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If you're a musician, especially a singer or someone who learned music mostly by ear, you've probably encountered this exact moment: you confidently sing a note, it sounds perfect, and then someone casually asks, "Hey, what note was that?" And suddenly — your mind goes blank.
You're definitely not alone. During recent testing of new Talented app features, this particular frustration kept popping up among singers and instrumentalists alike:
"I can hit the note, but ask me to name it and I freeze."
We recognized how common — and frustrating — this issue was, especially for musicians who've primarily developed their ears and voices through practice rather than traditional theory studies. That's why we decided to design a simple yet powerful drill, built right into the Talented app, called Pick Notes.
How "Pick Notes" Works:
| Step | Description |
| 1 | Put on your headphones, open the Talented app, and navigate to Practice → Pick Notes. |
| 2 | The app plays a single, clear note—no chords, no rhythms, no distractions. |
| 3 | Immediately select the name of the note you just heard (C, G#, A, etc.). |
| 4 | Correct answer? Your screen flashes green. A mistake? You get a gentle orange hint and another chance right away. |
| 5 | Complete twenty quick rounds, after which the session ends, and your progress updates in your Skill Compass. |
The entire drill takes roughly 90 seconds — about as long as it takes to drink a cup of coffee.
Why Such Short Sessions?
Great question. Research in music cognition suggests shorter, frequent practice sessions can significantly improve learning outcomes compared to longer, infrequent ones. Short bursts of focused practice reduce fatigue, keep motivation high, and make it easier to form strong mental connections between notes and their names.
What Did Our Focus Groups Discover?
When we tested "Pick Notes" with various user groups, some fascinating patterns emerged within just a few days:
- Faster note naming: Participants began recognizing notes more quickly, even without referencing their instruments.
- Increased confidence: Users reported fewer guesses and greater trust in their first instincts.
- Unintentional practice sessions: Interestingly, some participants mentioned starting to instinctively name random sounds in daily life — like elevator chimes, microwave beeps, and even car horns.
Here's a quick, fun fact:
"Perfect pitch," or absolute pitch — the ability to identify a note instantly without any reference — is often considered an innate talent. But relative pitch, the skill of identifying notes based on their relationships to other notes, is trainable and significantly improves with short, repetitive practice sessions exactly like "Pick Notes."
Practical and Effective
There's no lengthy practice schedule involved, no thick theory textbooks required. Just short, manageable micro-sessions that easily fit into your daily routine, accumulating results quickly and sustainably.
If you're tired of note naming feeling slow, frustrating, or overwhelming, we invite you to test this method yourself. Just 90 seconds a day for one week—see what difference it can make.
Remember, your ears and voice already know how to produce the right pitch. "Pick Notes" simply helps you bridge the gap between knowing the note in your mind and being able to instantly name it out loud.