Piano Tuning/Repair

[Gordon Wilson]

On Fri, 22 Dec 1995 PNOTNR@aol.com wrote:

> Silly me.  I always thought "perfect pitch" was when the bases were loaded in
> the bottom of the ninth, visiting team is ahead by one run, the count is
> three and two on the cleanup hitter, and he swings and misses at a fade away
> slider, i.e. perfect pitch
>
> Seriously, I've always wondered how anyone could have perfect pitch.  I mean,
>  without a tuning fork I can sing you an A, but I can't say whether it's 440
> or not.  Most people I've met who claim to have perfect pitch seem to think
> they are dead on A440.  Did people with perfect pitch in the years before the
> world settled on A440 spend their lives in what they perceived as an
> eternally out of tune world?  I can't count the number of times I've heard
> customers tell me about their sons, daughters, brothers, neighbors etc. who
> have perfect pitch.  These are also the people who don't read a note of
> music, but can play anything "by heart"
>
> Opps!!!!.....I'm starting to vent, (probably not a proper thing to do, esp.
> at Christmas)
>
> Gordon Large
> Maine(ly snow)
>
Gordon, Gordon here!

Forgive me for quoting your whole message, but it was so "perfect" I
didn't know what to cut! ;-}

My response to the "perfect pitch" question is (with acknowledgment to
David Burge) that pitch perception (at least subjectively) equivalent
to color perception.  Pitch memory is a better description, IMO.

1.  Color/pitch names are arbitrary and remembered by association.
2.  What would you say to someone who bragged. "My son has perfect color!"
3.  Like color names, pitch names can be learned by association by almost
    anyone.  In my case, as a child I "pictured" in my head the duller
    timbre of the C below middle C on our poorly voiced/poorly strung
    Hobart M. Cable.  I found I was remembering the pitch as well as the
    tone!
4.  No one would admit that a child couldn't remember the names of colors:
    In our society, knowing color names is a requirement of proof of
    intelligence, let alone sanity.  If the same requirements were
    applied to musical acuity, this discussion would be moot.
5.  One more thought: saying "My daughter's hearing is so sensitive she
    breaks out in hives if a piano is even slightly out of tune!"
    I feel that, in this regard we tolerate what we become used to:
    If you substitute  "if a red is even slightly off color" in the quote
    above, absurdity rules!

Comments, anyone?

Gordon Wilson
Keyboard Studio
Urbana, IL
(800)821-1197
gwilson@prairienet.org