Thumbtack recently interviewed me here: https://www.thumbtack.com/spotlight/voice-teacher/ and I was asked to give an example of a student that I really enjoyed teaching. Here was my answer:

“I taught an engineer who had given up on singing for a few decades because he was told he couldn’t sing as a child. It was a really special moment for us when after a few months of working on listening skills and technique, for the first time, I heard him sing a song, completely in tune. It means so much more to people who weren’t able to do it before.”

It’s easy for people who already match pitch to take it for granted. I think that when someone experiences what it’s like to match pitch for the first time, it’s really a magical thing. I’ve often noticed as well, that when someone who originally wasn’t able to match pitch, learns to sing, they often end up with better listening skills and then have an easier time with harmonies as a result, and building their ear isn’t a chore, but something that is really fun and produces its own practice motivation.

If you can already sing on pitch, I would highly encourage you to learn how to sing harmony. Besides building listening skills, which is one of the most valuable skills you can have as a person (how many problems in your life happened because you weren’t listening?) you really enjoy the music around and can “taste” it more clearly. Not knowing how to match pitch or sing harmony, or both, is like having all of your meals without salt. You just don’t really get all the “musical flavors” you hear!