absolute pitch

[Tom Sivak]

I feel like tuning pianos has confused my sense of pitch recognition.  For years, decades, really, I only heard A's being A's, C's as C's.  Granted, there was the occasional piano that would be way flat, but not really that often.  Pianos in professional situations are usually not THAT far off.  Even if they've been neglected, it's not like the 10 years that the Gulgransen spinet has endured since it's last tuning.
   
  But certainly pitch recognition must be learned.  You must hear an A many times before you can identify it without a reference.
   
  Then I started tuning pianos. When I find a piano at A415 and raise the pitch, I'm hearing all those shades inbetween.  When does a G# become an A?  I can't tell you.  All I can share with you all is that I am no longer 100% of what I hear.  I am often off by a half step.
   
  Maybe it is age.  I'm 54.  But I think it has more to do with exposure to all the pitches inbetween G# and A.  I no longer have a solid undisputed reference like I once had.
   
  Tom Sivak
  Chicago 

Now, I'm less sure of what I hear.  

Mark Schecter <schecter at pacbell.net> wrote:
  One thing I've run into a couple times is that age affects pitch 
perception. The cochlea shrinks with age, and the same pitch sounds 
higher as you get older. The degree of this shift varies, I'm sure. But 
I have a couple customers who are dismayed as the realize their once 
highly accurate pitch recognition gradually slips away.

I agree with Jon that it is perfectly analogous to color recognition. It 
seems that there is a developmental stage in the first few years of life 
when one is most able to activate this faculty. If everyone received 
appropriate stimulus, many more would develop and have useful pitch 
recognition. As it is, though, most people never learn that C sounds 
like C. This is one argument for keeping pianos at standard pitch. Not 
very helpful to show a kid orange and call it red.

-Mark Schecter

Gregor _ wrote:
> I have a customer with an absolute pitch. She called me for a tuning and 
> complained about one key (E6) which sounded for her more like the F6. 
> When she told me that, I had no idea about her absolute pitch. I tuned 
> the piano and she still complained about that E6. I wondered what she 
> meant: how can an E sound like F? I checked the temperament again and 
> the octaves, fourths and fiths as well. Everything perfect. Then she 
> told me about her absolute pitch. Aha! I tuned the E for her as she told 
> me (too flat, to sharp, oh no, now it´s correct......). The result were 
> inacceptable intervals! I told her that and tuned like I felt it´s o.k.
> 
> Seems that even an absolute pitch has fluctuations. I always wondered if 
> an absolute pitch can differentiate between 440 and 439 Hz and if it´s 
> related to mood, weather or so.
> 
> Gregor
> 
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