Article: "Everyone starts with perfect pitch, new research shows"

[Guest]

I wanted to share this article with everyone. I can't say I agree with it, but the theory is definitely thought-provoking. Maybe I'll start my kids with music early on when I do end up having one :-) What do people think?

 

http://www.healthscout.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Af?ap=166&id=108416

 

Rod

[alphajerk]

well something really fucked up happened with me then http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[D. Gauss]

ditto

[Philip OKeefe]

Perfect pitch - are you born with it or is it aquired?

 

I don't know. I can only address my own experiences with any certainty, and I'm not sure you can reach any conclusions from such a limited sample.

 

Yes, I have perfect pitch. A little background. I come from a decidedly NON musical family. Lots of music LOVERS but no musicians. I was born in 1962. I *did* have two uncles and an aunt who lived next door for many years while I was growing up and we were all very close, and since they were only 4 - 10 years older than I was, I was exposed to all the cool 60's era stuff that I otherwise might not have paid as much attention to otherwise due to my age. My grandparents were only 39 years older than me, so I was exposed to all their country and jazz records, as well as my mom's pop rock and jazz stuff. Pretty eclectic listening for a little kid.

 

I didn't start any musical instrument lessons until about 6th grade when I started on reed instruments. HOWEVER, my first "perfect pitch" experiences had begun years earlier. People would be singing a song in the wrong key, and I'd say "that's not how it goes, it goes like this" and then would sing it in the proper key (as recorded). I've been able to do this for as far back as I can remember. I didn't learn the "names" of the keys I was able to "hear" until I started music lessons in 6th grade, but I was able to hear them and accurately "recall" them at will. I can still sing any note I want at will, from memory, even without hearing any other pitches beforehand as a reference. IOW, you can hold up a guitar tuner and say "sing a D" and I'll put the needle right in the center, first time, every time.

 

Again, I did have to learn what the musical "names" of the pitches were, but once I had that down, I could hear a note and say "that's a Bb or a E or whatever.

 

Don't think I'm trying to brag about this - I consider it to be a gift, one that allowed me to get involved in music when I probably wouldn't have otherwise. I certainly don't have a strong family history, or "musician's fingers" or any other natural talents that would have helped steer me in that direction.

 

The article was interesting reading. I'm not sure I can agree with all of their conclusions (such as some of the relative vs. perfect pitch usefullness claims) but I think they might be on to something. Thank you for sharing it, and I hope some others here with perfect pitch will share their own experiences and "development" and / or "discovery" process.

 

Phil O'Keefe

Sound Sanctuary Recording

Riverside CA

http://members.aol.com/ssanctuary/index.html

pokeefe777@msn.com

[spookmuzik]

Thats pretty cool! It didn't stay with me either. However, if I sing into a tuner first thing in the morning before I listen to any music, I tend to sing an A or a D. Kind of my "natural" key? Those others of you without perfect pitch, give it a shot.

 

Julian M

[D. Gauss]

if I sing into ANYTHING first thing in the morning, the neighbors usually call 911 to assist the "man who sounds like he's having the seizure!"

[stub303hotmail.com]

I'm not sure where I picked it up...but I'm lucky to have it. Interesting article.

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by rsaboiasilva@hotmail.com:

What do people think?

 

You're not born with the current definition of "perfect pitch", the ability to determine how a sound relates to a 440-A referenced chromatic scale.

 

When you are born 440 hz is no more special than 441.

 

If you're born in China, the westernized chromatic scale means nothing.

 

Otherwise this would be akin to asking someone with "perfect pitch" to identify an "out of tune" note to it's 14 tone complement in another scale system that they know nothing about.

 

I have "imperfect pitch". When I'm not thinking about it I know what I'm hearing instinctually, I know where it is on the guitar instantly. I can play anything after hearing a snippet of it, a splatter of notes. If I'm familiar with the song, I can just play it without having to "learn" it. I can do the naming the notes blind deal only sometimes.

 

I know people that have "perfect pitch" - who can name notes - but don't get chords right. Or don't hear subtle differences in portamento. They'll argue it's the same thing. In these cases they're usually people who grew up in the school music program on one instrument for many many years.

 

On the other hand, I "know" when something is not 440 usually, and it's.... hmm. Like a mild version of the "fingernails on a chalkboard" effect. Now and then a car will go by outside and I'll think "the brake squeal... that's an E". Out of tune dual-prop driven planes are annoying.

 

Most annoying though is hearing a sound in nature that has the same pitch along with similar ADSR characteristics of a "known" sound.... a friend had a Monte Carlo whose floorboard sounded just like the kick drum at the beginning of "Iron Man", I used to think of that car as the Black Sabbath car because of it - had to make this person put the tape in his car to prove I wasn't a loon....

 

When I moved into my current abode, I found it funny that the refridgerator

makes a Gm9 chord, kind of like the beginning of Pink Floyd's _Shine on you Crazy Diamond... I'm bad about just blurting this out to people, and they think I'm crazy... so I have to demonstrate just how the high pitched fan whine is an A, the low end from the compressor is a G, the ringing from I guess how the air circulates inside is a Bb, and there's a faint tinkly sound I assume from water condensation trickling around inside that's on average something like an F. Actually, the bearing whine from most fans is a ninth above the low end rumble of the motor come to think of it... Hmm.

