The Difference Between Pitch, Note, and Tone

[@PricelessKeertan]

In summary, pitch is about the perceived frequency of a sound, note is a symbol representing both pitch and duration in music notation, and tone is a broader term referring to the quality or character of a sound, including aspects beyond pitch and duration.

[@ivan-nm1xn]

I was raised by a musician, and learned piano at very early age before changing to violin, until I was about 15 when I gave up on music. I'm an applied mathematician now, and always told myself I should revisit my study of music theory, of which I forgot almost everything by now, and see it through the lens of the math and physics of it... So, I found your video on chance and loved your approach! I'll be watching a whole lot more of your videos. Thanks!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

I’m so glad you found your way here! I’m definitely not a mathematician or physicist so you probably have some great insights for me as well!

[@jb791505]

I first “learned” clarinet, then sax. I always had trouble with theory. Now, I’ve discovered guitar. When tuned in P4 (fourths tuning) it’s like a music theory showcase. Maybe you’d find value in trying it out.

[@jb791505]

I first “learned” clarinet, then sax. I always had trouble with theory. Now, I’ve discovered guitar. When tuned in P4 (fourths tuning) it’s like a music theory showcase. Maybe you’d find value in trying it out.

[@cynthialalalucien5711]

Now your speaking my language! I hardly know a thing about playing instruments. The synopsis helped a lot too

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

So glad you found it helpful!

[@pauchrysostomo482]

What is exXtly the difference of timbre and a pitch. I thought timbre and putch is obe and same. The quality of someone or something is the timbre and tbay is also the pitxh of bogh and low. Am I correct? Pleasr i really want to know the exact difference.

[@Zuerk]

Criminal that you don't have more subscribers, excellent and clear explanations in the few videos I've watched so far! Well done!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thank you so much!

[@divyaanand3382]

You're so right

[@kbox1771]

Best part is your visualization. I learn through visuals and it’s helping me understand a lot. Thank you. 😊

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

I’m so happy they’re helpful!!

[@robinmenil8554]

One of the most clearest explaination on this hard subject i have seen, thanks you keep up the good work !!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!

[@daolinh108]

@@MusicTheoriesChannel love u

[@astrovanman]

The last summarizing sentence is a delightful satisfying cherry on top that was being subtlety teased at us throughout the well-worded and easily consumable music theory Sundae! Pitch: what you sing Note: how you sing it Tone: how it sounds

[@E_Rico]

I am loving the visualisations, especially the waves and frequency spectrums. It allows you to logically break down the what you are sensing in your ears.

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Exactly, visuals help me reach a much deeper understanding!

[@AntonioDoesMetal]

I can’t get over how good you are at visualizing and teaching these concepts it’s unreal, gonna binge the rest of this playlist now

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thank you SO much!!

[@WhatsTheStitch_]

I just started my Music Appreciation courses for college, and this video has helped tremendously with developing my understanding of what music is!!!! You've gained a subscriber!!!!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Amazing!! Welcome 🤗

[@braydenjones6561]

Thank you for this refresher! I enjoy the specificity and the clarity that was present in this video!! I had not thought on the difference between a pitch and a note for a little while now. It was good to hear again!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad it was helpful!

[@SunnyOfficialYT]

This is definitely 1mil subs type of quality content. Lovin the channel as a beginner musician in training!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thank you so much 🥹 I appreciate that!

[@ayo__ayo]

This is actually making music make way more sense. I never really understood why a note and it's octave would be called the same thing when it sounds different, until it is scientifically broken down as to why. Great video! Keep it up!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

I love this!! So glad I could help.

[@ra2186]

This was it for me. I'm not very musically inclined but I love math and science. The way this was explained made music clearer for the first time in my life and I'm almost 50. Nobody has ever explained pitch, key, and tone this way in any music environment I've been in. It's like an amazing door has been finally opened.

[@davidchukwuocha7052]

Top notch Video ! Very clear and precise explanation , Solid visuals to support the explanation , Very clear communication and simplification of the complex subject matter. I'm really looking forward to more videos from you. Now , on the overtone series video!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Much appreciated!

[@dominicesteban3174]

I've watched hundreds of music lesson videos and still learnt new things in these few minutes; the EQ/Analyzer display was a revelation!

[@BabaYaga-bf4iv]

i hv been tryin to understand the difference for days now. this explanation is so clear n concise. thanks!

