Re: My ears deceive me!!


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Posted by Art H on July 30, 2002 at 17:27:31:

In Reply to: My ears deceive me!! posted by Nick on July 29, 2002 at 18:29:27:

My brother once commented that he hates to work with guys who have "absolute pitch" because they always play out of tune; I know just what he means. The goal is not to make the green light on the tuner flash, but rather to imagine the correct pitch and then to hit that target instantaneously to fit the music all around you. When everybody in the group has that ability then playing "in tune" is easy. Nobody spends any time "tuning up"; we just get out our horns and play.
One thing that I find very helpful for developing that ability (listening and adjusting) is recording synthesized play-along tracks on a cassette or CDR and then playing along with the recordings either in unison or in harmony. It's very satisfying to "lock in" with the pitch of another instrument such as a synthesized french horn.
The biggest enemy of good intonation is sheet music. Many people have difficulty hearing pitch when they are concentrating on reading the dots.


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