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Re: Absolute pitch discussion
Hi Kevin and list:
your descriptions of various absolute pitch (AP) observations were clear and
easy to understand. Don't worry about not having used the "correct"
scientific terms. As yet there aren't any established terms for the two
things you described. We are also missing any systematic research on them.
....... There are a number of musicians who lodge a reference note in
their mind (such as the violinist who can sing A, D, G and E in the octave
of the violin strings)
.................
In my experience with people 17 to 77, AP cannot be taught or trained.
Reference pitch can be.
What you called "reference pitch" was called "AP for a single tone" by Ward
and Burns (1982) and Ward (1999) in two influential reviews on AP.
...... In doing testing of string applicants who claim not to have AP, I
ask them to pretend hold their instrument and play the A (or E on guitar),
and then to sing the note. Many can do this but hadn't realized it. I also
call it physiological pitch.
To my knowledge this phenomenon has not yet been described in the literature
at all. But I know that Ken'ichi Miyazaki, one of our most experienced AP
researchers, has clearly observed in some piano players (personal
communication). I once suggested the term "motor version of AP" for this
phenomenon, because we are dealing with a connection between chroma map and
motor neurons which in some musicians becomes connected to their chroma name
lexicon when their muscles prepare for the production of a certain tone.
Ward, W.D., Burns, E.M. (1982). "Absolute pitch," in: The Psychology of
Music, edited by D. Deutsch (Academic Press, San Diego), pp. 431-451.
Ward, W.D. (1999). "Absolute pitch," in: The Psychology of Music, edited by
D. Deutsch (Academic Press, San Diego), pp. 265-298.
Martin
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Martin Braun
Neuroscience of Music
S-671 95 Klässbol
Sweden
web site: http://w1.570.telia.com/~u57011259/index.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Austin" <kevin.austin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 4:57 PM
Subject: Absolute pitch discussion
Thanks for the ideas.
My experience, not based on lab research but rather the concentrated
individual testing of may hundreds of music students over a period of a
decade is that there is not 'real' continuum. There are a number of
musicians who lodge a reference note in their mind (such as the violinist
who can sing A, D, G and E in the octave of the violin strings) but do not
demonstrate strong octave equivalence, and it is my understanding from
Diana's work that AP is octave equivalent.
My experience is that there are two groups, AP, and non-AP. The non-AP
have skills ranging from nil (poor pitch discrimination), through varying
degrees of relative pitch, and a group of 'reference note' hearers. The
reference note hearers may or may not have good relative pitch.
In my experience with people 17 to 77, AP cannot be taught or trained.
Reference pitch can be. I used to start every class with the singing of D
above middle C. Towards the end of each year (2 - 3 classes per year for
over 20 years), one day I would have the class sit and without playing, I
would ask them to imagine themselves walking into class and preparing to
sing the "D".
When everyone was settled, I would play a note on the piano, and ask if it
was "the D". I would get up to 80% "correct" responses. In some cases when
I would play (for example) the Eb, some people would say, "That's too
high." They would work out how much too high (a minor second), but they
did not "hear" Eb, as my AP students did.
I found virtuoso performers with dreadful relative pitch, but upon their
having "learned" the melody, were fine. They couldn't find a descending
major sixth without singing a descending minor scale out loud.
My 'non-lab' testing cycle was a 10-15 minute individual examination six
times per year, which amounts to up to 50 hours per year for a decade.
I don't have a control group and the only documentation I have is my
database of the grading of the exams, and the limiting factor of course,
as in any such experiment / test, is the limitations on my own pitch
perception, and I guess you just have to take my word that I have ok
relative pitch. My reference tones are all a fourth off.
Best
Kevin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Austin" <kevin.austin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <AUDITORY@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 5:57 PM
Subject: Re: Absolute pitch discussion
Hi
Sorry, it's probably not a very scientific term, but it is an idea well
known among musicians being an ability to sing or recognize a note. I have
heard it called "body tone" as well. I used to teach two versions of it in
class, one being the "D" in the middle of the piano, and the other in the
form of having people sing and 'register' their "lowest" comfortable note.
At G an 11th below middle C, in the middle of the day, my singing voice is
'clear', but not "full", at F#, my voice is no longer "clear" or "full".
Fullness comes into my voice around A or Bb. Given a piece, I will sing my
lowest comfortable note (around G) and then compare it to some given note
in the piece I am listening to. I then continue on with my relative pitch
to work out harmony, modulations etc, or in the case of (for example) Berg
songs, I use my 'abstracted intervals' to hear where I am.
I know a singer who carries a tuning fork in her purse, and in order to
'hear' and A, she reaches in and touches it, and her aural memory produces
an oral memory. In doing testing of string applicants who claim not to
have AP, I ask them to pretend hold their instrument and play the A (or E
on guitar), and then to sing the note. Many can do this but hadn't
realized it. I also call it physiological pitch. I'm sure that researchers
have much better terms for these things, I just don't know the names of
things any more.
Best
Kevin