In today's mini-lecture@` I'd like to talk about something that you are all probably interested in: absolute pitch (AP)@` also known as perfect pitch. It's been talked about a lot@` and books have even been written on the subject@` but that stuff is mainly done by people who don't understand music very much.
It is really rather trivial whether or not one can pinpoint exactly what a particular sound is -- musicians don't try to guess each note of a chord that they play@` and it doesn't make any sense to brag about it either. Whenever I hear people say that the main purpose of AP is to be able to pick out particular sounds or the notes of chords@` I am suddenly seized with anger; but it's no use to try and debate such things with nonprofessionals.
Anyway@` a musician's work is intimately involved with the sense of the sound. By "sense of sound@`" I mean the awareness of the changes in a sound's color or shade. Think about an artist who paints -- he or she won't feel right just vaguely mentioning the color "red@`" but will tell you about exactly what kind of red it is -- a dark red@` or a deep red@` or a blazing hot red@` or a purplish red@` or an orange-red.
If a painter couldn't tell the difference between all those different reds@` I would say he or she was in the wrong profession. The same thing could be said about the color blue: there are a whole lot of blues@` aren't there? You have azure@` such as in an azure sky@` as well as dull blue and turquoise. Painters have to be able to respond to that sort of thing delicately as they carry out their creative work.
Moreover@` I believe they enjoy the fine differences between the different colors@` not just covering a whole surface in the same one. If you substitute sound for what I have just mentioned about color@` then that is what the sense of sound means to musicians. For example@` we talk about how a chord "shines." Let me explain what I mean. When a sound is played --it doesn't matter whether a cat or a human plays it (there was once a heated debate about whether a sound played by a cat was different from a sound performed by a human) -- it is exactly the same sound as long as the number of vibrations is the same.
It is the mission of musicians and artists@` then@` to put a gloss onto that sound -- to make it shine -- when the keys are hit and the music performed. Although the number of vibrations may remain the same@` musicians add gloss by adjusting the gradations of strength and density@` even in the same harmony or chord. Well@` then@` why do we do that? The performer has to have a sense of -- has to seek -- the color of the sound if that is to be rendered.
While I can never know for sure since I have never been a dog@` I hear that dogs' eyes are said to be capable of only seeing black and white. What they see can be thought of as resembling a black-and-white photograph. Any differences they perceive of density are only those of black and white. Dogs thus don't have a sense of color. Sorry to have to say this@` but I believe that there some performers who are the same way. These kind of people -- who treat music just as if they were reading some codes and stringing the sounds together as they play -- have no understanding whatsoever about the sense of sound. It's a big problem.
I think it's completely ridiculous whether or not you have the ability to identify what a certain note is. As a matter of fact@` I do have perfect pitch. However@` what I learned as a child was the pitch of the piano at that time@` or around 438Hz@` not 440Hz. Now@` however@` they use a higher pitch of 442Hz or 445Hz@` so when I think of "fa@`" it's really a little bit low. But that doesn't mean that I'm no good. There's something called relative pitch@` and all musicians have the ability to sense that everything is too high or too low@` for example@` and rectify it. Also@` having a sense of the sound is unrelated to having perfect pitch@` and most people are not born with it@` but acquire it as they go on playing music. But that@` too@` is something that nonprofessionals will not understand -- instead@` only those who are actually in the field of music will know about it. And when people who don't understand something talk about what they don't know@` they end up sounding even more clueless.
You know about such things as major and minor keys@` right? Well@` you often hear the argument that "equal temperament" is not the same as "just intonation." In fact@` it isn't just intonation. Equal temperament involves a bit of fudging to make sure that all the keys can be played on the same keyboard. That requires some fudging of the intervals between the notes@` letting all the keys be modulated. So it's not something that's pure. Still@` we have major and minor keys.
However@` while major keys seem the same@` no matter how they are transposed@` do you think that red@` yellow@` blue@` and black are all the same? Of course they aren't. Pieces in C major key@` for example@` give us a certain image: of the sun rising@` of broad expanses@` of extreme festivity@` or full harmony. Also@` listening to pieces written by Beethoven or Mozart@` you will soon understand that D minor (while it's not that way in Beethoven's 9th gives a feeling of foreboding -- like a sound arising from the depths of the earth@` or the appearance of a premonition. In other words@` it gives a feeling of unease or an ill omen. All musicians are able to sense that from the tonality (i.e.@` the key)@` based on which they write pieces and perform them.
It's utter nonsense to say that people without AP are good or no good. Nonetheless@` in Japan@` those people's arguments tend to get substituted and treated as important. Well@` who cares@` it doesn't really matter. I just had to get that off my chest (laughter). For us musicians@` it's important to strive our utmost to polish the sense of the sound. E flat major@` for example@` is seen as heroic -- at least it was that way with Beethoven -- and that means that its relative key@` C minor@` is tragic. Well@` anyway@` there have been many pieces written in those keys@` and statistics show that most of them are suffused with those particular feelings. If you can't get a sense of that when you play@` then it doesn't matter what minor or major key you are using. I would really like to stress that point.
The thing that Japanese musical education fails to impart its students the most is not an understanding of AP@` but rather a sense of tonality (i.e.@` the key). So when Japanese students go abroad to study@` they have no clue what it means when they are told@` for example@` to "play something in G major." They don't what sound it is. People who are truly advanced@` however@` can do that. They can also tell if a key is C major or not. Music that is just played flat -- on the level -- is not music. You have to put a sense of drama into it. If you do that@` you'll feel peace of mind when you hear a dominant triad followed by a dominant@` then resolved into a tonic triad. The tension is found in sevenths and ninths. Beethoven used that technique when he charges the music up@` making you wait for the release@` and then lets it fall as if it were a natural phenomenon@` such as a bolt of lightning. Performances of Beethoven directed by Furtwaengler are like that@` as are those by Karajan.
If everyone were to hear those pieces in black and white@` that would be a sad situation. To get a proper sense of the sound@` you can't just learn music as if it were a string of letters. Unless your eyes@` ears@` and heart are directed toward the essence of the music that lays beyond@` it will never be music@` I think.
You know about such things as major and minor keys@` right? Well@` you often hear the argument that "equal temperament" is not the same as "just intonation." In fact@` it isn't just intonation. Equal temperament involves a bit of fudging to make sure that all the keys can be played on the same keyboard. That requires some fudging of the intervals between the notes@` letting all the keys be modulated. So it's not something that's pure. Still@` we have major and minor keys