absolute pitch

[mwilliamson@alston.com]

        Whether absolute pitch is important depends on what you are 
        doing and who you are playing with.  You have a lot of control 
        over how you process auditory information, and if you want to, 
        you can train yourself to recognizes pitches without an external 
        reference (although it is somewhat harder to train yourself to 
        recognize very small deviations from some fixed standard such as 
        A-440).  It is certainly easiest if you begin playing at a very 
        young age or if you have a hereditary knack for identifying 
        pitches.
        
        On the other hand, I started playing about the same time I 
        started talking and I tend to hear sounds as intervals rather 
        than in absolute terms.  I can identify a pitch if I want to, 
        particularly if I hum it to myself after I hear it, but I don't 
        spend a lot of time doing this.  I like to have my piano tuned 
        as close to equal temperament as possible because, to me, this 
        reinforces the impression of floating in the pitch spectrum with 
        no external reference, of being able to go from one key to 
        another with a feeling of intense pleasure from the way the 
        modulation takes place while being indifferent to where I am at 
        any given moment in time.
        
        Most musicians I have worked with, including those with 
        "absolute pitch," believe it is better to listen for intervals 
        in music and to tune according to what is going on around you 
        rather than according to some fixed standard.  In fact, some 
        wind and string players I know with "absolute pitch" view it as 
        something of a handicap because they find it gets in the way of 
        playing with pitch flexibility.  On the other hand, it can be a 
        signficant advantage in playing with people who have "absolute 
        pitch" (or think they do) because not only might they expect you 
        to play to the same standard, but they may be very exacting 
        about small pitch discrepancies that other people would be 
        willing to tolerate.
        
        The funny thing to me about some musicians that I have found it 
        most difficult to work with is that some people who claim to 
        have "absolute pitch" are also the most outspoken about altering 
        pitches according to the key you are playing in, which is a 
        completely valid concept but highly subjective.  There is no 
        question that a perfectly equally tempered scale is not the most 
        pleasing, but I do not think there is a universal consensus on 
        how best to improve it.  I think for this task it is more 
        important to know how to communicate and work well together than 
        it is to have "absolute pitch." 
        
        I continue to think that for string and wind players, the most 
        important thing is to be intimately familiar with the instrument 
        you are playing at any given time so that, through mechanical 
        means, you can play any note within a certain margin of error 
        before making any adjustments.  Then you make adjustments 
        according to what is going on around you.  That way you're never 
        too badly out of tune but you're always in a position to do 
        better.
        
        Once again, thank you for a very meaningful post for our little 
        group.  :)

______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: More comments on Kazdin
Author:  Eugene Selig <aq094@lafn.org> at internet
Date:    12/10/96 1:07 PM


There is a telling exchange between AK and GG involving absolute pitch. 
GG had stated in another book with another interviewer that the two most 
important gifts required for one aspiring to become a concert pianist 
were the ability to concentrate intensely, and the possession of absolute 
pitch. As for concentration, we know GG had a photographic memory, and 
his musical memory was remarkably reliable. Kazdin had a layman's awe
on the subject of absolute pitch. I think GG enjoyed touting his gift 
before this man. The one thing GG could not abide was the company of a 
lesser intellect. The fact remains that Wagner, Schumann, Berlioz, and 
Tchaikowsky did NOT have absolute pitch. Modern research has shown that 
there are various reasons why otherwise highly gifted musical persons 
may not possess it. Some people have it through heredity (K. Flagstad), 
while in most cases it comes merely as the result of starting training 
at an early age, say before the age of six. It seems that the capacity 
to "memorize" sounds while identifying their pitch diminishes greatly
after early childhood. The composers mentioned got relatively late starts 
before launching themselves totally into a career in music.
     
I think that part of Kazdin's problem is that his idol had the proverbial 
feet of clay, and as such K. felt that his admiration (adoration) was 
misplaced and unappreciated, and as a result felt deprived a position
of special closeness to an non-existent hero. And, as I said before, GG 
seemed to harbor contempt for anyone who behaved like a toady.