A 435 or A 440 ?

[David Nereson]

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]On
Behalf Of John Delacour
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 2:34 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: RE: A 435 or A 440 ?

At 4:51 pm -0700 26/7/06, David Love wrote:

>I really question the concept of perfect pitch. Most people that
>claim that they or other family members have this trait are not
>accurate. What percentage of these people would be able to
>distinguish between two freshly tuned, similar pianos one at 440 and
>the other at 443. Especially if they would hear each after a period
>of time where they wouldn't have a fresh reference in their head.

I know well a pianist who has bought several pianos from me over the
years and worked with me for a few weeks to learn the basics of piano
technology.  His sense of pitch is extraordinarily accurate, within a
few cents, and I have tested him several times.  My tuner also knows
him well and has discussed the question with him.  He is always very
close but his sense of pitch is slightly impaired if he is tired or
unwell.  It may well be that very few people have such an accurate
sense of pitch (according to one researcher, 1 in 10,000 in the USA)
but that doesn't mean nobody does.  The phenomenon is well known and
researched. The Wikipedia article on this topic seems, for once, to
be quite a good introduction
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_pitch>

To anyone who might dismiss Absolute Pitch through envy I would
suggest that they reconsider, since the ability is often more of a
bane than a blessing.  My friend is a case in point;  he is
extraordinarily fussy and very quickly tires of any piano he plays.
His latest acquisition is a 1970s Steinway D which to me is a very
uninteresting and flawed example.  In a year or so he will be wanting
something different.  I doubt very much whether he could ever be a
tuner, since he would always be second-guessing the laws of nature
and of equal temperament.

JD

Nobody said that nobody has an accurate sense of pitch.  What was said was
that nobody has PERFECT pitch.  Humans are not perfect.  As you said, the
person you described with an extraordinarily accurate sense of pitch is
sometimes off when he's tired or unwell.  And no humans are well and
completely rested 100% of the time.  It's the word 'perfect' I take issue
with.
        --David Nereson, RPT