Can someone lose perfect pitch?

[aggouras]

Greetings. I am a piano perfomer since I was 5 years old. Today I'm 17. I realized I had perfect pitch from a young age. Now here is the thing. I was practising for the last 1.5 year in an out of tune piano, which I tuned recently. My teacher told me that if I was playing in an out of tune piano I would lose my perfect pitch. Although I think have not lost it , I might sometimes hear some notes very very slightly lower pitched but to the point that I can recognize them. Generally, if someone like me has the innate ability to have perfect pitch, can by any means lose it?

Another, rather contradictory I would say, question I have is if perfect pitch is that useful for perfomers. The only thing this has helped me is in fascinating people and making them say "OMG u have perfect pitch what" and in recognising some notes in some piano pieces. Is perfect pitch a bit overestimated?

Thank you.

P.S : Sorry if my English was terrible. It is not my primary language.

[flashyfingers]

Supposedly it gets a few pitches higher, as you get older. Shostakovich had the problem of having perfect pitch, then it raises a few pitches and you hear everything in a completely new key. Richter also had that problem in his later years.

[aggouras]

Supposedly it gets a few pitches higher, as you get older. Shostakovich had the problem of having perfect pitch, then it raises a few pitches and you hear everything in a completely new key. Richter also had that problem in his later years.

Seems like the only permanent thing is death and taxes. Attempt to become funny? Nah, nevermind.

[hardy_practice]

I always wonder, do they hear the difference in a note depending on its function?  To me the same note as root of a chord or say, middle of a chord sounds very different.

[kalirren]

I always wonder, do they hear the difference in a note depending on its function?  To me the same note as root of a chord or say, middle of a chord sounds very different.

Oh yes.  I've got perfect pitch, and to me that makes harmonic relations all the more salient.

On the other hand, melodic contours lose their saliency.  It can be very difficult for me to identify a structural relationship based upon a melodic contour, even if it's staring me right in the face - I usually have to key off of something else, like the rhythm, and then say, "oh! there it is!"

[flashyfingers]

Oh yes.  I've got perfect pitch, and to me that makes harmonic relations all the more salient.

On the other hand, melodic contours lose their saliency.  It can be very difficult for me to identify a structural relationship based upon a melodic contour, even if it's staring me right in the face - I usually have to key off of something else, like the rhythm, and then say, "oh! there it is!"

In melodic dictation, if we don't start on the tonic and I hear chromaticism and accidentals, I'm like…"where the hell are we?" and then I hear the tonic or new tonic and it all makes sense.

[haydnseeker]

Gerald Moore wrote in The Unashamed Accompanist that his loss of perfect pitch was an advantage to him as an accompanist, as it made transposing less hazardous.

Beethoven Sonata Op. 31/2
Chopin Etudes 10/1, 25/2
Schumann ABEGG Variations
Debussy Images I (all 3)
Messiaen Le baiser de l'Enfant Jésus

[maestroanth]

In melodic dictation, if we don't start on the tonic and I hear chromaticism and accidentals, I'm like…"where the hell are we?" and then I hear the tonic or new tonic and it all makes sense.

Actually, the chromaticism is what sticks out to identify most easily with perfect pitch.  I learned it was 18 and mastered it quite successfully, here's my book on the subject:

https://www.maestroanth.com/perfectpitch.html

And back to the original topic, no you can't lose it, you just get rusty without practice just like anything else.  Like when I don't practice it for awhile, I tend to name things to the closest "white key" note without considering the sharps and flats.  However, when I'm on my game, I remember to catch myself and to make sure to distinguish the C# from the D for example.

Of course Schoenberg had perfect pitch, that's the only way to dictate his music! lol

[flashyfingers]

Actually, the chromaticism is what sticks out to identify most easily with perfect pitch.  

Yeah but to identify chromaticism specifically in one given key and with/without modulation. Even if you have perfect pitch, and you hear specific notes, the overall phrase structure and cadences are a mystery, unless you are able to hear functionally. People with perfect pitch don't necessarily have to be musicians…So how could they hear functionally? And how could you have perfect pitch if you can't hear functionally? If someone had perfect pitch, but never saw or heard a piano, how would we as musicians understand that this person had perfect pitch?

You can't simply name notes or frequencies without understanding the difference between high pitch and low pitch, octaves and hear compromise in different tuning systems. Otherwise, perfect pitch is too similar to relative pitch, especially from what you tell me.

You say that perfect pitch can get rusty. I often hear b or even (god help me) b flat intend of c, and I am just tuning to sing a tonic of a key. Musicians with perfect pitch, such as Shostakovich, have reported that eventually their pitch would change, and no matter what they did, they would hear a few pitches lower or higher.

I just find it interesting and very mysterious.

P.S. I am not trying to be rude, just think it is a wonderful topic for discussion

[diwang99]

I've also been playing on an out of tune piano for quite some time now. The trick is, don't focus on the inaccuracy of the pitch, rather try and feel each melody as if you were playing on a tuned piano. Give the process some time, and you should be able to get used to the out of tune piano without too much difficulty, given that you're piano isn't wildly out of tune.

[markh13]

I have perfect pitch, and have noticed that it has become less reliable as I get older... I've also noticed a (temporary) pitch change of a tone sometimes (e.g. what I think is an Ab is actually an A). 

It's definitely worse when I'm tired! 

[pianoplunker]

Greetings. I am a piano perfomer since I was 5 years old. Today I'm 17. I realized I had perfect pitch from a young age. Now here is the thing. I was practising for the last 1.5 year in an out of tune piano, which I tuned recently. My teacher told me that if I was playing in an out of tune piano I would lose my perfect pitch. Although I think have not lost it , I might sometimes hear some notes very very slightly lower pitched but to the point that I can recognize them. Generally, if someone like me has the innate ability to have perfect pitch, can by any means lose it?

Another, rather contradictory I would say, question I have is if perfect pitch is that useful for perfomers. The only thing this has helped me is in fascinating people and making them say "OMG u have perfect pitch what" and in recognising some notes in some piano pieces. Is perfect pitch a bit overestimated?

Thank you.

P.S : Sorry if my English was terrible. It is not my primary language.

Dont worry , my English is terrible and it IS my primary language! My opinion of perfect pitch is that it is only as useful as one would make it useful. For instance for singing, or composing, or  figuring things out by ear. But do you need the skill and experience to execute anyhow? That being said, I do not have perfect pitch or at least my brain is not coordinated enough to place what I hear in my head to a musical note on the fly.  I can get what is in my head down to the keyboard after a few tries. I cant Sight-Hear yet