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[Jompa]

When I say you shouldn't count on it too much, I mean that you can't be absolutely sure. You really can't.
But some people do have better relative pitch than others - there is some science that suggests it has to do with the childhood, and that something triggered your brain to train this ability at an early age.
Very few people have absolute pitch, and they don't even have to be musicians to have it.
Even your neighbor could have it.
Also: there is a very big gap between good relative pitch and absolute pitch, so either you have it, or you don't.

Olimar, you probably have very good relative pitch, and you are trying to train it as well, so that is very good for you.
I don't have any knowledge of whether I have a good or bad relative pitch, as I haven't tried to focus on mine yet, but if anything, I probably have a bad relative pitch.

You can never expect of someone to have good relative pitch!
And even though you have good relative pitch - as I said before - you aren't sure unless you have absolute pitch, which very few people have - therefore counting on your relative pitch too much isn't something to bet on.

Example: You are supposed to find the key by hearing the key in a song in A major. But a minute ago, you listened to a song that you don't know is in B major, and a minute before that you listened to a song that you know is in D major - it is possible this series of key changes can make your mind forget which tone is D etc., and that could mess up your decision. It is a fact that it is harder to remember a tone over a long period of time anyways, and when this is meddled with by songs in other key signatures - well, it is a very big chance of loosing the pitch.
^I don't actually know if this example could be true, but this is how I imagine it to work. At least with me, that is..
In conclusion:
The only way for someone with relative pitch to be sure, is to have something tuned.

Even without recognizing pitches it is possible to hear the scale or mode a song can be in by hearing the pattern of half steps and whole steps. (I tend to relate modes and scale qualities with emotions. Go figure.)

You are correct of course!, but scales and modes are something completely else.

[Brassman388]

Even without recognizing pitches it is possible to hear the scale or mode a song can be in by hearing the pattern of half steps and whole steps. (I tend to relate modes and scale qualities with emotions. Go figure.)

Pretty much, man. If you can't see the wisdom in this, I believe there is no hope for you as an arranger, or musician for that matter.

Absolute pitch is a gift. Relative pitch is gained through hard work and constant practice.

[SlowPokemon]

If I find the whole pitch thing exceedingly easy, does it even matter if I have perfect pitch? I don't know if I do. I don't understand what the big deal is about it.

[Brassman388]

Unless you're a musician that has Absolute pitch, it kinda just renders it useless. No, I don't think it matter's either, but that's because I found ways and methods to work without having Absolute Pitch.

[Jompa]

Even without recognizing pitches it is possible to hear the scale or mode a song can be in by hearing the pattern of half steps and whole steps. (I tend to relate modes and scale qualities with emotions. Go figure.)

Pretty much, man. If you can't see the wisdom in this, I believe there is no hope for you as an arranger, or musician for that matter.

But, that has nothing to do with relative or absolute pitch.
Someone without any pitch at all could hear that too.

but that's because I found ways and methods to work without having Absolute Pitch.

Also, I want to know; are you talking about methods of finding the key, or are you talking about methods to find scales and modes? Because it is not possible to know for sure what key a song is in  unless you have absolute pitch, and one wouldn't even need any pitch to find the scales and modes?

[Brassman388]

Do you really care what we think, or are you just trying to prove us wrong? I'm honestly asking because I'm not going to waste my time explaining if you're just going to disagree with everything I say.

[JDMEK5]

And tension arises...

[Yugi]

jompa plz

[Jompa]

Do you really care what we think, or are you just trying to prove us wrong? I'm honestly asking because I'm not going to waste my time explaining if you're just going to disagree with everything I say.

Are you saying I'm wrong?
Because I'm saying you are both wrong and off-topic.
No reason to get mad about it, but there is nothing wrong with me pointing that out.

[Olimar12345]

Jompa, would you kindly answer Brassman's question? Your answer will determine my next post in this topic.

[Deku Trombonist]

Because I'm saying you are both wrong and off-topic.

No, you're all off topic.

Any more posts on this stupid, childish debate will be deleted.

Post here if you want help working out what key or time signature is used in an arrangement you're working on 

[Yugi]

What time sig/key is this song in?

[Jompa]

Lets take the trumpet theme in the beginning as a starting point. As the rest song is built around it, it is safe to use that as a starting point.
We can hear that it is the mode "eolian" - which basically is minor. Something to note is that songs in eolian mode usually focus a lot on a sharpened seventh, which this song does! Therefore we can conclude that it is in harmonic minor, but that's not really important unless you want to get deep into it. The only thing that is important so far; is to hear that it is in minor.
I basically did all the work here, but you are supposed to be able to find out something like this on your own. If you son't feel like you are able to hear wether or not a song is in major or minor, or some specific mode, then there is only one thing that helps, and that is practice!

So we could hear that it was in minor!
But, somthing we can't hear; is the pitch.
Therefore we open finale/walk over to our piano and find the right pitch for the key signature, which turns out to be A.

So as a conclusion this song is in A minor. Easy as pie.

[Clanker37]

Huh. You guys all have intricate methods of finding the key. I just arrange some of it and go, "Oh look all the F's, C's and G's are sharpened. It must be A major."

I never knew it could get so complicated 

[JDMEK5]

I just arrange some of it and go, "Oh look all the F's, C's and G's are sharpened. It must be A major."

But then it could be F# minor right? Or it could be a different mode. Maybe E major but no Ds were played in the arranged section.
There is a technique to this.

So as a conclusion this song is in A minor. Easy as pie.

A minor harmonic you mean.