Perfect Pitch in a Relative Group
Posted by Rey
In D.C, a small choral group got together to practice. They were classically trained voice musicians excelling in chamber music and using this to minister to churches up and down the East coast. One young man in particular was exceptional in the group because of his perfect (or absolute) pitch; and yet this young man had to lower the volume of his voice when he sang.
My wife explained how the group director would always rely on the young man to set the pitch for the group. “D sharp.” He’d bark out and the young man’s voice would hit the note, dead on: clear strong and sure.
Then everyone would start to sing together and it just didn’t sound right. It wasn’t that the other voices sang bad it’s just that everyone else had what’s known as Relative Pitch. That is the ability to remain on pitch as to the notes that are actually being sung. So if the choir is on D instead of D sharp the song will still sound perfect—save for the Perfect Pitcher. He’d have a problem blending with the music and his voice would stick out, sounding dissonant in a bad way..
Thing is, neither of these two are wrong. The Perfect Pitch guy is perfect for setting the level of the group but the Relative Pitch people are perfect for actually existing as part of a group and maintaining cohesiveness and beauty.
There’s some awesome application there for the church, individualism, the workplace, the way we learn and even corporate theology: I just have to find the right way to frame it.
3 Responses to “Perfect Pitch in a Relative Group”
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Article Tags>> choir | corporate theology | perfect pitch | relative pitch | theology
November 9th, 2007 at 8:54 am
Rey, this is great. Matt’s preaching on Colossians 3:15 this Sunday, how the peace of Christ should rule us, leading to unity in the church. I’m not sure how to frame this, either, but it’s a great illustration for something. I look forward to how you work it out.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Hey Steph,
Love that Matt is teaching on that. The Unity of the Church being Christological: excellent.
November 10th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
The first thing it made me think of was the validity of the co-existence of both culturally relevant–postmodern–seeker sensitive churches versus and more conservative, “preach it like it is” type churches. That the latter should always set the tone, i.e. put forth the correct doctrine, make sure things don’t get watered down, and the former should find creative ways to reach all kinds of people with the message of truth and grace.