More Words, Deeper Hole

... If you have perfect pitch, you can eventually learn to barbershop. It may take time. The only person I've ever known who could NOT do so had the exact opposite affliction - he could hear things just fine but could NOT sing on the same pitch to save his life. No perfect pitch there.

I ding this poll for no checkboxes, as several of the answers can apply - if I'm making someone else's song bit into a tag, it's with their words and one line out of four from their notes, before I start. If a song lyric hits me, the music can come second, or if I'm musicing an already-given poem (which I haven't done much since childhood). Filking, as noted, usually starts with the music given.

--Dave