A 435 or A 440 ?

[David Love]

Perfect pitch is really a bit of a misnomer.  More accurately it should be
called pitch memory, i.e., the ability to remember certain pitches and then
to recognize or produce them.  How accurate one's pitch memory is probably
depends on several variables such as early exposure, musical training and
includes own particular ability to discriminate small differences.  The
research I'm familiar with suggests that there is a developmental window of
opportunity when pitch memory can be successfully acquired (assuming the
proper genetic array--and there is a strong genetic component), much like
language acquisition.    

David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net 
www.davidlovepianos.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of David Nereson
Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 1:32 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: RE: A 435 or A 440 ?


Exactly.  A4 is has been 440 Hertz only for the last 100 years at the very
most.  And not universally.  It has been 425, 430, 435, and a jillion
other "standards."  There was probably a time when "A" was what we now
call "A flat" or somewhere in between.  "Absolute" and "perfect" are the
wrong terms to use.  "Excellent pitch recognition" or something similar
would be better.  I liken it to the ability, or lack thereof, to be able
to make two marks on a piece of paper exactly an inch (or a centimeter or
a foot) apart.  Some machinists, draftspersons, and carpenters might be
very very close almost every time.  But they'll never be perfectly "dead
on" every time.  Heck, the pencil lead is at least 1/32" inch wide.  And
the human voice, when someone is asked to hum a certain pitch, never stays
perfectly on that pitch - it wavers up and down a bit.  We're just not
perfect.
        --David Nereson, RPT