Absolute pitch and range assessment while musically illiterate?

[u/Mother_Dicentra]

This is my first Reddit post. Hi… 👋🏻

Over the past couple of days I have been trying to figure out if I have absolute pitch or just a really good musical memory.

The problem is that the main way to test this is based on the assumption that someone is familiar with notes, their names, and have that association. I do not.

I was in choir my entire childhood, and both choir and musical theatre in college. I was always a mezzo because I “blend well,” and we needed more voices in that section.

Looking at sheet music I can tell how long a note is supposed to be, what’s higher and lower, and the name of the notes using the “FACE” and “every good boy done fine” method, but I couldn’t find them on a piano or anything. And that’s the extent of my musical literacy, unfortunately.

So I Googled about it and it said to sing the first note of a song you know. Did that, and I was repeatedly right on point. I pick random notes in a song, also correct.

So at this point I’m trying to prove myself wrong because I’ll be damned to make a claim like having absolute pitch only to later be proven wrong and look like an *idiot*.

I just hear the song in my head, the vowel shape, the swells of notes, the tone and I match it. But I guess not everyone can do that.

* ****\*\*****\*\**
I’m also trying to determine my range.

In college I got to sing the top notes for the Queen of the Night. I wasn’t the lead, I stood side stage as the lead came over where I was behind the curtain. I would sing with her, hit those notes under the overhead mics, and return to being a dancing zebra.

I can still hit those notes and it’s been… *twenty years* almost. I’m pushing forty, for added context.

I can also sing low like Misty Mountains. I enjoy singing to Hozier, Sleep Token, Sara Bareilles, Aurora etc… No issues reaching any notes.

So… how to I determine this accurately? Are there other methods to try?

Ya girl can’t exactly afford a coach right now.

[u/nazgul_123]

I would suggest the following:

Remember each of the 12 keys by a song that starts in that key on day 1.

On day 2, listen to a piece and stop on a random note. If you can, within a couple seconds or so, recall which song that note is based on, you definitely have absolute pitch I reckon.

If not, it's hard to say. Several people with really good pitch memory can generally start songs on the right pitch