[Harp-L] Editing, Wireless, and Dogs with Perfect Pitch

[The Iceman]

Emily (who writes with an amazing originality of wordsmithing) sez:

<<though my friend with PP got the notes very quickly, for whatever reasons, he
wasn't as good at picking up the subtleties of expression (or the gesalt,
if you will)>>
I hope no one will come away thinking that PP somehow diminishes the ability to pick up those subtleties. IMO, this person is unique unto himself.


-----Original Message-----
From: Emily Keene <esalisburykeene at xxxxx>
To: harp-l <harp-l at xxxxx>
Sent: Sun, Oct 28, 2018 3:48 pm
Subject: [Harp-L] Editing, Wireless, and Dogs with Perfect Pitch

Trim our quotes? Hallelujah! The old style of quoting was absolute
maddening!   The Iceman wrote: "but to the musician it is the ability to
actually "see" the notes unfolding in real time and unlocks so much in
understanding - for example, have YOU tried to transcribe a solo? How long
did it take you?" I have spent an embarrassingly large percentage of my
life transcribing solos (or at least learning to play them if not actually
transcribing) with varying degrees of success, but I will say that though
my friend with PP got the notes very quickly, for whatever reasons, he
wasn't as good at picking up the subtleties of expression (or the gesalt,
if you will). There are pretty well documented limits to what we can focus
our attention on, although there are outliers. It's really interesting that
you liken your perfect pitch to colours.  The whole basis of the concept of
"neuroplasticity" is that neurons are all basically the same until they
actually get put to a purpose. For example, in sighted persons, the
occipital lobe is devoted largely to sight, but in some persons that have
been bland from birth, a lot of that lobe is devoted to hearing (in
addition to the part the rest of us use for hearing). In synthesthesia
(which I obviously can't spell), some people do "hear" colours or "taste"
shapes. This conversation really belongs on Neurology-L, but I think some
people can probably be taught PP (and some more easily) and some can't, at
least at a later stage in life. From the moment that one slime mold winked
at another, biological choices were being made, and between then and the
various things that happened to us while we were floating around in the
amniotic fluid we each got issued differing abilities and proclivities.
After that, everything one learns and puts into practice changes the brain
(like the old saying; "Practice makes permanent."). For now, the "rewards
system" in my brain has been satisfied, and I'm off to play some French
Harp in a jam session. Cheers, emily