pitch
PICH
/pɪtʃ/
The quality of a sound governed by the rate of vibrations producing it; the degree of highness or lowness of a tone.
Pitch is the psychological perception of wave frequency by the human auditory nervous system.
The story behind the word. Traced to Middle English 'picchen', meaning 'to set in place or fix'. In music, musicians 'pitched' or set a fixed standard tone so all instruments in an ensemble could play harmoniously together.
Word relationships
- tone height: 'Tone height' is a theoretical musicological phrase, whereas 'pitch' is the standard universal term.
Commonly confused with
- frequency: Frequency is objective physical wave count per second; pitch is how human brains perceive that frequency.
Word family
- pitched (adjective): Set at a particular musical or sound level.
Collocations
- high pitch
- low pitch
- perfect pitch
- pitch perception
Idioms & expressions
- pitch-perfect
Example sentences
- "The soprano adjusted her pitch carefully to match the piano key struck by the conductor." Vocal Training
- "As the train approached the station, the pitch of its horn shifted higher due to the Doppler effect." Acoustic Physics
Memory hook
PITCH is where a note is PITCHED on a musical ladder—high or low. PITCH is high or low musical tone.
When not to use
Do not confuse with loudness; pitch depends on frequency, not wave amplitude.
Fun facts
- Only about 1 in 10,000 people possesses 'absolute' or 'perfect pitch'—the ability to identify any musical note instantly without a reference tone.
Explore more words
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Also appears in
- Business → Sales & Customer Service
- Business → Entrepreneurship & Startups
- Media, Journalism & Publishing → Freelance Journalism & Blogging
- Sports, Athletics & Recreation → Athletic Venues & Facilities
- Music, Instruments & Performance → Singing & Vocals
- Aviation & Maritime Transport → Piloting & Flight Deck Operations
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