Definition of Pitch class
In music, a pitch class (p.c. or pc) is a set of all pitches that are a whole number of octaves apart; for example, the pitch class C consists of the Cs in all octaves. "The pitch class C stands for all possible Cs, in whatever octave position." Important to musical set theory, a pitch class is "all pitches related to each other by octave, enharmonic equivalence, or both". Thus, using scientific pitch notation, the pitch class C is the set
{\displaystyle \{\mathrm {C} _{n}:n{\text{ is an integer}}\}={\rm {\{\cdots,C_{-2},C_{-1},C_{0},C_{1},C_{2},\cdots \}}}}
Although there is no formal upper or lower limit to this sequence, only a few of these pitches are audible to humans.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Pitch class?
In music, a pitch class (p.c. or pc) is a set of all pitches that are a whole number of octaves apart; for example, the pitch class C consists of the Cs in all octaves.