The distance between one note and the next note of the same name, higher or lower.
An octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double or half its frequency — the distance from one note to the next note of the same letter name, such as one C up to the next C. Notes an octave apart sound remarkably alike, almost like the same note in a higher or lower register, because their frequencies are in a simple 2:1 ratio; this is why they share a name. The octave is the framework on which scales are built: the Western system divides each octave into twelve equal semitones. A piano's range spans roughly seven octaves, and singers and instruments are often described by how many octaves they can cover.
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