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Absolute pitch is just a learned skill like a lot of other things. People learn to identify the pitches because they sound different and learn the names for th

Absolute pitch is just a learned skill like a lot of other things. People learn to identify the pitches because they sound different and learn the names for them. Nerd note: the name "Perfect pitch" is something of a misnomer because the frequencies the note names refer to is a social construct which has changed over time[1]. A=440 is the predominant concert pitch now but since "pitch taste" generally gets brighter/sharper over time A=443 is used now by the Berlin Philharmonic for example instead as a concert pitch. In the Baroque period we know (from looking at surviving fixed-pitch instruments like historical organs) that their reference A was generally a bit flatter than that but it's not consistent. Nowadays musicians playing historically-informed performances have settled on A=415 as a common baroque pitch standard because it's helpful for everyone to agree so they can have instruments made that play that pitch standard. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch#History_of_pitch_standards_in_Western_music https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concert_pitch#History_of_pitch...

kayson 4y ago
I don't think "pitch taste" is a good way of describing it. It's not about the pitch itself. It's about the timbre. Musicians wanted a brighter sound, which they could accomplish, for example, by tightening their strings a little more. I personally really like a darker mellow sound and very much enjoy the 415 A and historically informed performances. I also think pushing to a 443 modern A is stupid and tune all my ensembles to 440. There is a little practical bonus to starting higher, though, which is that it helps mitigate the tendency of pitch to drop over the course of the piece.
bmitc 4y ago
> Absolute pitch is just a learned skill like a lot of other things. Is that true though? I had a friend in college who had perfect pitch. I asked him all the time how he learned it, and he said he didn't know. It just started happening. He never explicitly trained for it. It also wasn't just about notes. He could nearly instantaneously tell chords and keys from the radio or going to the symphony. I would test him using my guitar as well, an instrument he didn't play. It's quite rare to obtain skills by never practicing them.
- deleted 4y ago
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- kortilla 4y ago
  He practiced somehow if he knew the names. You can practice a skill without being trained.

kayson 4y ago

I don't think "pitch taste" is a good way of describing it. It's not about the pitch itself. It's about the timbre. Musicians wanted a brighter sound, which they could accomplish, for example, by tightening their strings a little more. I personally really like a darker mellow sound and very much enjoy the 415 A and historically informed performances. I also think pushing to a 443 modern A is stupid and tune all my ensembles to 440. There is a little practical bonus to starting higher, though, which is that it helps mitigate the tendency of pitch to drop over the course of the piece.

bmitc 4y ago

> Absolute pitch is just a learned skill like a lot of other things. Is that true though? I had a friend in college who had perfect pitch. I asked him all the time how he learned it, and he said he didn't know. It just started happening. He never explicitly trained for it. It also wasn't just about notes. He could nearly instantaneously tell chords and keys from the radio or going to the symphony. I would test him using my guitar as well, an instrument he didn't play. It's quite rare to obtain skills by never practicing them.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
kortilla 4y ago
He practiced somehow if he knew the names. You can practice a skill without being trained.