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I studied under someone with Perfect pitch and I know a bass player with perfect pitch and another bassists with absolute pitch.
They're different things. One is more accurate then the other. When someone is born with the ability to distinquish note from note and it's flatness or sharpness my understanding is that it's Absoulute. You can develop Perfect pitch and Relative Pitch.
Relative pitch is to distinguish the relationship of one note to the next. Hence the example of the guitarist who could play back something after hearing it right away. Relative Pitch is a very important skill to have. Playing two notes at once and being able to tell you exactly the relationship between them is a vital skill for any musician.
I have very good relative Pitch. When listening to a piece of music I can tell it's Key with a good deal of accuratcy (a 4th of 5th off) generally. I also can sing/hear an A440 and a Bb a half step above from my work with horns and as a guitarist tuning it. I can sing all 6 guitar strings without it in my hand and tune it without a tuner. However if someone went over to a piano and played a note I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly what it was but give you a choice of 3 notes (as mentionedeither then note itself of a 4th or 5th away).
I don't think as a musician that I would want perfect pitch. I've seen it drive to many musician's crazy in terms of tuning. Don't get me wrong playing out of tune or singing out of tune is painful. But for someone who has to go through their dayly life hearing the clink of a fork on a diner plate and thinking (That's an F and it's flat, damn I hate it when it's flat). That's not the life for me
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