Definition of Pitch (music)
Pitch is the quality that makes it possible to judge sounds as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies. Pitch is a perceptual property that allows sounds to be ordered on a frequency-related scale.
Pitch is a major auditory attribute of musical tones, along with duration, loudness, and timbre.
Pitch may be quantified as a frequency, but pitch is not a purely objective physical property; it is a subjective psychoacoustical attribute of sound. Historically, the study of pitch and pitch perception has been a central problem in psychoacoustics, and has been instrumental in forming and testing theories of sound representation, processing, and perception in the auditory system.
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Questions people ask
Real questions from the Stack Exchange community – follow a link to read the discussion.
- What are the differences between tone, note, and pitch? · Music SE
- What are some useful and effective exercises for training absolute pitch? · Music SE
- Why does pitch increase when you blow harder into a whistle? · Physics SE
- Why do people with perfect pitch perceive tunes not in 440 Hz out of tune? · Music SE
- Why is A4 the standard pitch reference for tuning? · Music SE
- Why is a 440 Hz frequency considered the "standard" pitch for musical instruments? · Music SE
Frequently asked questions
What is Pitch (music)?
Pitch is the quality that makes it possible to judge sounds as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies. Pitch is a perceptual property that allows sounds to be ordered on a frequency-related scale.
Sources & credits
- Wikipedia: Pitch (music) – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Sedley Taylor – Public domain