IвЂ™m still capable of being utterly transformed through sound. IвЂ™ve never had perfect pitch, and I never will. What matters is the beauty we take from things, not the so-called objectivity with which we perceive them. But the way we see the world is open to infinite perceptive possibilities. Now, in my frustration, I find myself believing what he says: that hearing without perfect pitch is somehow lesser. When I started the Perfect Pitch Ear Training SuperCourse в„ў, I knew to be skeptical of David Lucas Burge. And even when I do hear rationally, it doesnвЂ™t mean that IвЂ™m hearing better. Others reside somewhere beyond the rational brain. Some harmonies and intervals, like quarter-tones and 9-8 suspensions, are immediately obvious to me. Hearing, like everything else, is never black and white. The rest of us are doomed to stumbled through music like itвЂ™s some kind of untamed forest. Their frequencies and relationships appear immediately clear only to a gifted few. ItвЂ™s like trying to pick out the raspberry from the strawberry when youвЂ™re pretending you know something about the bottle of wine you chose because it was the second-cheapest in the restaurant.ДЄll this sends me back to a fear about pitches IвЂ™ve had since I was a young teenager: that theyвЂ™re an inaccessible world, just beyond my comprehension. No matter what Burge says, the same interval is really very similar. ThatвЂ™s why I can never get 20 in a row correct. There have been times where I thought I detected some kind of color difference.

HereвЂ™s the frustrating thing: no matter how hard I try, I absolutely can not tell the different between two pairs of intervals: the minor thirds D and F and E and G, and the major thirds F and A and G and B. I end up more often on an Ab, an A, or a B. In the meantime, I make no progress singing a C from memory. Failing so often is exhausting, dispiriting. The second attempt goes better: 12 in a row instead of three. The first attempt doesnвЂ™t go well, which IвЂ™m used to. He also says, вЂњSomething is continuing to unfold inside you.вЂќ вЂњSome of you may find that these drills are too easy,вЂќ he says. If I hear a minor third, it can only be B and D, A and C, D and F, or E and G.

The relationships between the notes also narrow things down significantly. Major and minor thirds sound obviously different, happy versus sad. 20 times in a row: first ascending, then descending, and finally harmonically.Д®asy, I think. He calls it a вЂњmelodic thirds pitch identification drill.вЂќ IвЂ™m supposed to play white note thirds on the piano, again looking away or keeping my eyes closed, and identify them from the bottom up. The next exercise he gives me is similar to the previous one. вЂњAlright, youвЂ™re doing very well,вЂќ David Lucas Burge says on the tape. Optimistically, I move on to Masterclass 8. Still, the notes somehow managed to burrow themselves in my brain, or maybe I just got lucky. (I didnвЂ™t cheat, I promise.) C and D were usually easy to identify F and G were hard. After several attempts, I managed it, closing my eyes or looking out the window. At the end of episode 5, I was supposed to identify the notes in the C major scale, without looking, 20 times in a row. Listen to the audio version of this story. Like the main character in BeckettвЂ™s play вЂњKrappвЂ™s Last Tape,вЂќ I despair about my life alone in my room, with a recording running. IвЂ™ve started hurling insults at my microphone. My ear training practice sessions now end after five minutes. The last time I made any progress with David Lucas BurgeвЂ™s Perfect Pitch Ear Training SuperCourse was June 12-almost a month ago.

Perfect pitch ear training supercourse