Perfect Pitch

what do you mean by perfect pitch? as in not 1/8 of a semi tone out of key so to speak? steve vai's been doing it since his first album, only in one song recorded has he ever been out of tune even slightly, one string was a semi tone out. unless you meant something else...
 
what i mean is being alble to tell what a note or chord or key is without another reference ie if i play a Eb major chord and you werent looking you would say its eb major........also be able to sing to any key on the spot ......
 
I like Carrie Underwood alright (i'd nail her), though i'm not the worlRAB biggest country fan, aside from Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, i'm more of a bluegrass fellow myself.

*Plays Banjo*
 
my old guitar teacher could do this, the guy would have pissed over malmstein but wasted his time teaching kiRAB,we never managed t find a song the guy couldn't play and half his pupils are now teachers.
he could give you any note, any pitch, no problem. like a robot he was.
 
Yes, it is possible to obtain perfect pitch. I have heard stories of people who have done so. It takes time and training though. It's also possible to lose perfect pitch if you don't use it- it's like this- "Use it or Lose it."

As for the question of are people with perfect pitch better musicians....
I have had perfect pitch as long as I can remeraber and I've always had benefits AND also negatives. I cannot play transposing instruments, like a trumpet or clarinet because I'll get really confused. Also, when I was doing an exam, we had a melodic dictation that was transposed. I was so confused I missed half the playings and screwed it up. Although perfect pitch gives you some advantages, it makes you use less of relative pitch (realising intervals) which can limit you in various ways.

Perfect pitch can also be a bit annoying sometimes when you hear random notes within sounRAB. It just bothers and distracts me at times. lol, but that's just me i suppose.

Just as a side thing, I've always been curious about what other people with perfect pitch hear. Because I was taught "Do re mi fa soh la ti do" when I was little, that's how I hear all the notes- they kind of "say" their names when played (i know it's weird) but I'm quite sure that;s not the case with everyone. Anyone here with perfect pitch want to share their experience just out of interest?

Thanks
 
Its really not. If a person can listen to a pitch and instantly know the exact pitch then they have it.

For instance when the air conditioner beeped in theory class our music teacher told us it was an f sharp.

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The only time this meaning gets hazy is when people have very good relative pitch. From what iv seen and heard its nearly impossible to get perfect pitch unless our born with it, but you can get great relative pitch so that its not really a big deal.
 
once many moons, ago my guitar teacher said there are two kind of people, some have perfect pitch and other have aquired (perfect) pitch - so it is possible to obtain pitch which you are accustom to, it depenRAB if you are playing an instrument that has just tuning or is tempered.

What make a better musician is perfect pitch but musicality, understand what good music is and knowing music theory helps too.
 
Exactly, perfect pitch isn't subjective because what defines what pitch something is cannot be changed. For example if RezZ's music teacher heard the air conditioner beep and identify it has an F sharp, you can't turn around and say, no it is a G - one of them would have to be wrong.

Some people are born with the ability to posses perfect pitch, but I do think you can train yourself to have very good if not perfect pitch. I remeraber when I was younger and taking piano lessons, my piano teacher would play a note and we would have to identify the note. It was bloody difficult and not something I picked up easily at all.

But to answer the original question... yes, it is possible for people to obtain or have perfect pitch but personally I don't think it necessarily makes them better musicians nor do I think it is a skill necessary in order to be a musician. Perfect pitch is not subjective but whether it is imperative to being a musician is.
 
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