just my 2 cents of absolute/perfect/whatever

[Richard Brekne]

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I keep hearing a sort of "qualifying" to this term Perfect pitch.. folks more or
less that  perfect perfect pitch doesnt really exist.. and I of course have to
aggree, if for no other reason then such perfectness simply doesnt correspond to
anything in the real world. You would run into all kinds of problems right off
the bat in the attempt to claim that such a thing could exist... for example,
what temperament is then the "perfect" one.  Grin.. I'll bet this'd stir the HT/
ET discussion a bit. Who knows... the perfect perfect pitch might even be "just"
oriented.

When I hear references to "this guy can hear the difference between a441 and
a442" I think ok... but what so ?? What about the rest of the notes then ? As far
as I know, no one has really been able to come close (close enough to be
acceptable by decerning ears musically)  to being able to determine an ET tuning
(no matter what tool for measuring has been used) by ear alone. Further I know of
no attempt to discover if folks who have some ability which is very close to
perfect perfect pitch have any particular orientation to this ability.. ie just
intervals, et intervals or whathaveyou.  This last might be really interesting to
find out.

Ah...well... back to the real world... I'm off then. "See" you all in a few days.



Tvak@AOL.COM wrote:

> In a message dated 9/5/00 11:11:08 AM, tito@PhilBondi.com writes:
>
> << As I get older, I am recognizing that I do not identify A=440 as easily as
> I
> once did >>
>
> Rook, my nearly "pefect pitch" seems exactly the same as yours in many
> respects including my accuracy deteriorating slightly in the last 5 years or
> so.  (I am 48.)
>
> <<a customer's piano that I have said "sounds pretty close" to be as much as
> 20 cents flat..that to me is not 'pretty close'..but if someone were to sit
> down on the same piano before I knew how flat it was and was to play chords,
> notes, or a song, I could identify the chords, the notes, or the key the song
> was in..I would get them all right..so that's perfect?>>
>
> This also mirrors my own experiences.  Interestingly, I have recordings of
> the Beethoven Symphonies with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. I guess
> they must tune significantly sharp.  At the beginning of each symphony, I
> know, of course, what key this symphony is written in, and I perceive them at
> the pitch they are written, but somewhere during the developement section, it
> modulates through the circle of fifths, or perhaps it goes through some
> chromatic modulation of sorts, and I start to hear the piece a half step
> high.  My ear QUANTIZES the pitch up or down to the apparently nearest half
> step.
>
> <<yes I believe there are varying degrees of perfectness with this
> 'gift' that some of us have>>
>
> I agree; I do not claim to have perfect pitch.  It's pretty close...but no
> cigar.  I attribute this to my tuning experience.  I think perfect pitch does
> have something to with pitch memory, and because I am adjusting the pitch on
> so many pianos, my ear no longer perceives an 'A' as a finite, quantified
> thing.  (...I mean, "thingee") My ear no longer has a "role model" of what an
> 'A' is.  I mean where does 'G#' end and 'A' begin?  It was never an issue
> when I was younger, making my living as a pianist.  (Back in the old days
> when an 'A' was an 'A'!)
>
> Tom S.
> Chicago Area

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway


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