I am sometimes credited with perfect pitch. I'm personally unconvinced... but if I can hum a song I can usually work out the top notes of the melody line by comparing the notes to the upper limit of my vocal range.
I know what it feels like when I sing a G or A and so I can use this to establish the melody line notes and then work "down" to get the bass. After that working out the key is just a bit more relative pitch comparison but also using knowledge of the way chords sound in an ensemble, especially when the bass is NOT the root or fifth, and the chord is NOT pure (e.g. diminished, suspended , augmented, added 7's 9's 11' etc).

Or to summarise

Practice.

I do have perfect pitch. My brother does not. He has absolute pitch, or maybe relative, can't remember which is which. He can hum a B flat in his head perfectly. He is a clarinet player, so in high school and college band the tuning note was B flat. He got that note engrained in his mind. From there he can figure out what key a song is in by counting half steps in his head. He is dead accurate 75 to 80% of the time, and only a half step off the rest of the time. This is your best bet for being able to do it. Get one key so solid in your head that you can hear it in your head without actually hearing it, then just think half steps up or down from there.

These guys are all right on the money ... unless you have perfect pitch, you'll need SOME sort of referance to use. Maybe a tuning fork, or pocket tuner?
(not to be confused with "pocket TUNA" .. that stuff stinks ! )

While the song is playing, plunk out some single notes on your keyboard. You should quickly find where "Do" is.

That is what I already told you guys that if I have a keyboard and hit a key, then I can find the "do" easily because the keyboard provided me with a reference note.

But what I want is to be able to do all that in my head without hitting a single key on the board and be able to hear a song with my ear and say what key it is playing - all in my head. Get it ?

Yes, we do GET IT!

If you're not born with perfect pitch, you MUST develop good 'note interval' recognition (both ascending & descending):

Unison
Minor 2nd
Major 2nd
Minor 3rd
Major 3rd
Perfect 4th
Tritone (flatted fifth or augmented 4th)
Perfect 5th
Minor 6th
Major 6th
Minor 7th
Major 7th
Octave


and referred to as relative pitch. Once you are able to instantly recognize intervals as well as have an absolute recognition of at least ONE specific pitch (such as A 440, or middle C on the piano) then . . .

when you hear the last (bass) note of a song, you'll be able to quickly determine the key they're playing in by taking the note you have stored in your brain in absolute memory in your head (say middle C), determine the interval distance between the two notes and almost instantly know the key they are playing in.

Check out this link for more on this topic: http://www.synthzone.com/ubbs/Forum37/HTML/008839.html

- Scott

What we all have been saying applies to your ear, not the keyboard. So, if you learn a song or a scale and know what key it is in, then by listening to a few notes you should be able to tell how far up or down your reference scale it is. Let's say you play Misty in Eb and someone comes up and starts singing it - in a different key - as you hear the first three notes ask your self "is it higher or lower than mine." Then by using your reference scale, determine if it's one or two or two and a half steps aay from you. As was said earlier, you have to know basic major and minor scales to do this. Now, does this help?

Lukitoh,
IMHO you can't do it. I play melody notes by ear, but need the chords in front of me. Even with the chords in front of me, I need to know the 1st note, then I'm off. Even if I knew a song backwards, and could play it without the chords in front of me (fully memorized), I would not be able to know if a singer was singing this song 1/2 tone up or down. Well that's just me.
You want to be able to jump in WHILE the singer is singing, without hitting a couple of notes, and start accompaniment. You don't want to wait till the song is finished, its too late at that point. This is a praise & worship scenario, with the worship leader playing a new song, but one you recognize, in a new key.
Starkeeper

[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 10-14-2004).]

I remember a situation during a service where a guitarist and his singer/wife were up to perform. The worship team knew before hand the song, with chords, they were to play, but the guitarist played it in a different key!!! Typical guitarist, NIgel excepted. The musicans were all looking at one another with expressions on their faces that read like, what the .... is he doing. They all just stood there and did not accompany them. They didn't even try to figure out what key was in. I think I would have made an attempt, and once I figured it out, just use the transpose button.
Starkeeper




[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 10-14-2004).]

What is the point of finding the key immediatly? That ability is only for the small minority with perfect pitch. Finding a singer's key is done ahead of time.

[This message has been edited by alfredo (edited 10-14-2004).]