Does he have "perfect pitch"?

Question

There's a friend of mine who claims to have perfect pitch, however, the only time that he uses it is to show off in class( with note naming games).

He is the section leader in orchestra, and he never notices when his section is incredibly out of tune. The conductor wants him to help his section but he can't because he doesn't know that they're out of tune.

He has gotten bad grades in eartraining courses.

Does he really have "perfect pitch"?

If so, why can't he help his section?

Why does he do poorly in eartraining courses (especially melodic dictation)?

If he doesn't, how can he show off in other classes (by attempting to name notes) and why is he trying to fool them (and me) ? :(

Answer 1

sounds like a show off!

ear training courses are designed around varied scale degree in a given key. if he did poorly in those classes-i would hold his claims highly suspect.

try this experiment;

play a root note for him like middle C, then ask him to sing an interval of tritone, augmented 5th, maj. 7th,...

if he cant do it perfectly on the first try-he's full of shlit!

edit;

he may have no clue how to teach better intonation to his section, i knew a guy in college who was blind & truly had perfect pitch, he could tell you exactly how many cents flat or sharp you were-but had no clue what to tell you in order to help you sing in tune.

Answer 2

This is indeed intriguing!  You've got quite a question here!  As you know, someone with perfect pitch would be able to detect the unintentional modulation of the others in the section!  Amazingly curious . . .  But if he is consistently providing the proper note to the pitches he hears to show off in class, and if you can give him a note and have him correctly hum it . . . he's got it!  (Especially if he can do it quickly.  If he has to work on each answer, even for a moment, then it is relative pitch.  He's TRAINED HIMSELF to recognize the notes.  This may be the key to what's happening.)

Usually an out-of-tune section would drive someone like this crazy.  Perhaps there are varying degrees of "perfect-pitched-ness"!  :-)

Answer 3

If he really has perfect pitch, he should score 100% for melodic dictations. And he wouldn't be struggling through ear-training courses. I know because I have it, and melodic dictations + ear-training courses are extremely easy (especially those involving melodies or harmonies). My fellow classmates with perfect pitch feel the same way as me too.

Answer 4

Haha! I was showing off in science class when they were playing with pitches, and nobody believed me so I brought a chromatic tuner to class the next day to prove my perfect pitch. If he can't tell when the section is out of tune, then there's no way he has perfect pitch. It sounds like he was full of it during class when he was randomly spouting out note names.