A Simple Pitch Exercise

TSounds like your sense of pitch, based on your score, is fine. There are a number of very simple exercises you can do to work specifically with pitch issues. They'll seem almost too simple as you read, but they do work. Though it's a ridiculously obvious thing to say, remember: anywhere you hold your hand still, there will be a pitch -- a note. Without thinking about playing, mute the volume with your volume hand, move your pitch hand and hold it still, lift up the volume hand, and there's a single note. Repeat for about thirty seconds (which is about the time this step gets boring). But if you begin with this basic step and principle you then... Every time you lift up, that will now be used as your first note in a scale. Just lift up and do the Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do thing. Then... If you have a piano or other instrument in the house, have someone play a single note. You then find and match that note. Do this a bunch of times. For an extended pitch experiment use a CD of ambient music -- Brian Eno's music is perfect for this, but you can use anything that is slow and stays in the same key. Put the music on and experiment by finding all the notes on the theremin that you believe "go with" the music. Find the tones that sound good to your ear. If you've got someone who can observe and listen, see if they agree with your choices. If you've got the ability to record yourself, do so, then play it back and see what YOU think of your choices. Work slowly and when you find a pitch that works for you, sustain it for a second or two, then move on. NOTE: The focus here is not on playing the music along with the CD; it's to search for tones that seem compatible regardless of the rhythm or any structure -- you're just working on your hand's ability to hit pitches and your ear's ability to discern them.