Quote:
Originally Posted by zlya
In my choir, I find the people with absolute pitch have the most trouble sight-reading and performing with the other singers. Why? Because my choir, like most, doesn't always stay perfectly in tune, and it doesn't always sing at 440. Generally, if the choir goes a few cents flat in performance it's not a problem, as long as all the singers go together. But when you've got some people with absolute pitch, this sort of fluctuation is extremely difficult for them, and they either try to stay "in tune" which jars horribly with the rest of the choir, or find themselves unable to sing much of anything at all.
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I find this to be true as well. I sing in a women's choir (collegiate) and in rehersals I sit next to someone who has perfect pitch. She has a really really hard time reading. She has such a hard time reading that she is having trouble in her sight singing classes. Luckily for her the ear training portion is easy for her. I am the opposite. I can read but dictation kills me.
She also gets frustrated if there is ANY variation from the absolute pitch. She has a really beautiful voice but she has problems in ensemble singing because the perfect pitch is always in her head and the reality is that 30 people singing together might vary a tiny bit from that absolute pitch. It really gets in her way. I always wished I had perfect pitch but I can see how it is not always helpful. This woman wants to teach choir in school. I wonder how she will be able to tolerate the pitch variations that you get with a middle school choir.