Non-musicians won't have a clue what the title means. Most serious musicians will know that "A above middle C" is the note produced by soundwaves at 440 Hz.
Those with perfect pitch will be singing it perfectly on key. Not many will be doing that because only about 1 in 10,000 are born with perfect pitch, the ability to perfectly produce a specific singing note without the aid of an instrument.
According to a 2006 article in Psychology Today (no, I'm not that far behind in my reading, I just brought home a stack of old magazines weeded from Connors' library) two things have to be true for someone to be able to produce perfect pitch
1. You have to be born with the ability.
2. You have to receive musical training before the age of 5. According to the article, "After age 9 it becomes virtually impossible to develop truly perfect pitch."
Interesting note* #1: "The rare instances of late acquisition (of perfect pitch) usually occur among the developmentaly challenged - most often those with autism or Williams syndrome - whose cognitive maturation is delayed."
This is a good example of Nature AND Nurture, rather than Nature OR Nurture.
Interesting note* #2: "30% of Asian-American music students had perfect pitch compared with 7% of non-Asian-American music students."
In case you were wondering, perfect pitch is not required to be a great vocalist.
POP QUIZ: One of these four musicians had perfect pitch. Which one?
Brahms
Stravinsky
Beethoven
Wagner
Answer in my next post.
*No pun intended with the "note" comment.
February 16, 2010
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5 comments:
I bet the answer is Beethoven, because after he went deaf he still composed music. Some say much better music pieces after deafness thsn when he could hear.
Developmental Psyc. Muskogee
This is a test. Shawna Hasting
Im going to say Beethoven aswell. This post reminded me of the bus trip home from Temple Texas this weekend...apparently i was not one of the ten thousand born with perfect pitch. My teammates are so nice to let me in on that secret!
Sarah Raunikar
I would have never known that only 1 in 10,000 people are born with perfect pitch, but I am no music major nor can I play an insterment either. But that is really good stump my husband info.
I dont know much about these classic music composers but i'd say Beethoven but i actually know more about Wagner. The perfect pitch i have no idea about because i never really got into the study of music. Interesting subject though when it comes to Beethoven and Wagner.
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