Hawkeye Harriet -Reply

[Steve Pearson]

Sorry, but I could not resist jumping in here.  Firstly, there is no such
thing as perfect pitch.  Honest.  It is sort of the aural equivalent of idetic
imagry, or "photographic memory".  To regard 'perfect pitch' as such
implies that there is some cosmic standard out there, perhaps the music
of the spheres of lore.  What you suffer from is pitch memory, and it is a
learned skill/curse.  I knew a guy in high school who had "perfect pitch"
at roughly A=415.  Owen Jorgensen once did an experiment in a class
of doctoral music students, and set a temperament chromatically without
referencing to previously tuned notes.  Each was settled upon by all of
the students who had perfect pitch.  The result was, well, I believe the
word he used was "horrendous".  Apparently triads worked in only a
couple of keys, and the octave would make Pythagoras' teeth ache.  As
for the curious customer, I always try to demonstrate a bit of elementary
"beat theory" for them.  A little interest seldom translates into a real
running dialog unless you allow it.  I didn't stay 22 years  in this peculiar
business so much for the pianos as for the customers.  In the words of
fellow tech Phil Bashaw, "I only tune for my friends".  Unless you
encounter a real neurotic, you may want to just gently explain that your
brain is incapable of two things at a time, and while you would love to
spend more time with 'em, you make a lousy conversationalist while
tuning.  They get the picture.  You get a customer and a reputation as a
great tech.
Steve