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Music vocabulary · Music Theory and Harmony

Pitch

Meaning in music, with examples

/pɪtʃ/nounCore term

In music, pitch means: How high or low a sound is. Pitch depends on the frequency of the sound wave: the faster the vibration, the higher the pitch.

In Turkish: ses yüksekliği, perde

How it is used

Singers, teachers and audio engineers use it. A singer has good pitch or struggles with pitch; software can correct pitch. 'Perfect pitch' (or absolute pitch) is the rare ability to name a note without a reference; 'relative pitch' compares notes.

Example sentences

  1. Her pitch is very accurate, even on the long sustained notes.

  2. We used pitch correction on two words in the chorus, nothing more.

Common collocations

  • perfect pitch
  • relative pitch
  • pitch correction
  • concert pitch
  • on pitch
  • noteA single musical sound with a particular pitch and length, or the written symbol that shows it. In English, notes are named with the letters A to G.
  • out of tuneNot at the correct pitch, either because an instrument needs tuning or because a singer or player is slightly too high or too low.
  • tuneTo adjust an instrument so that its notes sound at the correct pitch, usually by tightening or loosening strings or moving a part of the instrument.
  • octaveThe interval between one note and the next note with the same name, higher or lower. The higher note vibrates exactly twice as fast as the lower one.
  • sharpThe symbol ♯ that raises a note by a semitone, or a note raised in this way. As an adjective, it also describes a note sung or played slightly too high.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Music Theory and Harmony

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