[pianotech] Perfect Pitch / Children

[Richard Brekne]

It would be a good trick considering there are no perfect-pitched tones 
or set of tones in the physical world that corresponds.

I just finished brushing up a rock hard older rather neglected Petrof a 
couple days ago and as I was finishing the organist from the church 
walked in and asked a question about Rønisch pianos. He wanted to know 
why other pianos were not built so that they never had to be tuned like 
the Rønisch, declaring it had been moved from the store he bought it new 
25 years ago to his country home and tho it had never been tuned it was 
still perfectly in tune. And.... he knew this to be the case because he 
had perfect pitch. 

I said nothing of course.... anyone knowing  Rønisch instruments from 
the last 25-50 years would know how perfect this fellow pitch was.  Ok 
an extreme example but just so.

Pitch memory to varying degrees exists... and its not exactly the same 
for every note in every instance for every person... and it varies 
around the world.  Languages that utilize pitch inflection as part of 
context for word meanings apparently have more instances of the 
phenomenon and to a greater degree of sensitivity I'm told. Vietnamese 
comes to mind.

Western musical pitch sensitivity in extreme cases where a person 
actually experiences much of our best music as horribly out of tune.... 
strikes me as more of a handicap then anything else.

Cheers
RicB


    Is there really such a thing as "perfect" pitch?  Is there anyone
    who is, perfect?
     
    I think individuals possess "relative" pitch, such as you described
    people being able to name notes played on a piano, or to be able to
    sight sing.  But to have perfect pitch, to me, would mean they would
    have to be able to tell you the cents sharp or flat a particular
    note is, without looking.
     
    IMHO!