<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ccccff" text="#000000"> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> Hi list, The evolution of one's AP (absolute pitch) ability with aging is a common observation. My mother (82 and still playing ) hears a B as a C, although all her pianos have been tuned to A=440 (at least once in a while :-) ) An article in  : <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.musicianbrain.com/projects_absolute.html">http://www.musicianbrain.com/projects_absolute.html</a> says that  "AP possessors might hear sharp when they become older (Vernon, 1977). A mismatch might develop between the internal representation of a tone (after seeing this tone on the staff or after being given the name of the tone) and the auditory percept. The cause for this mismatch is a loss in the elasticity of the basilar membrane in the inner ear with aging, which might change it's resonance." I still prefer this other theory relating to the perception of time : Seems that the older you get, the faster time seems to flow, be it for large scale events (months looking like weeks) or smaller dimension events (the ability to perceive very small time intervals) . Can't remember where I read that -probably in Science or Nature or La Recherche ( French equivalent of the formers) but I will have a look. Giovanna Marini, the great Italian singer and composer, says she can't listen to her childhood preferred classic tunes because they sound "out of tune", about a semitone sharp.  She now composes without a keyboard... However,  Bec's mail raises another question : Can one develop some internal "automatic translate function" ? Playing a transposing instrument represents a challenge. Jazz saxophone players tend not to double on different pitched instruments. A Tenor (Bb) sax could double on the soprano (Bb, one octave higher) but rarely on the alto or barytone sax (Eb).  Now, does Bec imply that his perception of pitch is related to the sound of the instrument ? I mean, does a (standard) C, played on a trumpet, sound like a D to him ? That would be interesting (and, besides, confusing when listening to a trumpet concerto...)  And what about the same pitch played on a Eb Euphonium, high up the scale ? However, a conductor has to read scores with quite a few transposing instruments mixed together. How do they achieve that when silently reading the score ? AP can obviouly be a blessing (some relate to it as "colourful listening" as opposed to "black and white"), but also a big problem when this ability cannot be disconnected. Church organ players can be in big trouble on ancient, historical instruments. I have an exemple nearby, where an 18 th century organ has been restored, and playing a C will give you an E flat...  Go for  some intricate Bach's  contrepoint on it : When your hand goes from keyboard to keyboard, you're bound to be a minor third away from where you intended to land... Then your feet will freeze and your mind will melt. I still remember my piano teacher, who when asked to "transpose" Bach's Db Prelude in C# , found it  very difficult (wow ! 12 sharps to add !) and, most intriguing, ended up saying it sounded "sharper", "brisky", "too brilliant", even "out of tune".  For me, she was just doing the same movements, still playng the same pitches on the ET tuned keyboard, although rather clumsily... Music is a mind bizzness. <big>Jean Debefve Belgium </big> PS sorry, but shouldn't this thread be  O.T. -labelled ?   </body> </html>