Music Glossary

Pitch

How high or low a sound is, determined by its frequency.

Pitch is how high or low a sound is perceived to be, and it is determined by frequency — the number of times a sound wave vibrates per second, measured in hertz. Faster vibrations produce higher pitches; slower ones produce lower pitches. Pitch is what lets us tell one note from another and is the foundation of melody and harmony. Being 'in tune' means playing the correct, agreed-upon pitches, while singing or playing 'flat' or 'sharp' means landing slightly below or above the target. Training your ear to recognise and reproduce pitch accurately is one of the core skills of musicianship, whether you sing, play or produce.

432
Written & reviewed by
The Club432 musician collective

432 Academy is the learning arm of Club432 — a performing-arts collective of working musicians, producers, DJs and engineers. Our guides are written for beginners and reviewed by people who play, record and perform for a living, so the advice is what we'd tell a friend picking up the instrument, not specs copied off a box.

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