dep@allegra.UUCP (Dewayne Perry) (07/29/85)
[i have a photographic memory; unfortunately, i have only fogged film] there seems to be a distinction this is being glossed over here: there are varying degrees of tonal memory - from "perfect pitch" to none at all. in my experience, "perfect pitch" was used to designate those lucky few (some of which had no other musical talent at all) who were born with the gift of "perfect" tonal memory. the rest of us unlucky souls could only aspire to a well developed sense of relative pitch - or, a learned sense of pitch. the first two years of my music major were spent in excercises aimed at doing just that (among other things), eg, musical dictation (progressing from 1 part dictation eventually to 4-part dictation). as with any learned skill, it dissapates with lack of use (though some of you may have noticed that you can anticipate the starting pitch for pieces that you play frequently on your hifi). waiting to have my tape changed to improve my pitch - dewayne