[Harp-L] Perfect Pitch / It's childs play :)

[Tin Lizzie]

I think perfect pitch comes around periodically as a topic because it’s such a fascinating phenomenon.

Think for a minute:  A “pitch” is a name we human beings give to an arbitrary number of vibrations per second.  And then:  A “second” is a wholly artificial construct of the human race.  And at some point in music history, someone, somewhere, defined the name of a pitch to be some number of vibrations per second, and all the other pitches relative to that one.  It’s so arbitrary!  And yet, some small percentage of people seem to be born with the ability to match these arbitrary things one to another.  They reportedly hear differently, and can distinguish pitches as readily as most ordinary people can distinguish tables from chairs from ottomans.  (cf https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/20/science/perfect-pitch-the-key-may-lie-in-the-genes.html).

That some adults might be able to acquire this ability -- given sufficient time and effort -- seems unrelated to the fact that some people just seem to be born with it and don’t have to try to learn it as a skill, at all.

People with perfect pitch are in a minority, even among accomplished musicians.  It logically follows that one can become an accomplished musician without having perfect pitch.  I wondered, why, then, would someone choose to spend their limited time on Earth honing this particular skill if it’s possible to become an accomplished musician without it?  Then I realized that at some level, for some people, it’s just gratifying to do it, regardless of how much it improves the rest of one’s overall musicianship.  I call that an artistic choice, and I respect it.

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P.S.  Parlor trick:  If some piece of someone’s electrical equipment starts to buzz, and someone cocks an ear and says, “I wonder what pitch that is?”  You can confidently answer, “Bb”, and be right.  (In the U.S.)  Someone will check it against a tuner or an instrument known to be in tune and everyone will marvel at your ability.  Then you grin and say, “60-cycle hum.” :-)

Tin Lizzie