I suppose I have perfect pitch, in that I can more often than not:
* aurally identify key signatures
* aurally identify chords
* sing a given note on command
It wasn't until I was into my early twenties that I could do this. For me, the single biggest stepping stone was building the connection between what I could hear in my head from a song that I remember clearly with the underlying music theory.
Specifically, building up a library of knowledge regarding the key signature of songs I liked:
* Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" is in B minor
* The famous motif in Beethoven's 5th is in C minor
* Blues Traveller's "Hook" is in A
* Regina Spektor's "Eet" is in D-flat
* Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is F minor
* etc.
Then, make connections based upon that. Want to sing a B? Just recall the opening, sustained keyboard chord in "Comfortably Numb". Huh, The Beatles "Across The Universe" sounds tonally like "Eet" - I guess it is also in D-flat.
A simple way to do this is to make playlists for a given key, which helps reinforce the sense of shared tonality across songs.
Specifically, building up a library of knowledge regarding the key signature of songs I liked:
Then, make connections based upon that. Want to sing a B? Just recall the opening, sustained keyboard chord in "Comfortably Numb". Huh, The Beatles "Across The Universe" sounds tonally like "Eet" - I guess it is also in D-flat.A simple way to do this is to make playlists for a given key, which helps reinforce the sense of shared tonality across songs.