Saturday, 2 February 2013

Perfect Pitch



Terms like tone deaf and perfect pitch sound so absolute. The truth is we all (save the truly deaf) possess some degree of “ear.” Regardless of our innate abilities, we can improve with practice. Tone deafness is the inability to discern the subtle difference between pitches. When I work with a tone deaf child, I begin by playing a note on the piano. Then I play a new note and ask if the second was higher or lower. At first the two notes are very far apart; three octaves or more. Gradually as his skill improves, I choose notes that are closer and closer. Later I sing a note and ask him to sing it back to me. If he gets it wrong, I match his pitch and “lead” him back to the first note I sang. This feels a lot like what a violinist does when tuning his instrument. In a sense, it is tuning an ear.

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