Wives tales ... violin tuning

[Paul T Williams]

Hi Tom,

When a customer says they or someone they know has perfect pitch,  I just 
let it slide.....I could just tune A-49 to 439.9 or 440.1 and they 
couldn't or anyone else tell the difference!  I just tune A-440 and on I 
go.

pw




"Tom Servinsky" <tompiano at bellsouth.net> 
Sent by: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org
07/01/2008 03:27 PM
Please respond to
Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>


To
"Pianotech List" <pianotech at ptg.org>
cc

Subject
Re: Wives tales ... violin tuning






Better yet.. the next time someone says they have perfect pitch, 
understand the gist of what they are saying and don't make a big deal of 
it. No sense of trying to split hairs with a trend that has been in place 
much longer than you and I have been on this earth. Why argue for the sake 
of arguing.
Tom Servinsky
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Matthew Todd 
To: Pianotech List 
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 8:43 AM
Subject: Re: Wives tales ... violin tuning

I agree with you Tom.  That is a good way to put it.  My only point is 
that you either have perfect pitch or you do not.  Some people do have an 
unusually acute sense of pitch memory who are surprisingly accurate.  But 
then, they would have to be accurate on 100% of the notes, 100% of the 
time in order to have what some people call "perfect pitch".  You are 
right that it is a learned technique.  That also proves that this learned 
behavior is not perfect.  After all, if you have perfect pitch, then why 
practice?
 
The next time someone says to you "practice makes perfect", you say to 
them, "If practice makes perfect, and no one is perfect, then why 
practice?"  Practice does make better, as in the learned technique of 
pitch memory.
 
 
Matthew

Tom Servinsky <tompiano at bellsouth.net> wrote:
Matthew,
The term " Perfect Pitch" has been an accepted terminology to describe 
acute pitch memory. The term " Perfect Pitch" was ill-conceived from a 
nomenclature perspective and should have been named " Pitch memory".   The 
term was originally aimed at defining those who have an unusually acute 
sense of pitch memory. Some who are surprisingly accurate, whether we 
choose to agree with it or not.I'm convinced that pitch memory is a 
learned technique. From years as being a symphony musician my sense of 
pitch memory is surprisingly good ,when and only when I have my instrument 
in hand and playing. When I listen to other clarinetist I can spot any 
note equally well. However when I'm out of the playing mode way of 
thinking, my pitch is at best relative. Go figure!
Tom Servinsky
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Matthew Todd 
To: Pianotech List 
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2008 8:57 AM
Subject: Re: Wives tales ... violin tuning

There is no such thing as PERFECT pitch, only relative pitch.  It someone 
had perfect pitch, it would mean it would have to be perfect, and besides 
Jesus Christ, I have yet to see a human that was perfect.  If indeed this 
customer had perfect pitch, they could be able to tell you that the note 
was four cents flat.  But because she said the note sounded like a "d", it 
is relative.
 
Matthew

Richard Brekne <ricb at pianostemmer.no> wrote:
Yes... a good sense of relative pitch memory is an interesting thing 
indeed. Its just that it would be best for all concerned if it were kept 
better in perspective... i.e. words like Perfect and Absolute left out 
of it. Severely extreme cases of pitch sensitivity are more a handicap 
then an asset. Fortunately... there are very very few on this planet 
that actually suffer to that degree....and correspondingly few that 
could with any hint of justification fnyss at someone else for erring 
<> pitchwise.

Cheers
RicB


I had a customer a few days ago, whose piano I tuned 2 years ago. 
She played some notes and said how flat they were...the piano in
general sounded reasonable. I got started and the piano was indeed
about 4 cents flat and 7 in the treble. When done I asked her if
she had perfect pitch...wasn't sure. I played a D and she said that
sounded like a D...pretty cool...

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA 94044



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20080701/40b5264f/attachment-0001.html