Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2006-08-14 21:05
vboboe --
For me, I think working with the tuner has been the most helpful thing. At least, it confirms or denies what I have already perceived, and teaches me when I am right or wrong.
I don't have perfect pitch, but I do have what they call a "good ear." I'm one of those people who can play back what I hear (as long as it is really simple -- not Mozart, by any means). Perhaps those two (painful) semesters of ear training long ago actually paid off? (A German WHAT!?!?!?!? . . .)
I can at this point, tell pretty readily if the reed I've got on is true or not. I think it has to do with how it *feels* -- maybe the little hairs in my ears pick up the vibrations? I don't know. It's rote, not conceptual. I just "know".
My best guess is that this is part nature, part nurture. So, maybe you develop this skill by trial and error. Listen to something, try to find the pitch (on a keyboard). Are you right or wrong? If wrong, are you high or low? By how much? Try another piece, etc. Over time, you will teach yourself to know more precisely what it is you are hearing.
However, playing in tune (with yourself or with an ensemble) to me involves much more than just being able to more-or-less correctly gauge A=440 and scale pitches relative to that. It really involves hearing where you are in relationship to whatever else is going on -- which is an allied, but not identical, skill.
Susan
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