Absolute pitch discussion ... confusion

[Kevin Austin <kevin.austin@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hmmm ... so here is where I get lost ... my reading was that absolute 
pitch was also octave equivalent, so my experience is that the 
mechanisms for AP and reference pitch are not the same. I have seen 
that some people with 'reference pitch' based upon a specific 
instrument (chroma) do not have it for other instruments.

I met a violinist who had AP down to G below middle C (the lowest 
string on the violin). He also had an impossible time with pitch 
centroid instruments such as timpani.

Kevin


Sorry not to be able to provide references ... I have dreadful memory 
for words and such.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


> Date:    Fri, 7 Sep 2007 15:37:57 +0200
> From:    Martin Braun <nombraun@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: 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.