Color and Perfect Pitch
Gints Klimanis
I wish I had a quantitative assessment of the tone colors. I don't
believe that any frequency group really has a particular tone color.
Rather thru training, perfect pitch tone "colors" are perceived and
assigned to groups of frequencies. The spectrum of electromagnetic
radiation that is visible to the human eye is continuous. Somehow, we
manage to pick out cornflower blue.
I believe that our survival does not depend on identifying specific
frequencies. I also believe that for this reason, our culture does not
include this skill in our fundamental education. In pre-school and
kindergarten, we are taught to name and identify colors. Since every
member of our society is not trained to be a musician, a course in
frequency "colors" is not considerd an essential basic.
From my experience and success in a perfect pitch training course, I
would believe that youngsters could be taught perfect pitch without the
associated stigmas. When I have children, I will train their perfect
pitch. To satisfy your curiosity, splurge and buy the course (I got it
for around $40 in 1986), reading it (five minutes if you skip the audio
cassette) and taking 30 minutes of your day for about two months to
teach your children.
However, I don't agree with one man's monopoly on the sale of this
material. I do admire David Burge's will and persistence. And, he does
have some of the cheeziest Velveeta ads in the business.
Even with minimal experience, you will have yuppie table conversation
for a good many dinners with your personal assortment of opinionated
musicians (myself included.) Later.