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Ken:
When you told me Doppler effect the other day, you
mentioned that a man with an absolute pitch finds the
speed of an object giving out a sound in approaching and
leaving him. In a music class, a teacher told absolute
pitch today. During WWII, students were educated to have
an absolute pitch to distinguish planes of behalf than
those of enemies.
I wonder if this is true.
Dad:
I have heard it before, too. A man with an absolute
pitch can tell musical scales not only for a sound of a certain
frequency but also noises from equipment for instance. This is called
“Labeling”. This kind of education was done in order to distinguish
planes of enemies. I doubt the effect.
Ken: Is such a
special ability obtainable through education?
Dad:
It is an ability which can be sharpened posteriori by
receiving a specialized education since childhood. I
heard that the percentage of students majoring in music
who have an absolute pitch is much higher than that of
ordinary people.
Of course no wonder why, you may say, such a group of
students is a group of people who already have.
Ken: In any case, if
you can tell any sound with musical scale, it would be fun.
 Dad:
This is an advantageous ability for those who specialize in
music. But what is bothering is that a musician says the more
concentrated on his playing, the more noises in a hall pop up in his
mind as musical notes or another says he can not read a book with music,
or some other says whenever he listens to classical music, it sounds as
sol-fa notes. Sometimes having an absolute pitch works against him.
Ken:
There are not always favorable things around absolute pitch.
Dad:
There are other kinds of demerits to have an absolute
pitch. You can not express more detailed sound than
semitone using a musical note, can you? But there is
music which consists of more detailed sound than
semitone. Traditional Okinawan music is written with
symbols using Chinese characters called “Kun kun Shi”
which indicate musical scale. Do you know sanshin, or
Okinawan traditional guitar? Its musical compositions
contain a tone tuned by half of an absolute pitch, which
does not exist in absolute pitch. It is said that a man
with an absolute pitch feels it a tone misaligned or can
not play the very sensitive sound.
Ken: I think that an
absolute pitch seems to be barren, which has the same impression as
digital when you told me about analog and digital.
Dad: It may not be
same, but you become inflexible when you have musical notes input in
your brain. I found myself to have talked only about demerit side on
this matter. It is said that many famous musicians have an absolute
pitch. When Beethoven played a horn sonata with a piano tuned lower by a
semitone, he played piano part of it tuning higher by a semitone while
playing on his own. An absolute pitch brings a merit and demerit even to
a musician.
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