That's super interesting, thanks for sharing. I grew up in a very musical household and absorbed a lot from being around that all the time. One thing I noticed is that it was always people who didn't really put any time into music that would talk about perfect pitch as if it was some kind of genetic gift, and it never really squared with the reality that I perceived. Think tiger parents who want to brag about how their kids have perfect pitch or something. On the other hand, people who played very well really don't even mention it, because it's just something you pick up over time. Maybe it's not 100% accurate but yeah you get pretty close when you do music stuff all the time.
Basically two camps of people. The "perfect pitch" people who were obsessed with the prestige of it, and then the people who just do a lot of music, who don't really make a fuss over it.
In general, I would say that people who don't really do music are always the ones who dramatically over emphasize innate musical talent, at a technical level, but they're almost always the least qualified people to make those assessments. The truth is there is such thing as a knack for music, but it doesn't really make all that much of a difference in the end, after practice. Much more important are sort of qualitative things that are hard too develop, like good taste. If anything, the real "gift" is simply enjoying to make music. When you have that, improving isn't hard because it's fun, and you can do it in whatever aspect you please.
And yeah, the part in the article about the timbre of the piano is 100% spot on. I think that plays a huge role in like the character of the sound.
This is spot on, perfect pitch is something that parents like to brag about. My son Luca is pretty good with picking out polyphonic tunes by ear and more than one person has asked if he has 'perfect pitch' and they are always surprised when I say I don't really care all that much whether he does or not because either he does or he doesn't and what matters most is that he has fun making music (which he does).
There is a similar thing about music theory where people from the IT side tend to approach music as though it is something you cram some theory for and then you can go and make it after you pass your exam. Musicians don't usually care all that much about a particular piece of theory until they need it and then it just gets added to the pile. Other than that they are mostly concerned with making music, not with the theory behind it.
> ...There is a similar thing about music theory where people from the IT side tend to approach music as though it is something you cram some theory for and then you can go and make it after you pass your exam...
Theory offers some shortcuts, like circle of fifth, chords, composition, rhythmic patterns etc. which one could of course discover personally, but if there's any focus on a particular style of music, then there's a respective theory package for learning that, just like with any craft.
In any way, practice and really doing it, while it's still fun, makes the real difference!
Btw, perfect pitch is a nifty shortcut too. I can imagine an excitement of being able to read store signs easily for the first time, it probably could be that liberating with the perfect pitch (guessing here).
...Just to eventually find oneself drowning in the sea of meaningless text around our lives, just as a miriad of music sources may turn into a meaningless yet pervasive cacophony.
> The truth is there is such thing as a knack for music, but it doesn't really make all that much of a difference in the end, after practice.
The people you are comparing, though, are mostly people with at least a moderate 'knack' for music; those without it are unlikely ever to make it into the 'after practice' category, because it will be too frustrating and unrewarding to continue for the long haul.
> If anything, the real "gift" is simply enjoying to make music. When you have that, improving isn't hard because it's fun, and you can do it in whatever aspect you please.
I don't think this is necessarily very distinct from talent. Skills that come relatively naturally to us are usually more fun to practice than skills we can only make slow, halting, unimpressive progress at.
Basically two camps of people. The "perfect pitch" people who were obsessed with the prestige of it, and then the people who just do a lot of music, who don't really make a fuss over it.
In general, I would say that people who don't really do music are always the ones who dramatically over emphasize innate musical talent, at a technical level, but they're almost always the least qualified people to make those assessments. The truth is there is such thing as a knack for music, but it doesn't really make all that much of a difference in the end, after practice. Much more important are sort of qualitative things that are hard too develop, like good taste. If anything, the real "gift" is simply enjoying to make music. When you have that, improving isn't hard because it's fun, and you can do it in whatever aspect you please.
And yeah, the part in the article about the timbre of the piano is 100% spot on. I think that plays a huge role in like the character of the sound.