Perfect Pitch?

[jpfeifer]

I've heard a lot of musicians who make a big deal out of people with perfect pitch. It seems to be one of those natural gifts that is somehow supposed to make a person more musical, etc. I've known people with perfect pitch and it really is amazing to see. I knew a guy that could hit a glass of water with a spoon, then walk over and play the exact same note on a piano to match it every time.

But, I am of the opinion that perfect pitch is a way over rated. I get a little irritated about these ads I see in guitar magazines form this guy who claims to be able to teach people how to have perfect pitch, as if this is going to magically make them more musical. I think that it's a load of crap.
Not that perfect pitch is a bad thing, I just don't think that a person has to posses perfect pitch to be musical.

But, I do think that people confuse perfect pitch with developing your ear. You don't have to have perfect pitch to develop your ability to recognize intervals, different types of chords, etc. Developing this skill (ear training)really does improve your musicianship. Over time if you work on this enough you can really improve your ability to play parts that you hear on a recording by recognizing what kinds of chords are being played, finding the bass and melody lines, etc.

What are your thoughts on this? Sorry in advance to anyone out there with perfect pitch. I'm not knocking you.

-- Jim

[Robert]

I agree Jim, it has nothing to do with being a good musician as far as I can see. More of a useful skill that can be handy, but I don't think it automatically translates into becoming a better player.

[duhvoodooman]

Contending that having perfect pitch makes a better musician is like saying that knowing where the starting line is makes a better runner. Poppycock! Or balderdash! Or one of those other indignant-sounding British words! :D

[aeolian]

To learn any song relative pitch (what Jim calls "recognize intervals") is a lot more handy than perfect pitch. Relative pitch helps me figure out a melody and also any chord voicings that goes with the song. Relative pitch can be learned, perfect pitch is a lot more difficult to 'learn'.

That's my 2 cents.

aeolian

[Tinky-Winky]

Well, I've read that Jimi Hendrix had perfect pitch, SRV (he described people as notes, i.e. B flat...) Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, so there might be a slight correlation between perfect pitch and musical excellence, especially since the rate of incidence is low (around 1 in 10000). Then again, there are so many other excellent musicians who don't have perfect pitch that it would certainly be bold to claim that perfect pitch equates to being better at music.