Perfect Pitch Supercourse Review

When talking about David Lucas Burge’s Perfect Pitch Ear Traning Supercourse (yeah, that’s a mouthful) it’s important to realize what it is and what it’s not right from the beginning. Though it can be a very helpful tool for singers, it is neither a singing course nor a musical theory course. Rather, it is a highly specialized course designed to train your ear in the art of perfect pitch.

Many of the benefits of perfect pitch are especially apparent to singers, but this skill not just for vocalists. There are many types of musicians that can benefit from developing perfect pitch. One common question about perfect pitch is: “How can perfect pitch be helpful to me as a musician?” Some of the benefits include being able to sight sing and sight read, identify the key of a song, sing notes from memory, improved musical confidence and musical appreciation. Now, the course is advertised as something all musicians can benefit from (which is true), but the course format is primarily geared towards vocalists, keyboard players and pianists, and guitarists.

Also, if you are interested in getting this course it would be helpful to realize what “perfect pitch” is and how it is different from “relative pitch” (which Mr. Burge sells a separate course on). The simple explanation is this – Perfect pitch allows you to name exact pitches while relative pitch allows you to name chords and chord progressions.

The Perfect Pitch Ear Training Supercourse is published by American Educational Music Publications Inc. The program is currently in its 3rd revision in its 28 year-old history.

Features

Here’s what the David Lucas Burge’s Perfect Pitch Supercourse contains:

• 8 Audio CDs containing 24 sessions + 3 sessions on Perfect Pitch for Children
• 1 Bonus CD (Disk #1 of the David Burge’s Relative Pitch Supercourse*)
• 1 80-page supplemental handbook

*This bonus CD is a ‘teaser’ of Mr. Burge’s Relative Pitch training program. It explains the value of relative pitch and how it compares with perfect pitch. It also contains some exercises which we found quite useful. In just a few minutes we discovered that we could indeed pick out any ‘perfect 5th’ on the keyboard. We were impressed with what we heard, so hopefully in the future we’ll post a review of the full Relative Pitch Supercourse.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Perfect Pitch course is how well organized and produced it is. David Burge is a very good speaker and teacher, and does most of the speaking throughout the course. The exercises, which are really the key elements of the course, are clearly explained so there is no doubt or confusion as to what you should be doing. They do take some time to do, and it is important not to rush through these exercises.

If you are a vocalist and you are taking this course we highly recommend that you have your own instrument, preferably a piano or keyboard (in somewhat decent tune) that you can use to accompany you on the exercises. If you don’t have an instrument, you will have a little harder time finding exercises that you can properly follow.

You should be aware that it can take a significant investment of time to work through the exercises and recalibrate your ears to recognize the subtle musical differences in pitch that you may not have been previously aware of before. Now, is the reward worth the effort? Well, it all depends on how badly you desire perfect pitch. Thankfully, David Burge guarantees that you will indeed notice a difference in your abilities, so if you go through the first 5 CDs (sessions 1-12) and find the course doesn’t work for you, you have the option of returning it for a full refund. We checked out PerfectPitch.com on the BBB’s website and found that they maintain an A+ rating as of October 22nd, 2009, so no problems there.

Realizing that everyone is unique, keep in mind your “mileage may vary” and since the process of learning perfect pitch can at times seem a bit abstract, it’s possible that you may have more or less difficulty than others who have gone through the course. It’s important therefore to keep your expectations realistic regarding the amount of time that it may take you to progress through the sessions.

Support

Phone and email support is available (see their website for more details).

Ordering Information

If you think that $119 (on sale) is a little bit too much to plunk down for Perfect Pitch right away, the publisher’s website provides various payment plans for you to choose from. Be aware that there is a monthly service charge associated with these payment plans. All major credit cards (including American Express) and PayPal are accepted. Shipping is extra and will run you another $10 in the USA, $12 in Canada or Mexico, and $20 with their international shipping option.

Buying Tip: If learning perfect pitch and relative pitch is something you are serious about doing, consider the combo deal that Mr. Burge has up on his site right now. When you buy the Perfect Pitch course and the Relative Pitch course together, you’ll save an additional $40 off the sales price of both programs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, if you want to learn the skill of perfect pitch, you won’t find a better training course than the Perfect Pitch Super-Course to walk you through the learning process step-by-step. Recommended for serious musicians.