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What exactly are the benefits of perfect pitch? Can you create symphonies in your head if you have it? I don't have it but I know some people who do. Besides knowing what note is being played, what is the allure of perfect pitch? Does it make your playing better?

Well, it's far more useful for singers. I suppose it can heighten your knowledge/expertise in piano; you can play by ear much more effectivley. However, I've been told that it's exceedingly painful when a piano is even slightly out of tune or when singers sing off pitch.

Perfect pitch was very handy when my choir was singing an acapella concert at an outdoor venue, and the director misplaced his pitch-pipe.

I whistled the choir's pitches inconspicuously - it was oddly amusing.

I don't see how perfect pitch is helpful in playing by ear "much more effectively." All perfect pitch does is enable one to correctly identify a note, an Eb or a c#, for example, in isolation or, by extension, to tell what key a piece is in without having seen or knowing the score. How does that kind of skill help in playing by ear? What helps much more is having good relative pitch and some sense of harmonic structure and chord progression.

I suppose if I have perfect pitch and I'm listening to a melody I can say that that note is a C and the next note an A; if I have good relative pitch I can also say that the second note is a sixth above the first note, and I can play that interval in any key I choose.

Regards,

I suppose it might slightly help playing by ear, if you can play a composition in the exact key that it was written.

But that is not a huge consideration.

It does help in rehearsals when you can know instantly when someone is singing or playing a note that is different than their part and can name it. But that could also be due to relative pitch.

Technically there should be no real advantage yet in terms of composition at least, just about every major composer (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, etc) had perfect pitch. Yet there were others that some would consider geniuses that didn't have it (allegedly) such as Schumann. So take what you will from that. But by far the most important thing to a musician of any sort is relative pitch like Bruce said.

Perfect pitch really has little use and probably more of a detriment than a benefit but it's mostly touted by people who have it as a means by which to proclaim their superior musicality boastfully over that of others! With that said I wish I had perfect pitch for the same elitist reasons!

There are several types of perfect pitch:
a) You can recognize and name a specific note
b) you can associate a sound to a note read on a score
c) You can associate a sound to a note seen on your keyboard (without trying to map it to a score)

Every level usually includes the previous one (except for "a" of course).
While "a" is may be useful, "b" allows you to perfectly sing along with a score, and "c" allows you to perfectly find the key that you need on a keyboard once you play either by ear of following a score.

Do you think perfect pitch can be learnt?

My teacher and I were discussing the differences between English and Russian piano teaching last week as I drove her home. I would surmise that the English system is not dissimilar to the US one, whereby children taking private lessons perhaps have a half hour lesson a week, and practice for around half an hour a day between lessons.

My teacher was brought up in a Russian village and piano was taught at her village school. At age 7 this involved two 45 minute playing lessons a week, one 45 minute theory lesson and one 45 minute singing lesson with the aim of matching pitch to score and learning the rudiments of harmony. This was not a special music school, just a regualr village school.

I have no idea whether she has perfect pitch as I have never asked, but she can certainly sing a classical piano score melody at correct pitch from the sheet music as I have seen her do this many times.

Hence I wonder if perfect pitch is a skill that can be acquired through correct training.

Adrian

Absolute pitch affords great advantages for pianists. In general, pianists with absolute pitch learn faster, retain music in memory with less effort, and most importantly, play with more technical security than those without absolute pitch. This is not surprising, since absolute pitch will inform a pianist's guidance system, allowing for better physical preparation of every gesture. Relative pitch, no matter how well developed, cannot provide the same degree of assistance and support.

Many wonderful pianists lack absolute pitch. However, all evidence suggests that at the very highest levels of excellence absolute pitch is essential. This is not the case for composers.

Whether this ability is genetic or acquired (very early in life) can and will be debated endlessly. I'm confident, however, that it cannot be "learned" after early childhood, only because I've seen many people attempt, with great effort and through various means, to acquire it, always without success.

I don't have absolute pitch, so please don't accuse me of being an elitist snob.

I can attest to the last statement, because I unfortunately have perfect pitch. I sometimes think it's a curse to have it.


69

I think it's benefits for piano would be different than that of a person like a conductor, a string player, or singer than for a pianist. Perfect pitch would be useful for a pianist in terms of musicality and some forms of accompanying. But for the actual playing of the piano I don't think it's bad to not have it.

But for the formerly mentioned groups of musicians whereas their instruments (the orchestra, a violin, the individuals voice, etc.) I think it is much more helpful to have perect pitch whilst playing.

I don't think anyone can consider their musical education/development complete without having developed a good sense of relative pitch. This includes being able to write out (on staff paper) a melody line, a chord progression and perhaps some of the various harmony lines, all without ever knowing their true pitch and without the aid of any musical instrument. Which means those of us with only relative pitch write the music in C - while those with perfect pitch have the ability to also ascertain the key signature. So..., for me, I can only guess at the first note and I have a 1-in-12 shot at being correct, but after that, its even-money.

I'm certainly no great pianist but perfect pitch has probably made it easier for me to do what I have done with minimal time commitment. I seem to get by with less practice and retain memorization of pieces not touched for many years.

AJB - I think relative pitch can be learned to the point where you get most if not all of the real benefits of perfect pitch.

I've done some modest composing - a good bit of it while traveling (quiet time on the airplane). I assume it's easier to compose with no instrument available with perfect pitch (or maybe it's the same with good relative pitch).

The main social benefit of perfect/relative pitch is the human juke box phenomenon. Great for parties.

I was put on the spot at a dinner party recently to play a PSO that was way out of tune. Everyone was looking for some complex romantic piece, but I always remind myself in this situation to just play something nice/simple and quietly make an excuse to get up. I get really confused playing piano that is an eighth step flat...not at all fun.