[pianotech] OT: Perfect pitch and temperaments

[Shawn Brock]

No such thing as perfect pitch...  To have perfect pitch would mean for example that you could tell if a 4 was tuned to 440 or 441 with out any reference.  No one can do that.  Usually people who say they have perfect pitch don't even have relative pitch.  Its just a line they drop to try to impress people who don't know better.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not picking on you or anything like that.  I'm just pointing out the obvious.  The subject of this email tells you all you need to know if you think about it.  If a person could have perfect pitch he or she most likely couldn't temper intervals.  If we look at the definition of temperament we can gather  that it is an imperfect being, which contradicts the statements of perfect pitch.  Lots of good players and even a few not so good players have relative pitch.  I am one of those.  For example if I hear a song on the radio I can tell what key its being played in by listening to the guitar.  I can say, oh this is in g.  I can't tell you though if the band is tuned to 440 or a little above or below though.  I can tell because I have played guitar for 20 years and I'm use to the tambour of each chord...  So don't believe the hype!

Regards,
Shawn Brock, RPT
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: KeyKat88 at aol.com 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 8:25 AM
  Subject: [pianotech] OT: Perfect pitch and temperaments


  Greetings, 

        How can anyone have perfect pitch?

        Yesterday,  I tuned for a retired piano tuner, who had tuned his piano about 3 months ago. (I dont know why he hired me) He says he has perfect pitch.   Lo and behold, when I examined his work, although 3 months a "worn" tuning, it was pretty much "dead on".

       Question:  Now, if a person "au moderne" (nowdays) says they have perfect pitch, were/are humans' ears built differently than say, in Beethoven's day, where those living at that time who claimed that they had perfect pitch???

        I dont get it. Does the human ear get used to what temperaments are in vogue at the time?

  Julia
  Reading, PA 


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