--- In [email protected], "John" <jr_...@...> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: <snip> > > Basically, I have a good ear, I guess. I don't have > > perfect pitch, though. > > Having a perfect pitch is admirable. But to play the piano > at the concert level, one has to have a fantastic memory to > know the entire score and playing it in real time with no > mistakes. Music talent is hard work as much as a gift at > birth.
Oh, you bet. Not all concert musicians have perfect pitch in any case. It's nice to have but not essential. It's more than just memory and technique and hard work, though, it's also heart. I'd rather listen to someone with heart, even if they hit wrong notes, than someone technically perfect with no heart, no feel for the music. I think *that* may be the real gift. You can develop it by immersing yourself in music and having teachers who can point out subtleties, but if you don't have it in "seed" form when you're born, I'm not sure you can learn it from scratch. I can always tell when I'm listening on the radio to a piece being conducted by one particular world-famous conductor, even with the best orchestras, because the music totally lacks heart; it's just a succession of notes, a technical exercise in which a bunch of musicians are playing the same score in tune at the same tempo. He's the only big-deal conductor I've ever heard who's like that. I can't understand how he made it to the top. That's my 50th. Now I'll *have* to go get some work done.
