[CAUT] Pitch recognition

[Phil Bondi]

Ed, I went to the web site and was able to take 
their test. Here are my results: 	
	

Congratulations! You have Perfect Pitch.

First name: Phil

Last name: Bondi

Age: 51

AP rank: 1.00

Pure tone score: 36.00

Piano tone score: 36

You may indicate any problems you had taking the 
test briefly (50 or less words) in the comments 
box below. If necessary you may contact us by 
email (ppitch at itsa.ucsf.edu).

According to them, I'm pretty perfect.

-Phil Bondi(Fl)



Ed Sutton wrote:
> An extremely important study on absolute pitch has been done by the 
> University of California, testing over 2000 subjects.
> See the report at http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/0703868104v3
> Piano technicians who deal with musical authorities (such as teachers 
> and conductors) need to read this report.
> Accuracy of absolute pitch deteriorates with age.  No one over the age 
> of 51 in this study was able to attain a perfect score in a test of 36 
> tones, and many people 50 and older reported that they were aware that 
> their pitch perception was drifting sharp.  This is probably due to age 
> changes in the inner ear which effect all of us.
> Many of the situations we deal with may involve hearing changes in 
> middle aged people.  I once had an aging choir director claim I was 
> cheating her by charging for a pitch raise because the piano sounded 
> "right on pitch" to her. My ETD measured the piano as over 20 cents flat.
>  
> Ed Sutton