Reading Music

I've tended to avoid this throughout the course of my guitar playing, but I've always wanted to spend more time with it. As I've recently been giving reading music another go, I've realized that it reinforces any AP training I've done that day. Consider that it is just that much more time spent being aware of exactly which notes you are playing (at least if you read at a slow pace like myself - I'm sure people who read very quickly don't really even stop to think about exactly which note they are playing). I also have a suspicion that this was part of the reason Burge was able to develop AP so fast back in his high school days. Pianists in general seem to be more inclined towards reading than guitar players, and again I'm realizing that this is an advantage regarding AP training.

Philosophy of the pursuit of perfect pitch

I wanted to discuss some of the motivations for developing perfect pitch outside of simply wanting to become a better musician. All of those other motivations will be connected in some way to the desire to become a better musician, however I think there is more to this discipline than that alone. In a way it relates to any other way a musician might practice in order to improve in music, in that there is a good deal of discipline involved, as well as often times a good deal of frustration. Many people do become frustrated with the training for AP fairly early on, probably because the changes in the ear's perception are so gradual. I read on amazon one of the reviews of Burge's course (I like to see what people are saying about it from time to time) someone's comment that the effort involved could be something like 300% for every 1% gain, obviously their concept of some sort of value ratio. I agree that there is a lot of effort, that is for sure, but improving the ear is so important in music that I don't really see how someone could not grasp its benefits. The moment I simply started to sound better because I could hear more clearly I knew that I would continue the training to see where it would lead me (although admittedly there were times when I considered giving up), and I've always been improving because of it. If I never really get an amazingly reliable and accurate perfect pitch, will I be upset with Burge for causing false hope? Perhaps a bit, but in the end I am grateful for benefiting from his discovery of this unique way to improve the ear. I used to think it was all my fault that I hadn't developed it sooner, either because I wasn't practicing every single day, or I wasn't training for long enough each time, or that I somehow wasn't "relaxing" as Burge emphasizes time and again. But getting perfect pitch is just plain hard. That said, in doing the training, your ear will always be improving. Should that be the claim on the course's ad? Probably - something like "Drastically improve your ear with this special method of training, perhaps even acquire absolute pitch!" But that would not sell quite as well to your average aspiring musician. Let's face it, a lot of us who spend money on this course dream of becoming like Mozart, with the ability to compose entire symphonies in our minds and transcribe them flawlessly onto the staff, or remember hyper complex tunes and solos note for note. Don't get me wrong - if that were possible (and it might be with decades of training), I think it would be fantastic. But I think having a bit more humble aspirations is OK. Just because we're not going to become the next Einstein doesn't mean we shouldn't pursue knowledge in the field of mathematics.
           To address the economic concern of this training though, that of opportunity cost, it is really necessary to evaluate the preferences of each individual. Could your time be better spent doing something else - or, in terms of music, would you improve more spending that time practicing something else? It depends. I would say for any serious musician, almost always, no. The reason is that the training need only take about a half hour a day, and I think the dividends for that time are well worth it. However, if you can only afford to practice a half an hour a day - should you do this training? Well, probably not, because presumably you want to play music, not listen to individual pitches for their special qualities in the only time you get to play. So I believe it's a matter of how much time you get to devote to music. If you can play for 2 hours or more a day, personally I'd say include 20-30 minutes for the perfect pitch training. A lot of times I can only really fit in about an hour, or a bit more, of playing in a day. But most of the time I still choose to do the ear training. Absolute pitch has almost become an end in and of itself to me, though, because I think it's so fascinating. Anyway, I would like this to be a continuing discussion of the philosophy of absolute pitch ear training, and perhaps more broadly to the philosophy of music learning in general. Cheers, and as always, comments are welcome.