The term relative pitch may denote:

• the distance of a musical note from a set point of reference, e.g. "three octaves above middle C"
• a musician's ability to identify the intervals between given tones, regardless of their relation to concert pitch (A = 440Hz)
• the skill used by singers to correctly sing a melody, following musical notation, by pitching each note in the melody according to its distance from the previous note. Alternatively, the same skill which allows someone to hear a melody for the first time and name the notes relative to some known starting pitch.

Unlike absolute pitch (sometimes called "perfect pitch"), relative pitch is quite common among musicians, especially musicians who are used to "playing by ear". Also unlike perfect pitch, relative pitch is common among non-musicians and is quite possible to develop through practice. In music, an octave (sometimes abbreviated 8ve or 8va) is the interval between one musical note and another with half or double the frequency. ... In music, the term middle C refers to the note C located between the staves of the grand staff, quoted as C4 in note-octave form. ... In music, pitch is the perception of the frequency of a note. ... Music notation is a system of writing for music. ... Absolute pitch, widely referred to as perfect pitch, refers to the ability to identify a note by name without the benefit of a reference note, or to be able to produce a note (as in singing) that is the correct pitch without reference. ...

Some music teachers teach their students relative pitch by having them associate each possible interval with the first two notes of a popular song; examples of this may be found at ear training. Another good way to develop relative pitch is to simply try to play melodies by ear on a musical instrument. As you figure out more and more melodies by trial and error, you will eventually start to recognize some of the more common intervals. Then all you need to do is start associating these intervals with their names. North Indian musicians learn relative pitch by singing intervals over a drone, which is also described by W. A. Mathieu using western just intonation terminology. Many western ear training classes use solfege to teach students relative pitch, while others use numerical sight-singing. Ear training is what musicians do to improve their ability to identify, relatively, chords, intervals, rhythms, and other elements of music. ... In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout much or all of a piece, sustained or repeated, and most often establishing a tonality upon which the rest of the piece is built. ... William Allaudin Mathieu is an author and musician. ... Jump to: navigation, search Just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by whole number ratios. ... Solfege table in an Irish classroom Do re mi Do Re Mi is also the name of a song by Nirvana. ... Jump to: navigation, search An alternative to the solfege system of sight-singing, this musical notation system numbers the diatonic scale with the numbers one through eight (or, alternately, one to seven, with the octave again being one). ...

Intervals are more difficult to hear the larger they are or the more octaves they span. Compound intervals are significantly more difficult than simple intervals. In music a simple interval is an interval of less than an octave, which is distinguished from a compound interval which is an interval greater than one octave. ... In music a simple interval is an interval of less than an octave, which is distinguished from a compound interval which is an interval greater than one octave. ...

Interval recognition allows musicians with very good relative pitch to easily identify complex chord types, even if they can't identify which key the piece of music is in. It also gives musicians the ability to quickly and accurately tune an instrument with respect to a given reference tone, even if the tone is not in concert pitch. In music, pitch is the perception of the frequency of a note. ...