Wives tales ... violin tuning

[Tom Servinsky]

RE: Wives tales ... violin tuningDavid
The true definition of relative pitch refers to one's ability to have close to good pitch, but needs a familiar anchor pitch to reference by. Which is me.
 For example, I learned Bb like the back of my hand early on in high school. Several of my favorite jazz tunes started on a Bb note plus our door bell was a Bb, so it became pretty in-grained in my head.  From there I grew more familiar with other tricks and before I knew it I had a full command of the full octave. Was I born with this? No, but I probably had an acute sensitivity towards pitch and always had a curiosity towards it. Which came first the chicken or the egg. Are you born with it or not. Who knows. Who cares.  
Tom Servinsky
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: David Ilvedson 
  To: pianotech at ptg.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 2:37 PM
  Subject: RE: Wives tales ... violin tuning


  I've always considered being able to name the notes someone plays as being "perfect pitch".   Relative pitch is being able to discern if a note is out of tune compared to another note.     

  David Ilvedson, RPT
  Pacifica, CA 94044




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  Original message
  From: "Matthew Todd"  
  To: "Pianotech List"  
  Received: 6/30/2008 9:42:20 AM
  Subject: RE: Wives tales ... violin tuning


  Alicia,

  Perfection is not in the eyes of the beholder, sorry.  You are perfect, or you are not.  Saying "no one is perfect" is safe to say for everyone in this world, including you Alicia.  Knowing what people can and cannot do has nothing to do with this.  People have different talents.  I can operate a skil saw very well, but I still have to use a guide to get a perfectly straight cut.  The most amazing concert pianists practice ALL day.  If they were perfect, there would be no need for them to practice.

  You naming the notes as your friends played it is still relative pitch.

  As for your friend...telling you how sharp or flat a note within 1 to 2 cents is still not perfect.


  Matthew

  A E <eve_ane at hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
    I messed around with my friends before who are tied down in musical field, they randomly pressed keys on my piano and 9 out of10 i got it spot on... a few years ago i had a friend (may he rest in peace) who could tell  u exactly how sharp of flat the note was, and get it withing 1-2 cents....
    there is such a thing i think.... it comes with experience, and knowing ur instrument... or in my case probably sheeer dumb luck...! 
    U cant speak for everyone in this world Matt, u dont know what people can and can not do..
    as for human perfection... well in that case, perfection is in the eyes of the beholder, and no one else matteres...
     
    Alicia




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      Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 05:57:58 -0700
      From: toddpianoworks at att.net
      Subject: Re: Wives tales ... violin tuning
      To: pianotech at ptg.org


      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






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