Welcome to LivingPianos.com. I’m Robert Estrin. Did you ever want to be able to know what notes you’re hearing? And have you wondered how some people are able to play by ear? Well, today you’re going to learn how to identify notes by ear with a simple and effective technique that can open up a whole new way of understanding music.
Perfect Pitch vs. Relative Pitch
Let’s start by understanding two types of pitch recognition: perfect pitch and relative pitch. Perfect pitch is the rare ability to identify any note without any reference. If you have perfect pitch, you can hear a note and intuitively know what note it is. It’s as effortless as seeing a color and knowing what it is. Some people are born with this skill, and while early musical training can help reinforce it, it’s not something that can truly be learned from scratch. It’s estimated that only about 1 in 10,000 people have perfect pitch. But there’s good news for those of us who don’t have perfect pitch: relative pitch is far more useful for most musicians. With relative pitch, once you know one reference note, you can identify the rest of the notes by their relationship to that reference. More importantly, relative pitch helps you understand the function of notes in a musical context, which is key to real musical understanding.
Hearing the Notes Between the Notes
Let’s say I play a few notes for you. If I told you the first note is middle C, that’s your anchor. Now you can begin to figure out the notes that follow by thinking in terms of intervals. The secret is listening for the notes between the notes. For example, if you hear a perfect fifth, you might be able to identify it because you’ve internalized how many notes (or scale degrees) fit between the first and the second note. This is why singing is such a powerful tool. When you sing the notes, you’re training your ear to recognize these relationships.
What If It’s Not That Simple?
Now, not every example will be as straightforward as starting on the tonic (the first note of the scale). Suppose I give you a B as your starting note, and then play another note that doesn’t fit naturally into a B major scale. That could throw you off if you’re only thinking diatonically (within the key of B major). But what if you’re actually hearing a different scale structure—maybe starting from B but functioning in a different key? Instead of just trying to fit the notes into a particular scale, focus on the intervals between them—the distances in pitch. This way, even if the first note isn’t the tonic, you can identify how far apart the notes are and what their relationship might be.
Try It Yourself
One of the most effective ways to develop relative pitch is to use a reference note and sing through the scale from there. For example, if you know a note is middle C, try singing up the C major scale: C, D, E, F, G, and so on. As you sing each note, listen closely to how each one relates to the others. If you’re trying to identify an unknown note above or below that C, singing the scale can help you locate it by ear. You’re training yourself to recognize scale degrees — the position of each note in the scale — which forms the foundation of relative pitch.
Sometimes it’s easier to start on the upper note and start singing down the scale to the bottom note finding the notes between the notes.
This same idea works with chords. If you hear a chord and aren’t sure what it is, break it down into individual notes. Use the scale to identify each note, and listen for the intervals between them. Over time, this approach allows you to figure out melodies and harmonies simply by hearing them.
Diatonic Thinking Is Key
The magic lies in diatonic thinking. Stick with the notes of the scale, and you’ll be amazed at how much you can figure out. Start with tunes you know well—maybe a nursery rhyme or a favorite melody—and try to figure them out by ear using this method. Think of the notes between the notes, and your musical ear will begin to open up.
Even just ten minutes a day with this practice can permanently change how you hear music. Over time, you’ll improve how much you can play by ear and how easily you can recognize notes. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube.
2 thoughts on “How to Identify Notes by Ear”
I did identify the first note you played was a G and the second the middle C. I know I have a good relative pitch, and maybe close to the perfect pitch. Occasionally while listening to a piece on the radio that I like a lot, I go to the piano without the music in front, and I usually get the right keys and play along
People can develop a certain amount of pitch memory. I have so much experience with piano and French horn, that I usually know what notes are being played on those instruments. But I have no idea of the absolute pitch of other instruments without a reference pitch first!