Author: HCR
Date: 2011-10-26 17:58
Karl, my tolerance of off-pitch-ness [need a noun? invent one] varies with how much I like the music and/or respect the players, something I suspect is in all of us. Like annev's statement, most of us can "switch off" irritation and focus in on what's good -- unless we're the one responsible for an ensemble's sound, or else we're impossible-to-please perfectionists towards everyone (a personality trait, not an auditory ability).
I agree heartily with annev: perfect pitch is a tool and doesn't make anybody a good musician. I tuned up my "ear" DECADES faster than I became even a decent musician on any instrument. There's an entirely different talent for musicianship (by that I mean playing expressively and "grabbing" your audience), and I don't have gobs of it naturally. Even now, I'm more like Tobin's student, who can bang on something and tell you what concert pitch it is. (Useful, when hunting around the house for bells, tin cans, etc. to add percussion to a song on sheet music.) Perhaps that kid is a natural musician, too (wonderful luck, if so)?
I'm almost as good as Barry Vincent's colleagues who can hear music and learn it fast (1-2 times for simple tunes, more times for most classical music). But I long ago concluded that it isn't a single ability: it's a matter of acute "ear" to identify the key the music's in, plus being trained (as I was by my piano teacher) to recognize patterns of chords and memorize them fast. I still find it useful in learning choir music fast and then helping the people next to me (if they ask!). But since I'm not obsessive about loving music (I'm obsessive about loving anthropology, the field I made my career in), quick memorizing makes me get bored with music very quickly, even complicated classical pieces. That's a detriment for a pro. It's also why I bang on things in choir practice while singing my part . . .
Response to Bob Bernardo: it would be "exciting" to be able to write (or write down) music without an instrument nearby if I had acquired the ability suddenly. But it's been business-as-usual for me pretty much all along. I began imitating symphony clarinetist solos on the record player at age 13, after playing clarinet a year. I can't remember ever wondering how Beethoven could continue writing music after going deaf; of COURSE the pitches would still be in his mind. The ability really paid off for me in undergraduate days, though, at a small college where I was saddled in my last 3 years with classmates who couldn't keep up with me technically (or wouldn't try to, with a girl). I found I could transcribe baroque trumpet music from records onto paper and keep my interest in the clarinet alive. After that, no recording was safe. Still isn't: last year after buying the music to "Il Baccio," I transcribed the Spike Jones addition to make it "Ill Barkio" (duet for soprano and dog), because I wanted to sing/howl the dog's part in a talent show. The dog is ultimately expected to howl on pitch up to a high B. And yipe higher, when kicked offstage. I did. Now, for me, THAT was excitement.
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The Clarinet BBoard
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