suhre@trwrba.UUCP (05/16/84)
I started piano lessons when I was five. At some time later I realized that I could tell which note was which just by hearing it. This ability is usually called "perfect pitch". My perfect pitch was very accurate, probably better then a quarter tone in accuracy (at least in a one octave range above and below middle C), not quite so good at the extreme ends of the keyboard. When I began to play in the high school band, the accuracy suffered. I blame it on the band being flat (at least in my perception). I still was pretty good, and if I listened to a piece for a while, I could "lock in" on the key signature with essentially perfect accuracy. Given that and the chords, I was locked in on the individual notes. I am 48 now, and my perfect pitch has gotten less accurate through the years. I am still good to a half tone or so now. It doesn't bother me particularly, but I wonder why this ability has deteriorated. Perhaps now I am more interested in the emotional content of the music rather than the mechanical aspects. Also, my piano tuner says that my piano is slightly flat (I estimate A=434). He could pull it up, but said that it had "settled in" at that pitch and that it would hold that pitch better and since I don't play with instrumentalists I might as well as leave it at that pitch. (I note that I have cleverly sneaked in a reference. I should have been straight up and said that I bought a 6 foot Yamaha grand in 1972 and haven't regretted it *one second*.) Maurice {decvax,sdcrdcf,hplabs,ucbvax}!trwrb!suhre