[pianotech] Perfect Pitch / Children

[Matthew Todd]

It goes back to defining the terms.  When I sent my tuning videos into Randy Potter for critique, one of the things he would always send back to me was for me to hit the key a little harder, with an "mf" blow.  Now, we all know that "mf" means "moderately loud".  But if I were to show you guys the videos, you would see that I was hitting the key "fortissimo".  I would just scratch my head on that one.  But, what's loud to me, may not be loud to you.  Or what is fast to you, may not be to me, etc.
 
The line of work we are in is very subjective.  Not just this business, but music in general.
 
IMHO,


TODD PIANO WORKS 
Matthew Todd, Piano Technician 
(979) 248-9578
http://www.toddpianoworks.com

--- On Sat, 3/21/09, David Boyce <David at piano.plus.com> wrote:

From: David Boyce <David at piano.plus.com>
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Perfect Pitch / Children
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Date: Saturday, March 21, 2009, 1:17 PM





Good points Ric..  
 
If someone is wanting to discuss perfect pitch with us in relation to a claim that they or someone else has got it, we have to ask them what they mean by the term.  
 
Probably they will not actually know what they mean, but merely have some vague nebulous concept which evaporates when you ask for a precise explanation.  
 
And even if they do have some precise idea of what they mean by the term, it may be a meaning quite different from that attached to the expression by someone else.
 
Best,
 
David.
 
 
 
>Most studies that are easy to find are really superficial and confirm 
>that an individual can identify a given note for what it is.  Studies 
>that pick the concept apart and try to define its real limits are not so 
>easy to come by. But it doesn't take much reasoning to understand that 
>the obvious variances in pitch through time and around the world, not to 
>mention temperament questions or other such issues cloud the 
>absoluteness of the concept quite a bit.

>Cheers
>RicB

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