Knowing which note you’re singing is great and quite important as well. Without it, you might not where you are and might feel a bit lost. You might also find certain things about notes that you may not know yet.
Having a strong ear will tell you which note you’re singing. For that, to work you must have a reference of another note because the majority of people don’t have a perfect pitch. Coupled with music theory you will always know which note you’re singing.
Now, let’s dive deeper into understanding where all of this comes from.
Improve Your Ear
The best way to know which note you are singing and if you are not already able to tell is to improve your ear because in music nothing will ever come close to being an important skill other than having a really good ear.
A good ear can determine not just the difference between pitches but also timbre and many other things across music as a whole. But the practice of ear training starts with matching pitches and once you begin to match your pitch with the notes that you hear then you are on your way to improving your ear as a whole.
When you are able to achieve a certain level of proficiency in your ear training you will realize that as default you are able to tell the difference between the notes. Also if you are singing the correct pitches and that allows you to correct yourself.
Always remember that if you do not have a perfect pitch then you are relying on a relative pitch. This means that you need a point of reference to which you can compare what you are singing. Which is completely fine. People who have perfect pitch still need to practice relative harmony.
Singers usually pick up ear training really fast because singers externalize the sounds by using an organ that they already have since birth. So singing is essentially an extension of what you have already been doing since you were a child.
In any other instrument, that is not possible. So, it works in your favor.
Learn Music Theory
Then there is a second part of the equation where you have to understand how notes are related to each other and how they work in conjunction with music as a whole.
When you group notes together in a rhythmic fashion that’s when they start to come out as music otherwise you’re just listening to sounds and not music.
Music theory gives a voice of understanding to something that is just best abstract to our ears. To say that you are proficient at ear training without music theory is not really a good idea because it is in the ability to differentiate how notes relate to each other that your ear training really comes as a full circle.
Most of the singers that I have met have always been reluctant to learn music theory and it is with great pleasure for I, to tell you that learning music theory is not a hard task at all.
You don’t need to be a technical master-level music theorist to know what music theory is about. You can get by with basics for quite a long way and if you stick to learning music theory for a month and a half then I can assure you that it is more of an idea to practice it rather than to learn new things.
The best part about learning music theory is that it is perpetual and universal regardless of where you go, everyone understands what a certain and particular chord means. You can apply it to any area of music whether you’re composing, arranging, or doing anything else.
Combine The Two
So when you combine both ear training and music theory together; you come to realize when you are singing off the pitch or which note you’re singing and in what relation you are singing that note.
Even when you’re just starting out as a root note, as a base note that you are going to use to start your practice with.
Even then music theory should always be in the back of your head.
You may not actively be using it but being aware of it makes all the difference. It’s like when you are driving at a certain speed on a highway, you’re not particularly focusing on everything that there is in the environment and you really can’t.
Everything is in your peripheral vision and you can just about imagine where things are so that you have to make the correct decision. It is the same with music theory and in reality, ear training and music theory both are in the peripheral vision that allows you to look at where you’re going and stop focusing on things that are surrounding you.
It’s not the best analogy but you get the idea. You need both (ear training and music theory) in order to make it work and especially if you want to know which note you are singing.
Notes Aren’t Everything
I understand why it’s important for a beginner to know what note they are singing. There are some quick ways to get ahead with this.
You can get a tuner and you can sing the note and the tuner will tell you which note you are singing. That’s the easiest way around. But I wouldn’t suggest relying on your tuner all the time.
I would say try to make an exercise out of it by getting an instrument, singing the note, and then trying to match your pitch or try to find that note on their particular instrument; even if it is digital it will still work. That is just something you should know.
Another long-term beginner tip that I would like to give to you is that notes are not everything.
If you plan to learn music as a whole, notes are important but again they might not be the thing that you are driving to. They might be in your peripheral vision and not what’s in front of you.
But as time goes by and you become far more proficient with what you’re learning, you’ll hear relationships of notes and how they related to each more than the notes themselves.
Learn to Sing Online
As the name of the website may already have given it away, I am a firm believer in online courses and you can check them out right here. The online course that I would like you to have is ‘The Four Pillars of Singing’.
You really wouldn’t need any other course than this and this is going to help you with every aspect of your singing. But if that doesn’t satisfy you, you can check out all the amazing courses on offer, right here.
Whatever you do, remember to have at least one in your library!