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hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
 Posted - 04/20/2007 : 07:27:15 AM
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In my years of research I have discovered that about 90 percent of people have perfect pitch, about 7 percent have imperfect pitch and 3 percent are just plain tone deaf. (Lots of people who claim to be tone deaf are apologizing for their singing voice, whatever.)
Of the 90 percent with perfect pitch, only 2 percent know they have perfect pitch. The other 88 percent never realize it unless someone helps them develope the skill. I can teach you how. Rendering your perfect pitch is easy. But applying the skill is the hard part. One advantage is being able to jot down the chord progressions or melodies for any piece of music you hear without the aid of an instrument. Or being able to hear the pitch of the motor of a truck or plane going by. I can even tell you what pitch your fart is,(not an advantage).
Who else has perfect pitch and uses it. Who thinks they have perfect pitch? If you live in the SF bay area, look me up. I teach year round.
When I steal riffs from other uke players recordings, I can tell where to put my fingers by recognizing and identifying the pitches and timbre I am hearing. Is perfect pitch nescessary to play the uke well. Not really. But for the curious, call me.
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Stay Tuned... |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2007 : 08:25:15 AM
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| I don't have perfect pitch; I have absolute pitch, which I understand is a good stepping-stone to developing perfect pitch. |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2007 : 10:07:17 AM
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Mark Burleigh almost had perfect pitch (ing) the other night. The Indians need someone with perfect pitch (not another John Rocker or Black Jack McDowell or a Chuck Finley/Tawney Kitaen duo).
I don't know if I agree or not with the assessment that about 90% of people have perfect pitch. If I am understanding what you are saying, that is 90% of folks are born with perfect pitch and 88% of them need to be trained to recognize and utilize it. Maybe in a perfect world. The minute your ears and brain make the connection to sounds, the ears start to become damaged by sounds. All those little tiniy hairs inside the ear get damaged and hearing gets worse and worse over time. Loud music is one of the worst things. Our jobs constantly assault our hearing. Normal city life consists of all kinds of ugly and damaging sounds. We gradually lose the ability to hear sounds in the lower and upper frequencies. A note is merely a frequency of sound waves iritating the ear and making those little hairs move. With diminished ability to hear those frequencies, the perfect pitch is diminished as well. Ergo...Pete Townsend, Frankie Valli, et al.
But then again...there's Beethoven.
So I just don't know....
Wanda |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2007 : 1:20:28 PM
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Huh? What was that you said?
Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2007 : 6:07:30 PM
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Retro, my understanding is that what most people call "perfect pitch" is "absolute pitch", i.e, the ability to hear a note and know what note it is on the scale. The "other" hearing skill is "relative pitch," i.e. how far apart are two or more notes, what is their relationship. Absolute pitch will give the melody note and the name of family of the chord, e.g. C, G. Relative pitch will tell you the "flavor" of the scale or chord, e.g. minor, diminished 9, etc.
Hiram, how are you using the term perfect pitch. |
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Dominator
Lokahi
USA
115 Posts |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2007 : 8:19:44 PM
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Dominic -
I play slack key guitar, not ukulele -- just read the topic cause it is of some interest to me. The fact that I don't play ukulele doesn't mean I have any negative feelings or comments about it - it is a fine instrument -- I just don't have time to play guitar and ukulele (and marimba, another interest.) |
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hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 04/20/2007 : 10:56:06 PM
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Perfect pitch is the ability to recognize the exact frequency of a sound wave produced by a vibrating object, such as, an ukulele. When you pluck the open C string, it vibrates 256 times in one second. Middle C on the piano and the grand staff, also vibrate at 256 hertz. Hello...
Every instrument in the orchestra that plays middle C, produces a sound wave that vibrates at a frequency of 256 cycles per second. If you tap your fingers on the table at a rate of 256 taps per second, you would hear the note mid C. Please be careful with the table.
The hairs that cover a filament that coils within your inner ear can suffer damage and result in some hearing loss, pretty common. But pitch and timbre recognition remains intact. You just hear things softer. Extensive damage is a different matter.
About 90 percent of people with normal hearing have absolute (argh) or perfect pitch but don't realize it. If you can sing the do re me song, I can teach you how to use perfect pitch. If you can sing it halfway decent I can help you realize it, but it would be hard for you to apply the skill for normal everyday use. If you can absolutely not sing the do re me song, and have never been able to, golfing is fun!
I should stop now or people will not bother to attend my workshops in which I explain the foregoing. For those who would like to attend a workshop discussing this and other subjects, please email me for times and locations.
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Stay Tuned... |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 04/21/2007 : 07:41:34 AM
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Thanks, Raymond - you're right on the money there, and I appreciate knowing the correct term. Yes, "relative pitch" is what I have.
I have attended workshops that helped develop my skills a little more closely to "perfect pitch" - one was based on the Kodaly method (remember the hand gestures that accompanied the five-note theme in "Close Encounters?") By the end of a week, each of us could make a specific representative hand gesture to another participant, who could then sing that precise note. But like any musical/linguistic skill, lack of practice causes rustiness. |
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Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2007 : 3:14:49 PM
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Someone told me that the definition of perfect pitch was throwing a banjo into a skip (dumpster?) without touching the sides.
I had a banjo about my person at the time.
Everyone's a joker roud these parts. (It did make me laugh, though.) |
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Retro
Ahonui
USA
2368 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2007 : 3:54:36 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Trev
Someone told me that the definition of perfect pitch was throwing a banjo into a skip (dumpster?) without touching the sides.
You forgot the ending: "...and hitting the accordion at the bottom." |
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cpatch
Ahonui
USA
2187 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2007 : 8:50:20 PM
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| Not only do I not have perfect pitch, I'm not much of a batter either. |
Craig
My goal is to be able to play as well as people think I can. |
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Uncle Dave
Akahai
USA
58 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2007 : 6:00:33 PM
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| Like cpatch I could never get it in the stike zone either! Batting was so so likewise. |
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hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2007 : 01:05:19 AM
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| Another definition for perfect pitch is, the proad I used to date pefore. Apsolutely true... relatively speaking. |
Stay Tuned... |
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wcerto
Ahonui
USA
5052 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2007 : 02:52:53 AM
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| Hiram - you one kolohe buggah. Musta been pefore your wonderful wipe now who lets you be a full time musician. |
Me ke aloha
Malama pono,
Wanda |
Edited by - wcerto on 04/24/2007 07:57:01 AM |
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hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2007 : 07:41:28 AM
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| Sorry... my typewriter stay proke |
Stay Tuned... |
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