently
4) No
5) Visual but also muscle memory

[Devil_Fiddler]

1) At what age did you start musical training
5 or 6
2) Do you have perfect pitch
I'm not entirely sure... I've been told both that I do and that I don't, though through recent experiences, I'd fall more on the side of do.
3) Do you play be ear and/or sightread fluently
Yes, though I sight read a little better because I've had a lot more experience.
4) Do you memorize classical pieces easily
Violin - yes, Piano - not as easily.
5) What form of memory comes easiest to you - visual or auditory
Auditory.
6) Anything else you want to add
With the visual/auditory memory, I can't actually picture things in my head. For instance in my bedroom I know that there's blue carpet, purple walls, blue curtains etc. , but I can't actually see them in my head. On the other hand, when I think of a piece of music, I can here it in full with all the instruments and parts and everything, so my auditory memory is much better than my visual memory.

[andante_in_c]

1) 9
2) No
3) yes - sight reading, playing by ear - depends on the complexity of the piece
4) yes, singing; yes, piano; just a few, flute; not bad, recorder
5) auditory, but visual plays a part
6) I'd want to argue that muscle memory is the least secure, but that the most secure memorisation comes from using your brain as well as your ears, eyes and fingers: in other words, really understanding the piece in terms of its form, structure and harmony. I memorise pieces in classical sonata form far better than any other style/period. All the flute pieces I can play from memory are by Mozart!

[Dulciana]

Bing - for the sake of your survey I think you should be more specific about things like sightreading and playing by ear. I said in my own post that it was a bit like asking how long is a piece of string; what one person considers good, another person might consider poor! And it's bound to be the case that these are both easier on an instrument that only plays a single line. If your survey is for a purpose and you're going to be analysing results scientifically in order to draw a conclusion then I think your questions need to be quantified in some way rather than simply asking for opinions.

[Bing]

Thanks everyone so far. Dulciana - I agree with your comments. At college I'm doing a semi-structured interview with a cross section of people - each interview taking about 15 mins. I didn't want to bother people on this board to that extent, and was just interested in how the results compared. I thought forumites also might have been interested in seeing what others had to say.

Thanks very much to everyone who has responded so far - I think it's a fascinating topic personally!
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[hillyb]

1) At what age did you start musical training
2) Do you have perfect pitch
3) Do you play be ear and/or sightread fluently
4) Do you memorize classical pieces easily
5) What form of memory comes easiest to you - visual or auditory
6) Anything else you want to add

1) 7
2) No
3) Yes on both counts
4) Some, but something I don't do very often
5) Predominantly visual, but with elements of auditory

[singerpianist]

Yay I like survey's!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

1) At what age did you start musical training
Well I started playing the guitar age 7, but I didn't like it and learnt nothing...so I'd say my proper musical training started when I was 14 (with the piano and voice).

2) Do you have perfect pitch
Sadly not (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

3) Do you play be ear and/or sightread fluently
I can't play by ear, and my sight reading isn't always fluent, but it's getting better (as I've only been playing for 2 years).

4) Do you memorize classical pieces easily
Depends on the grade...but I can memorize pieces - although I do need the score to focus on (even if I'm not actually reading the notes at all, bizarrely!)

5) What form of memory comes easiest to you - visual or auditory
In terms of music, visual probably.

6) Anything else you want to add
I think I use a combination of auditory and visual memory when I play the piano...most of the things I learn I learnt kinesthetically...so a piece isn't really fluent until I've memorised it to some degree. And then when I am playing things I often hear what comes next in my head...but if I'm sight-reading, I can't yet apply this to my playing in terms of aiding fluency...I still have to process everything I see instead of doing what most pianists do (playing the general outline of the music written and 'hearing' the rest in their heads and playing that!).

Interesting topic...I'd be interested to hear of the results of your study, along with the more in depth questions that you're asking some people. By the way, if you wanted another person to answer more in depth questions about this, I'd be happy to do so, as I like doing surveys - especially musical ones!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Just PM me if you do (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Laura
XxX

[anisha93]

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1. 6 years old, i think
2. No
3. Neither
4. Not really classical pieces which are complicated. I think my answer is the same as Laura's.
5. Visual

[Mad Tom]

1) At what age did you start musical training
Twelve

2) Do you have perfect pitch
No - but I recognize when a piece is being played in the 'wrong' key

3) Do you play be ear and/or sightread fluently
Yes, and Yes (but only fluent for certain styles)

4) Do you memorize classical pieces easily
Classical (say 1750-1825 approx) easily
Earlier and later - with varying degrees of difficulty

5) What form of memory comes easiest to you - visual or auditory
Auditory

6) Anything else you want to add
No

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[spectrumvoid]

1) At what age did you start musical training
4. stopped at 6. Picked up at 13.

2) Do you have perfect pitch
Yes.

3) Do you play be ear and/or sightread fluently
I can play by ear and sightread well.

4) Do you memorize classical pieces easily
yes.

5) What form of memory comes easiest to you - visual or auditory
Auditory

6) Anything else you want to add
I find perfect pitch a hindrance in other instruments and in tranposing. I'm a pianist and I am unable to play on a piano that has not been tuned.

[berfaceno.1]

"1) At what age did you start musical training
2) Do you have perfect pitch
3) Do you play be ear and/or sightread fluently
4) Do you memorize classical pieces easily
5) What form of memory comes easiest to you - visual or auditory
6) Anything else you want to add"

1 - 25 yrs and 4 months, piano, guitar a few years back but only strum happy and no training
2 - I found out today that I can hit notes after hearing them once, but whether that counts as perfect pitch I don't know
3 - very little of each at this early stage although I'm getting there on both scores
4 - yes
5 - near verbatim and true colour glossy poster
6 - Is it possible to develop perfect pitch?

Berwyn

[Dulciana]

2 - I found out today that I can hit notes after hearing them once, but whether that counts as perfect pitch I don't know
Berwyn

Do you mean hit them on the piano or with your voice?