tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11519907.post111989110145352665..comments2023-08-14T04:50:20.566-04:00Comments on A Few Cents Off: More on absolute pitchHildahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06983832246471151350noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11519907.post-1119984781309042922005-06-28T14:53:00.000-04:002005-06-28T14:53:00.000-04:00I practiced most when I was in high school and col...I practiced most when I was in high school and college. I now practice when necessary. Let's face it ... much of the time I spend a good amount of time in rehearsal and concerts, and those "count" for practice imo! I used to spend MUCH more time on reeds than on practice, but I'm the world's worst reed maker! <BR/><BR/>I think one practices the most on the way to "becoming" ... and once having arrived practices mostly for maintenance. There are times I land on a particularly difficult passage (Song of the Nightingale was one) and then I spend a LOT of time on only a few measures or so. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, when I was beginning I liked to practice because the oboe was such a new discovery (at the age of 11). Then it got boring, and my mom had to force me to practice. In high school I practiced because it was just fun to hang out in the band room or the practice rooms there, and in college I had landed a symphony gig so I practiced both for that and for my (not very good) college instructor. <BR/><BR/>BUT ... when I had children practice really took a nosedive for a while. Fortunately oboe and English horn are primarily expressive instruments (which comes naturally to me) and not as technically difficult, so I managed to make it all work even while not practicing much. <BR/><BR/>Getting into practicing is much like going to exercise for me ... I really fight doing it, but I'm glad I did once I get started! I'll do a whole lot of things to avoid it, though; I wind up cleaning the house or straightening up my oboe desk or <I>anything</I> just to put it off. Funny how that works. I think a large part of it is fear. Even now, after 30 years, I worry that I'll have lost it and won't be able to play!<BR/><BR/>One REALLY funny thing is when I have a major solo. Then I don't play at all on the day of the performances. I fear I'll wear out my reed. Or find out it's already rotten. So I don't play in order to avoid those fears. Then, getting closer to the concert time, I worry that I've blown it by NOT practicing. It's a lose-lose situation. But after all these years I'm used to my ridiculous crazy little habits! :-)<BR/><BR/>Anyway Hilda, don't fret. You do what you can do and that's that. You'll do just fine! You have come SO far compared to the "norm" ... I sure wish we could visit "live and in person" and we could yak and play!<BR/><BR/>Hmmm. This is yet another ramble that I think I'll just send off without proofing. Ignore any typos and silly statements! :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11519907.post-1119903450172840902005-06-27T16:17:00.000-04:002005-06-27T16:17:00.000-04:00Haha I'm rambling today too because I don't feel l...Haha I'm rambling today too because I don't feel like working. I wish I could get paid to sit around and think about music or play all day.<BR/><BR/>Deep down I think that perfect pitch is more of a "parlor trick" like Dulciana said since it has limited practical applicability. (And I too will check out that link.) However, I still find it a bit fascinating for some reason (and I'm glad you've wondered about it too, Patty). Maybe it's because I thought about the concept for a long time during my pre-music-education years. Also I've always been interested in certain related psychological questions regarding music. For instance, the idea of having a favorite key has always intrigued me. I think that if you have one you must have some sort of heightened sense of pitch (or color) recognition. What exactly is it in your brain that makes you like a certain note or key more than others? I always wonder what a fMRI of those responses would look like. <BR/><BR/>I don't see myself trying to learn more pitches, though I admit I sat around and listened to "e" for a while about an hour ago. I need to get better at being able to feel at home in any tonic and hearing the relation of that key's pitches to the tonic, sight-singing and reading, and intonation. <BR/><BR/>Do the kids who study for 6 hours plus a day include the time they spend doing things that are not necessarily on the instrument?<BR/><BR/>At what point in someone's music career do they start putting in a lot of hours of practice? I imagine that when they first start they are not so into it. Maybe it's once the child goes into junior high or high school. I have a hard time imagine anyone under age 10 being focused enough to practice for hours a day.<BR/><BR/>How long (how many months or years of training), typically, does it take until the student is practicing 3+ hours a day consistently? <BR/><BR/>I feel like I want to do it but I don't actually do it. Most times it's because I don't want to "spend" my only reed. This problem will go away once I can make them consistently and will have more than 1 good one at any time. Other times I feel a little lazy. Am I doomed?!<BR/><BR/>I want to work up to three hours by September: one in the morning before work or school and two more in the evening. Three one hour sessions with a break in each one. Will this be enough for me to be able to play in a local orchestra some time in the next decade? This doesn't include ear training, reed making, or rehearsals (I'm assuming I wouldn't be able to do formal pracice on my own rehearsal night).<BR/><BR/>I realize I won't be making music my career but I would still like to get as close as I can to the trajectory of the average music student who goes on to a decent career. I feel like I need to aim high in order to get where I want to since real life will take care of adjusting my goal down.Hildahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06983832246471151350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11519907.post-1119901071198326822005-06-27T15:37:00.000-04:002005-06-27T15:37:00.000-04:00Hi Hilda,Absolute pitch is something I don't have,...Hi Hilda,<BR/><BR/>Absolute pitch is something I don't have, and have often wondered about a lot. I wrote, in fact, to Scott of Music Perceptions (do you visit his site?) about this.<BR/><BR/>I wonder, for instance ... if someone has absolute (perfect, right?) pitch now, is he or she hearing A-440? Or just an general "close to that" A? If an A-440, why? Because in early music it was an A-415. I think in Mozart's time it was sharper than an A-440 (I'll have to check the link Duciana provided). San Francisco Symphony says they play and A-441, and in Europe the A is very sharp ... I've been told 444 or higher. <BR/><BR/>One of my friends (a flutist) states, "I have perfect pitch" and implies that, due to that, she is always right and the rest of us wrong when we aren't in tune with her. (Or at least she used to. This year she looked over at me and apologized for being sharp! Hmmm.) But if everyone is playing in tune with each other and she is off I'd say she was wrong. But it's a hassle for her, I know.<BR/><BR/>Me? I can pick out what notes an oboe is playing when I hear it, because each note has such a distinct timbre. But other instruments? Nope. At least I don't think so. <BR/><BR/>Btw, when I was first playing English horn it was always a shock to finger one note and hear another (it's in they key of F). <BR/><BR/>Some of my Asian students have perfect pitch. I've been told that it's more likely for them because they speak a pitch-based language. One went absolutely nuts if his reed was really bad and out of tune. I met an amateur violinist who really went crazy, too, if the orchestra she played in was way off. <BR/><BR/>So I think it can be an asset, but also a hindrance. <BR/><BR/>And I ramble ... but today is my day to ramble since I have NO WORK!! Yay!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com