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absolute pitch
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.