[@NameName-yi4zi]

Great video! I've been confused over the distinction between the three for ages, and this explanation really helped. The visual demonstration with the equalizer showing the difference between pitch and tone was especially useful. Thanks for this!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Love to hear that! So glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching ☺️

[@Zootee]

This is so helpful to understand the basics!!!!! 🐐

[@johnbugnoii]

Didn’t realize tones comprised of everything including the pitch along with the overtones, heard about them but didn’t know they were a subset. I’m a chemical engineer, so loved all the physics behind sound. Very interesting video! Thanks so much and God bless!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

So glad you enjoyed! Thanks so much!!

[@sh.ryougi]

Thankyou so much for explaining this, I am new to Music ☺

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Welcome! Happy to help!

[@YakobWakjera]

I have to say thankyou... Love the back ground of your hasband assistant..... May God bless you

[@roeetoledano6242]

Definitely the best video Ive seen on the topic! Keep up the good work

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Wow, thank you!!

[@ASHORSHEMAYA]

I had read an article that has maybe a bit difference, so according to that article: the tone is what you play on an instrument ("singing/ playing=tone).. the pitch is that sound traveling to your ears (hearing=pitch).. and the note is when you write that sound (note=writing that sound).

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

that's one way of looking at it!

[@LarryMenta1]

This video is amazing. I'm one of those people who keeps on asking "but why?" and you described everything in detail yet easy to understand. I was looking for the percentage of pitch on CDJs and now I'm learning about how sound is created thanks to your video. You got yourself a new suscriber.

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much!

[@monicahammonds-topic2465]

Such a dope explanation! Thank you so much!!

[@salama931]

This explanation was so clear! The best that I've come across so far. I'm commenting so that it reaches more people :

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for commenting!

[@pranati1492]

This helped a lot. Thank you for this video.

[@jasonsandoval2700]

so nice at the beginning I just thought it was another video more , but then I realized a lot of information you cover in a few time , pretty well edited the video and very educative , thank you for sharing

[@benjaminott6498]

Thank you so much. Trying to discuss music theory without these well clarified is frustrating.

[@MegawattKS]

Everything about this video is excellent. From the delivery (not too fast or slow), to the amazing amount of effort put into the graphics, and of course to the content itself. Thank you so much for all your work ! I'm an engineer, but have a little background in music. I searched for "tone" as in tone-semitone and found your video. Will watch more of them for sure. Hoping to learn why western music adopted tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. Must have to do with harmonics and where they fall in higher octaves I'm guessing?

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Yes, exactly! Thanks for watching!

[@needheartranken]

When you said that this is as just helpful for yourself as your us inspired me! Thank you, fellow human! Thank you thank you thank you!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Love that!

[@RusiruRupasinghe]

You just earned a subscriber.. Thank you!

[@MutantShredder214]

I really enjoyed this. This is a really useful video! Thank you for making this!

[@annaadoreslove]

Thank you for this! Really helped Alot

[@__-on8rk]

I want to become a musisican and this channel is AMAZING, you deserve millions of views and millions of subs, thank you and keep up videos like this, sooo informative and intresting

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

I’m so glad you found me! Thanks so much!!

[@fsj197811]

Thanks for sharing. Between yours and a couple of others I now know why I couldn't wrap my head around an A being a certain frequency. It's NOT. It may be the primary frequency but any instrument is making a lot of other noise to go along with it.

[@garykuovideos]

Thank you for another well-produced and narrated video! I would very much appreciate seeing your introduction to specific forms of musical compositions. The word “song” is often used to describe a work where another description would be appropriate. I think your audience might enjoy learning where other terms such as “concerto,” “production track,” “etude,” “symphony,” or “sonata” would apply, or in my case as a composer for television, the word “cue.” Liked and subscribed!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Love this idea!! Thank you so much!

[@jb791505]

I just found your channel. I'm getting good value out of your fundamentals videos. Thank you.

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad you like them!

[@Cybermatrix0]

Thank you very much! That really clarified things! 🎵

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

So glad I could help!

[@Megamaaazstudios]

Loved this video! Clarified everything I was confused about in 8 mins.

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@amxum]

Very well explained.🎉

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bantorio6525]

... excellent ... !!!

[@_ryushin25]

Thanks a lot! I am new to music, very helpful videos you have :)

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Happy to help! Thank you so much!

[@jeffersonrodrigoalvescaval8222]

Awesome video! Thanks a lot!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

My pleasure!

[@ra2186]

I was listening to a Michael Jackson song and thought "Hmm, I wonder if that's perfect pitch". Then I thought what is actually pitch and how does it compare to key. I was not ready for the Neil DeGrasse Tyson of music. The way it began with the science, broke everything down into it's simplest form, and then put together at the end...This was amazing!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Wow!! High praise! Thank you so much!