 

Room mates find it odd that it seems obvious to know when to buy more dental floss based on how the dispenser sounds?

 

Then there's non-standard television flyback transformers, which most people can't even hear at all...

 

Hmm.

 

The in-wall A/C units found at hotels sometimes have a pleasant ambiguous closed sus4 sound. One of the best things about going on a (I think this is what it's called, it's been a long time) "vacation" at the beach is the combination of the A/C wall unit and the sound of the surf, loved it since I was a kid. I remember telling my parents that and getting weird looks...

 

Guitars are never perfectly in tune. Ever.

 

Cymbals/overtones sometimes become obvious and suddenly destroys music by being noticeably out of tune.

 

 

What is the meaning of "remembering loudness"? What is the sensation of "remembering panning"?

 

I know, I'm strange. Doomed as well.

 

http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

[alphajerk]

damn, i should move to china so i would be in tune http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[not Cereal]

they'd steal your 'spy guitar' and take it apart.

 

BTW, can you even HAVE any mac over there? i know you cant have a g4.

 

i spent some time in china, and saw many fascinating things.

 

i never saw any ice cubes, or any computers. i saw a dumb terminal in a library but it had an orange screen. not to high tech eh?

[ha ha faa_Q]

I started classical piano training when I was six, and my teacher was REALLY big on ear-training. As a result, I could identify notes by the time I was nine. I couldn't identify chords until after I learned how they were structured.

 

Funny thing is my brother started playing about five years ago when he was 23, and now he can do the same. I sent this article to my folks - both are tone-deaf. Perfect pitch is a weird thing.

 

Jimmy

[gae_layahoo.it]

i found out i had perfect pitch when i was 17.i think that having it won't improve your musical career,unless you are a piano tuner...or maybe i'm wrong?

[Graham English]

Anyone ever try that Perfect Pitch course that geeky guy is always offering in the mags? I had a friend who had it and I tried it for a week or so but gave up. I'd still like to give it a try but I've got pretty good relative pitch so I don't think it would give me the edge that I want. They try to relate pitches with colors. It seemed like to much work at the time.

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by transrational:

want. They try to relate pitches with colors.

 

Comparing to colors removes you one step from the process.... Kinesthetic distortion.

 

http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

[Chip McDonald]

Originally posted by Chip McDonald:

Comparing to colors removes you one step from the process.... Kinesthetic distortion. When you look at a blue car you don't think "that looks like the sky, so it must be "blue" - you just think "blue".

 

http://www.mp3.com/chipmcdonald

[dansouth]

To take Chip's thought's further, I've often wondered about the accuracy of perfect pitch. Does everyone with perfect pitch tune to A-440, or are there some A-443's out there and does the whole world sound grossly flat to them?

 

How about when they hear a pitch modulated sound like a flanger, a twelve-string guitar, or a synth with detuned oscilators? How do they handle microtonal music? Can they sing in tune with a band that's not tuned to A-440? When a fire siren goes up and down, do they sit there and say, "Now it's crossing A, now Bb, yup, here comes C?"

 

I'm completely devoid of any sort of pitch reference. When I hear music, I hear all of the relationships, chord structures, etc, but I have no idea what key it's in. I'm the Billy Pilgrim of the frequency spectrum.

[Darcity]

Hello everyone. I've been playing for @13 years and I don't have perfect pitch, however I can identify chords almost flawlessy. I just purchased David L.Burge's PERFECT PITCH to see if his theory is correct. He claims that over 97% of people are born with perfect pitch, it just has to be unlocked. He also claims that you can be taught to hear the different pitch colors, like hearing 'red' and 'blue'. I just started and the course is @ 40 days. Already I am beginning to see and hear his point! I'll repost when I finish the course and tell you about the results.

 

------------------

Darrell

[Ian Stewart Cairns]

Although I can't speak to the provenance of "absolute" pitch (I'll leave that to the experts), I can attest to the tangible benefits it can bring.

 

In my experience perfect pitch does not supplant relative pitch - but it can make learning relative pitch a little (or a lot) easier. Ear training was never difficult for me. I used to puzzle over the way that music students would struggle to cope with "simple" dictation tests (where a piece is played and you are expected to notate it), because for me, it was as easy as breathing.

 

I suppose the reason my relative pitch was (and remains) excellent is that I have perfect pitch. For example, I can, upon awakening, identify individual notes without any other relative point of reference. If someone decides to test me by playing say, a Db on a piano, I always get the answer right. If another person sings me the same Db, not only can I identify the note, but I can tell the singer if she is singing sharp or flat. Similarly, if someone plays, lets say a G major thirteenth chord; not only can I identify the spelling of the chord, I can unfailingly detect the tone centre. Effortlessly. This ability can irritate other musicians, because it seems so unfair and random that I should have it and they dont.

 

Of course it is completely random and it is unfair. I dont regard it as a gift or anything as fanciful. It is random, meaningless luck. The same kind of random, meaningless luck that causes someone to be born deaf what value absolute or relative pitch then? Neither condition is any more significant or special than the other, they just are. If you have absolute pitch enjoy it, if not, hard work will get you most, if not all of the way there.

 

Ian

 

 

This message has been edited by Ian Stewart Cairns on 04-16-2001 at 11:23 AM