 |
Welcome to the Piano World Piano Forums
Over 3 million posts about pianos, digital pianos, and all types of keyboard instruments.
Over 100,000 members from around the world.
Join the World's Largest Community of Piano Lovers
(it's free)
It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!
|
|
|
|
69 members (Carey, clothearednincompo, Bellyman, AlkansBookcase, accordeur, akse0435, Barry_Braksick, BadSanta, 12 invisible),
1,889
guests, and
300
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 777
500 Post Club Member
|
500 Post Club Member
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 777 |
zoelee...Good info and thank you. Sandy B
Sandra M. Boletchek 08/02/06
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 8,483
8000 Post Club Member
|
|
8000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 8,483 |
i would agree what's said there. my teacher has it and he started playing piano when he's 5 or 6.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 53
Full Member
|
|
OP
Full Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 53 |
So I guess based on the article, early training is really important. I think I'll try it on my baby boy  But the boy's dad is self-claimed tone deaf, not sure if it will make the training more difficult
Zoe Lee
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 26
Full Member
|
|
Full Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 26 |
I was surprised that only 1 out of 10000 have it, since I know at least 4 (all pianists) in a theory class of 25. According to the article though, training may or may not cultivate it, how much of a role do genes play? Here's another study article in NY Times regarding this. This one says 1 out of 2000 have it. It's kind of old so I don't know if it's outdated. Note that only 10% of Juilliard students have perfect pitch, again- nature vs. nurture. People who don't have the genes also can be trained to develop a sense of pitch. Also in the article, people without music training have been tested and judged to have perfect pitch.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 173
Full Member
|
|
Full Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 173 |
The Wikipedia entry on absolute pitch suggests that 1 in 10,000 people have "active" absolute pitch which is the ability to sing a given note on command. I imagine "passive" absolute pitch - which is the ability to identify individual notes that are heard - is more common. It's interesting to note that absolute pitch is far more common among autistics, savants, and children of East Asian descent. It's also interesting to note that there seems to be a very narrow "critical" window between the ages of 2 to 4 during which children learn and acquire absolute pitch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_pitch
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 53
Full Member
|
|
OP
Full Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 53 |
Wow that's interesting info Krypt0. Now you've narrowed the window from before 7 to 2-4
Zoe Lee
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 121
Full Member
|
|
Full Member
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 121 |
My aunt had it. And in her case it was a curse, not a blessing. She was able to recognise not only every sound she heard, but the noise too. I remember once, I dropped a pair of scissors.
Her only comment was: "Hm, it is a F#"
Living with this was rather disturbing for her, and she was not a professional musician.
Living well is the best revenge.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,285
1000 Post Club Member
|
|
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,285 |
It is true that absolute pitch is more prevalent among Asians, who speak their native (tonal) language: The prevalence of absolute pitch is considerably higher among individuals with early childhood in East Asia than among other groups. This difference has been suggested to be racial in origin. However, individuals of East Asian heritage with early childhood in the United States or Canada do not have a higher prevalence of absolute pitch than do Caucasians with early childhood in the United States or Canada; this difference in prevalence therefore cannot be explained on genetic grounds. It should be noted that many East Asians (such as those in China) speak tone languages such as Mandarin and Cantonese, while others (such as those in Japan and certain provinces of Korea) speak pitch accent languages; this prevalence difference could therefore be due to exposure to pitches together with meaningful labels very early in life
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,921
5000 Post Club Member
|
|
5000 Post Club Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,921 |
One gene - I can believe it. I'm the wife of a guy and the mother of a daughter with perfect pitch. Critics both of them but I'm the only serious musician in the house. Can you hear me grinding my teeth in frustration?
Slow down and do it right. ![[Linked Image]](https://www.pianoworld.com/forumpicts/MOYD12/MOYD_789012.gif)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 26
Full Member
|
|
Full Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 26 |
Originally posted by Eternal:
[QB] It is true that absolute pitch is more prevalent among Asians, who speak their native (tonal) language: Haha that is very interesting... Everyone I know with perfect pitch is Asian- or maybe it's just because I know too many Asians?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,166
1000 Post Club Member
|
|
1000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,166 |
1 out of 10,000 people wow...I have it. lol, that's scary, the only people whom I know who have it is my piano teacher and her daughter.
Mastering:Chopin Etudes op.10 nos.8&12 and op.25 no.1, Chopin Scherzo no.4 in E major op.54, Mozart Sonata in B flat major K.333& Khachaturian Toccata
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 304
Full Member
|
|
Full Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 304 |
Too bad, my native tongue is tonal but I did not start studying any instrument until I was about 8 so I missed the boat. Rats... I could have had perfect pitch  I like the idea of the gene though, nobody in my family has a perfect pitch as far as I know. None of my relatives play any instruments except the microphone occasionally in karaoke bar! However I am not sure if I buy the reason why the easiest pitch to miss is G sharp and that it is truely overshadow by A. The half tone interval occurs all over the place and just because orchestra tunes their pitch to A, it is not as if A is the most common note by far and none of the audience with perfect pitch tune their ears to A before listening so I doubt that that is the real explanation.
|
|
|
|
Forums43
Topics223,390
Posts3,349,260
Members111,633
| |
Most Online15,252
Mar 21st, 2010
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
