Registered: 09/21/02
Posts: 5520
Loc: Port Charlotte,FL,USA
It is interesting. It also proves what I have told people that claim to have perfect pitch,and don't. Some confuse the two,like the video says. John,I know you have a great ear,being a piano tuner,but don't know which you have. Mine is relative at best.
Registered: 06/04/02
Posts: 4912
Loc: West Palm Beach, FL 33417
Bernie, I have relative pitch. In my long life I have only met one person with perfect pitch.
My late wife was a piano teacher. She called me into her studio to meet one of her students. The student stood outside of the studio, no view of the piano. As my wife played a note the student gave the name of the note, AND THE OCTAVE she played it in. I watched the student in disbelief.
People with perfect pitch are very rare. People who think they have perfect pitch are many. (smile)
Take Bernie, John C. PS, Bernie, I am working on Registrations and Playlist (Sx900) I'm almost done, I think you will love it. Please tell me what you want to accomplish with them.
A friend of mine, a professional pianist, keyboardist, trombonist for both classical and jazz music, has perfect pitch. I play some nice sounding chord that comes to my mind, and without watching he immediately says, that was a G 7b5#9.
Registered: 09/21/02
Posts: 5520
Loc: Port Charlotte,FL,USA
"Take Bernie, John C. PS, Bernie, I am working on Registrations and Playlist (Sx900) I'm almost done, I think you will love it. Please tell me what you want to accomplish with them."
Hi John It is hard to tell,since I know nothing about them,and,above all, don't have them. I will tell you this; I have known for years that you do mighty fine work,and am interested in the outcome. I am sure I would use them in performances,like any other worthy registrations.
That was an interesting comparison between language acquisition and pitch recognition. It makes sense. If a child learns an additional language young enough there is good chance they will have a very good accent. Yes, an adult can become fluent in an additional language but it’s very unlikely that they developed a native speakers accent. Maybe perfect pitch and relative pitch is a comparable skill and learning process?
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It not the keyboard, it's the keyboardist.
That was an interesting comparison between language acquisition and pitch recognition. It makes sense. If a child learns an additional language young enough there is good chance they will have a very good accent. Yes, an adult can become fluent in an additional language but it’s very unlikely that they developed a native speakers accent. Maybe perfect pitch and relative pitch is a comparable skill and learning process?
Native speaker ability including native accent has an age limit of 7, I know that from my linguistics courses. After 7, the brain is no more flexible enough to completely wipe out a foreign accent. But I don‘t think perfect pitch is comparable as there is no learning involved in recognizing if two frequencies are identical if they are played many hours apart from one another. Just the technical denominations have to be learned, not perfect pitch as such. I think it‘s genetically present or not.
Registered: 06/25/99
Posts: 16735
Loc: Benton, LA, USA
I have three friends who have perfect pitch. They are brothers, blind since shortly after birth. You can hit any note, chord, even dis-chord and they immediately identify every note. My best friend out of the brothers played with me quite often in past years. He plays piano, keyboard, clarinet, harmonica BAGPIPES, guitar, sax... Doesn't matter what key you play in; you don't have to tell him, he just starts playing. He once told me that he "sees" each tone something similar to a color. Each note is different, like you immediately know blue, red, green, pink, etc. He quit playing music professionally some years ago and became a minister, and now performs only in church and for worthy causes. Oh, and he sings perfectly and sounds almost exactly like Ronnie Milsap when he wants to. When we were working together, a lady would approach the band stand and he would often greet her by name, even before she spoke. He identified the scent! If they wore the same perfume or fragrance, and he had met them before, he "knew" them. The other two brothers are pretty much the same as far as talent. In a really tragic development, the older brother has lost almost all his hearing. You can imagine what a handicap that is for him. He was the most successful of them as far as a music career, having worked a lot in recording studios and releasing several records. My friend is Richard Wells, and his brothers are Talmadge (the eldest) and Charles, the youngest. Here is Richard, recently singing to a track he recorded.