[F-0X]

> the rare ability to identify a musical note like F# just by hearing it, can be a massive benefit to a musician

It can also be a curse. I've known a number of people with perfect pitch. Those who were pianists typically insisted on playing only electric pianos, because a typical mechanical piano that's not in a performance hall is probably not tuned until "regular" listeners can tell it is out, but it could be out enough to make it unplayable to a performer with perfect pitch.

Another thing I noticed which I thought was surprising - they weren't notably better composers despite their "better understanding" of pitch.

[njb311]

I'm probably one of those people that can identify specific notes, but probably only if they're played on a piano. I play an electronic piano and what I find amusing/frustrating is if I use the 'transpose' function. So when I play for example in C but it is D that comes from the speakers, I will often find my fingers migrating to 'correct' the pitch. And if you wonder why I'd transpose, it's because - to my ears - a piece of music can sound noticeably different shifted just half a tone.