Author: maxopf
Date: 2016-07-20 08:47
I think everyone's perfect pitch is a little different. I have it, but I can identify notes in different pitch standards, within a reasonable range. I can tell when an orchestra is tuning higher or lower, but A is still A to me in any of the common pitch standards (440, 442, 443, etc), and when adjusting for just intonation.
Baroque pitch strays far enough that A definitely sounds like a G#, but I can adapt my perfect pitch for different tuning standards or transpositions (unfamiliar ones, like baroque pitch, require more thinking though). Playing Bb, A, Eb clarinet isn't an issue, since I can think about the written pitch and the concert pitch independently.
I've always played at 440, but I'm at Idyllwild now and we're tuning to 442. It's definitely higher than I'm used to, but it doesn't really bother me much. Some people get really thrown off by other pitch standards though.
As far as the practicality of perfect pitch goes — it makes playing things by ear much easier, it's helped a lot with musical dictations in theory class, it helps you quickly identify who's playing what notes in an ensemble context, etc. I wouldn't call it completely worthless.
I agree that perfect pitch is not of much use without good relative pitch though.
Post Edited (2016-07-20 08:50)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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