Relative pitch is something that almost any musician can develop, with proper training. Perfect pitch, however, is different. Some people claim they developed perfect pitch out of nothing, but I believe that those who have perfect pitch developed it from a natural ability. If one can just develop perfect pitch with no help from natural ability, then a lot more people would have perfect pitch. No, those who have perfect pitch have a randomly selected natural ability. That's my belief on all of that.
But, I'm digressing a bit because I didn't intend in this blog to write my argument on whether anyone can develop perfect pitch. I want to explain what perfect pitch has done for me.
You hear stories of people who have perfect pitch that have almost an OCD of pitch, to the point of bouts of insanity. If they hear out of tune stuff, they almost lose control of themselves. Okay, sure, whatever. I really haven't experienced that myself, or noticed other people I've known with perfect pitch that have that problem. Let me tell you, having perfect pitch has been a blessing. It's been one of my most valuable tools in pretty much everything I do.
When I first started to play horn in 2002, I was a junior in high school, and had never played a brass instrument before. I had no instruction whatsoever, but one thing I did have was perfect pitch. That helped me learn the notes really, really quickly. I don't believe I would've progressed as quickly without it. Maybe I wouldn't have been ready for college.
When I got to college, I really learned how to develop my perfect pitch ability to perfection, helping me without fail when I was playing horn (or any brass, for that matter). When I got opportunity to lead, I got to help my colleagues when they were playing incorrect notes. And I started composing a lot more in college--do you realize how helpful perfect pitch is to composition?
Throughout the years, almost everything I do has been helped by perfect pitch. And now, when I primarily teach lessons and conduct ensembles as my musical activities, perfect pitch helps me every day. Noticing mistakes, singing notes & melodies for students, you name it. It's just an absolute blessing. I couldn't imagine life without it.
And it helps that, as a horn player, I've studied transposition so much, because I can think in any key now pretty easily. Studying band & orchestra scores, as well as composing ensembles containing different instruments, is a breeze.
So if you're a young musician and you think you can identify pitches and reproduce them without reference, you probably have perfect pitch. Nurture it, develop it, and use it to your advantage. It will do nothing but great things for you.
Take care and value music.