Pitch (music)

Pitch is the perceived highness or lowness of a musical sound. It usually tracks the sound wave’s fundamental frequency, though perception can depart from frequency in complex tones.

Fundamental frequency: The lowest frequency component of a periodic sound, often determining its perceived pitch. It usually sets the pitch of a musical tone, even when it is not the strongest component.
Frequency: The number of cycles of a repeating event per unit of time. Sound frequency is the physical quantity most directly associated with musical pitch.
Musical tuning: The process of setting musical pitches to chosen frequency relationships or reference standards. Tuning determines whether an instrument’s pitches align with a musical system or ensemble.
Timbre: The perceived tonal quality that distinguishes sounds with the same pitch and loudness. Different timbres can share a pitch because their harmonic structures differ.
Harmonic series: A sequence of frequencies at integer multiples of a fundamental frequency. Its components help the ear infer a tone’s pitch and timbre together.
Musical interval: The perceived relationship in pitch between two musical notes. Intervals describe pitch differences without requiring a particular starting note.
Vocal range: The span between the lowest and highest pitches a singer can produce. A singer’s range describes the practical limits of pitch production.
Loudness: The perceived strength or intensity of a sound. Loudness and pitch are separate perceptual dimensions, despite interacting in some listening conditions.
Missing fundamental: The pitch heard from harmonics whose fundamental frequency is absent from the sound. It shows that pitch can be perceived without energy at the corresponding frequency.
Octave: The interval between two pitches whose frequencies have a ratio of 2:1. Octave equivalence is a basic way listeners group pitches at different heights.

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