perfect pitch

I was wondering if anyone could tell me which classical (in the generic sense) composers had perfect pitch, and what (if anything) proves it. On a side note, does anyone know of any Jazz composers with perfect pitch? Thanks fror the help.

Fri, 02 Mar 2001 03:17:06 GMT, matt scratched into my forehead:

Cut and paste from Anecdotage, original source 'The Great Pianists':

In the course of a dinner party held in his honor by Arthur Rubinstein, Rachmaninoff mentioned that he believed the Grieg piano concerto to be the greatest ever composed. Rubinstein remarked that coincidentally he had just recorded it. As Rachmaninoff insisted on hearing it post haste, Rubinstein put on a proof of the record and Rachmaninoff, during coffee, closed his eyes and quitely listened. The concerto over, he opened his eyes and offered his opinion: 'Piano,' he observed, 'out of tune.'

-Snrrt Ctls, yr fthfl srvnt.

Dragon Code: DC2.Mfps+D Gm L12f T2c Phlwlt Sku Cpi+/wh:wh,ebl++ Bic/wa A17 Fr Ni M O+ H $- F

So-called 'perfect pitch' is no more than a good aural memory. I can never see any reason for the almost awesome use of the word 'perfect' in this context. It carries no particular musical benefits; on the contrary, it may even be a hindrance if one moves between (say) contexts where musicians are operating at A=415Hz and at A=44Hz or some other pitch.

This is no answer to the question posed, I know. Just wanted to get it off my chest. IMHO it would be a much more valuable attribute to be able to remember colors accurately!

Lower barometric pressure, affecting your eardrum?

I do, and so I'm sure do many others here.

It's not all that uncommon, nor is it all that helpful, except to notice when my piano is getting out of tune.

What proves it is the ability to name pitches instantly and effortlessly and to notice when they are out of tune. (I can sing pitches with only middling reliability, and then generally relying on aural memory, so I don't have perfect generative pitch...)

[retry

you say it carries no particular musical benefits? i can write down the melody as I hear it, or just play it back. that's one of the benefits. (you can easily impress the chicks) it's true that to move from one frequency standard to another you have to 're-tune' yourself a bit which does some damages to the perfect pitch (it has happened to me), but in general i've never considered it a hindrance, only a benefit.

In addition, if you are, say, a violin or viola or cello player, without a sense of a perfect pitch you are doomed. don't even try to play.

Incidently I've never thought about the 'perfect pitch' as a memory. At least I have never made any attempts to memorize anything. Well, consider is as a built-in memory which comes with the whole package (that is me). as i listen the music, the pitches of what i'm hearing ('their names' just pop out in my mind, but it's going on on a background and never interefers with listening the music. of course if I need to record something, I sort of 'move it to foreground'.

Oh well, I should use the past sense. I quit being a professional musician already for many years. The staff I'm talking are my past experiences. But my perfect (sorry about the term) pitch is still with me. Not that I really care at this point.