 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: claaaaaarinet!!!!
Date: 2004-04-07 01:39
Has anyone tried "The Perfect Pitch Eartraining SuperCourse" designed by David Lucas Burge? I'm sure you've seen it - gaudy full page ads a few times a year on the back of International Musician and in other music magazines.
My curiosity recently got the better of me and I bought it. I have found most of the exercises helpful so far, even though Mr. Burge can be long winded at times. My 40 day money-back trial period is nearing an end and I am on the fence about keeping it or not. According to the claims of the course, perfect pitch normally takes an estimated six months to a year to develop for most people. Has anyone had success with it? Sent it back?
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2004-04-07 03:39
It would certainly be good to hear from more than one adult who developed Perfect Pitch in six months to a year, not having "enjoyed" it before taking the course. I eagerly await a report from any delighted customer.
If that sounds skeptical, it should, because I am..
Regards,
John
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2004-04-07 05:43
a friend of mine developed almost perfect pitch in about 6 months. it was when he was 18 so not as a kid. even he doesn't really know how it happened. he is a guitar player so he said he remembered the E note from tuning the guitar. actually if you are only playing calssical music i don't see why you need a good hearing or perfect pitch at all (if you are not composing of course). but i personally think that a good relative hearing (not sure about the name in english) is better than perfect pitch.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2004-04-07 16:27
I really think perfect pitch at 440 a bit too much to take...
you have to consider the clarinet is very imperfect and have a finely tuned sense of relative pitch to play professionally(ie. being able to adjust to various types of tunings)...
I find the concept of perfect pitch to be annoying because it leads to being overtly sensitive to everything..tuning in orchestra at least is about compromise...not being perfect.
You will find tuning of the 3rd in the chord to be the most annoying aspect of classical playing...very tricky...!
David Dow
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Author: diz
Date: 2004-04-07 22:19
David Dow ... and Brahms was particularly fond of writting for the oboes and flutes in thirds one octave apart ... very difficult to get in tune.
As to whether perfect pitch can be learned ... I don't know ... I was born with it and can't turn it off.
Without music, the world would be grey, very grey.
Post Edited (2004-04-08 00:24)
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Author: claaaaaarinet!!!!
Date: 2004-04-08 03:32
Perfect pitch does not preclude musical sensitivity. I'm sure Yo-Yo Ma has no problem lowering a major third or playing high to match a sharp oboist in the orchestra. Nor does it necessarily mean that someone with perfect pitch will be more bothered than anyone else when listening to or playing in orchestras that tune to A442 or A444 or whatever. It just means that you can identify pitches without a reference point. The color spectrum is a good analogy - we see many different shades of green, but there is no "correct" green. I think having perfect pitch would be an asset.
Post Edited (2004-04-08 05:46)
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Author: ned
Date: 2004-04-08 07:21
DIZ:
"" As to whether perfect pitch can be learned ... I don't know ... I was born with it and can't turn it off.""
I'm intrigued - can you be blindfolded and have another person hit the piano (say) and you name that note - every time?
I'm not saying you can't you know, it's just that I don't think it's something anyone can really LEARN and I feel that products you can buy probably don't really do as they (perhaps) advertise - I have not ever seen one anywhere, so I don't know what it might or might not say on the box.
I always felt that having PP would be great and I understand that the vast majority of us are NOT born with it and probably can't learn it.
As for myself, some say I have a good EAR, and I would probably (unashamedly) agree - PP though, I have not got.
Despite this I abhor the use of electronic pitch devices and rely on my ear to tune to the piano (preferably) or otherwise to a reliable band member.
CLAAAAAAINET:
"My 40 day money-back trial period is nearing an end and I am on the fence about keeping it or not. According to the claims of the course, perfect pitch normally takes an estimated six months to a year to develop for most people. Has anyone had success with it? Sent it back?"
So if it takes six to twelve months to develop PP, and you can get your money back with just a maximum 40 day time limit - I think they saw you coming! I'd send it back.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2004-04-08 07:47
"I'm intrigued - can you be blindfolded and have another person hit the piano (say) and you name that note - every time?"
i know someone who was NOT born with perfect pitch that can do that, and i know a few people with perfect pitch that can that but for them it's not even something they think about. it's like i will say to you: 'i'm playing a C, what note am i playing?' for them playing the note or saying what the note is, is the same thing.
i still think perfect pitch is a disadvatege more than an advantage. for example, i knew this girl with perfect pitch and when she would hear a C major triad, she wouldn't know it's a mojor triad right away, she would just know it's C, E and G and then she would figure what kind of triad it is.
also, we had a 'hearing developing' (don't know how you call it in english) class last year and the teacher had perfect pitch. he said that the only good thing about it was when he was 4 years old and all the old ladies played notes on the piano and he could tell what they were. he said he once had a gig and it was solo on piano. the piano was about a half tone flat and he could barely played. he played a certain note but heard a different one.
a VERY good relative hearing is much better imho than perfect pitch. i know this jazz pianist who is amazing. besides being an amazing pianist he can pretty much play by ear anything and very fast. he doesn't have perfect pitch though, but if you tell him 'this is a D', then he can hear anything after that.
Post Edited (2004-04-08 08:37)
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2004-04-08 09:05
There was a story years ago about a man who grew up in a home which had an old out-of-tune piano. So, he learned all the pitches too low, which drove him crazy for years afterward.
Diz, I've seen you write many times it is far more a curse than a blessing. I can't know, as I have never had perfect pitch, although in college some of us would attempt to hum 440 and wager on who was closest. That, of course, became a question of recognizing one's own voice characteristics, hardly of perfect pitch.
It is said by "experts" that most musicians who have perfect pitch began musical training before age seven. And we seldom recognize any non-musicians who have perfect pitch, because they have no idea how to name notes.
It's amazing to me that some who have perfect pitch do not have very good relative pitch. Thus, they may be able to correctly identify a tone, but not correctly reproduce it.
Further, a study reprted in Science 267: 699-701 by Schlaung found that the left temporal lobe of the brain is larger in those with perfect pitch. It has been suggested that this is due to extensive growth in that area beginning in childhood. This is why I find it far-fetched that adults can learn perfect pitch in a few months. Maybe I'm wrong, and if I am, I'd like to know that.
Much of the above is from "Brains that Work a Little Differently," by Bragdon and Gamon, 2003 Edition, Barnes and Noble.
Regards,
John
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