[@thesprawl2361]

I watched an episode of an English comedy show called QI(for Quite Interesting), a show where the panelists have to answer questions about general knowledge that seem intuitive but actually aren't, and one of the questions was about pitch - and it so botched the explanation that it's bugged me ever since. Anyway, this helped clarify a lot of things. I still need to look into it a bit more, but well done :)

[@user-uw3jj7gf1m]

love your video, definitely the best explanation ever with visuals! but can you expand on how to focus or find listen for the pitch. I feel the "not overtone" lol is louder or just too much distraction that I can't pick out the pitch.

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

That's certainly a good question! Maybe try listening to a pure sine wave pitch first (for example C4) and then listen to that same pitch on an instrument and see if you can hear the fundamental!

[@BALAJIKOUSHICK]

Answered every question I had in an easy to understand way. Thanks for the amazing video!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Awesome!! Thanks for watching and commenting

[@jaitanmartini1478]

Amazingly pleasant voice.

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thanks!

[@soy_binguine]

Really concise and easily for me to understand! Thanks

[@janourpaynes2480]

She lowkey flexed when she sung the tone perfectly😂😵‍💫🔥

[@briansounalath]

I thought this was a legit learning channel. Well done!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thank you so much!

[@Jonas-qm7ls]

Eye opening, thanks.

[@maicurott]

This is an excellent video; well done.

[@transcendant3231]

Good explanation. I would say a note is "how long you sing the pitch". Time-frame.

[@akmt123]

Excellent, cheers from Canada...

[@ThusithaThanthirige]

Great Greetings From Super Extremes- Sri Lanka 💚 💛 ❤ 💙 💜

[@essentiallearning8458]

outstanding video

[@claudiolener2922]

Amazing explanation! Thank you for making this.

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

So glad you liked it!

[@azizbelhadj9175]

Thank you for this well explained video

[@ejohnmcpomus]

Very nice 👍

[@CokePaul]

This is great video

[@retardson4221]

Amazing explanation, thank you!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad it was helpful!

[@__________hugo]

Thanks

[@tannercoggins8793]

I have two questions: 1) Do better "quality" instruments play more precise tones? Would a better piano give you fewer overtones? 2) Why are only particular frequencies considered notes? Does this have to do with what humans are capable of distinguishing or does it have more to do with the way notes sound in relation to each other? Thanks for the video!

[@lionra4523]

Thank you!

[@Jason-tx3dn]

This is really cool

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thank you!

[@JustFiddler]

matur suksma !

[@sas4az]

Thanks for the brilliant video, I finally understood what these terms mean. Could you also drop the eq app? I found that very interesting and want to look at the overtones myself

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thank you so much! The EQ is the stock plug in that comes with Logic Pro 🙂 I just manually removed all of the frequencies

[@lambradi]

awesome video 👏👏

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thank you!

[@jbnhgaming3680]

So I had been wondering something when i listen to a song I hear the key it is in, but when I hear the same song but on another form like a cassette or an old radio, the key sounds higher, even though its still in the same key. It feels like it went up half a key but it doesn’t. I wonder why that happens? Is there a note between for example a G and G flat?

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

This is a great observation! This is definitely true and you’re correct about the recording being in between, or smaller than a half step. It’s similar to when someone sings a note but they’re slightly sharp or flat. This is really common on mediums that are deteriorating, like the cassettes you mentioned. Or sometimes on older recordings made with tape they would decide post-recording that the song should be faster. So rather than spending the money re-recording, they’d speed up the master slightly, which would also pitch the track slightly sharp. For example Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears is in D, but was sped up post recording so it sits somewhere between D and Eb . In reference to notes between G and Gb, there are certainly frequencies in between. In the West, we’ve decided that the half step is the smallest, but there are an infinite number of frequencies in between that we don’t recognize, so they sound out of tune to us. Many refer to these as micro tones. In a lot of cultures in the East, (Indian, Turkish, Japanese music, etc.) they actually do recognize these some of these pitches. This is often called “microtonal music”. I hope that answers your question!!

[@jbnhgaming3680]

@@MusicTheoriesChannel this literally answered my question exact, thank you so much ♥️ 🙏

[@JomyJoseph39]

this video was really useful to understand these basic concepts, thanks

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

So glad you think so, thank you!

[@BabaYaga-bf4iv]

can u pls make a video explaining the elements of music- melody, harmony, rhythm, dynamics etc?

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Absolutely!

[@BabaYaga-bf4iv]

@@MusicTheoriesChannel thanks!

[@Krysda225]

I've played various instruments in my life at diff times. I'm also a mathematician and have always been interested in the physics of sound. I did one of my senior projects in college on sound wave processing. Wish I had this then. But my hearing has gotten so bad over the years. I knw it because I honestly cannot hear the diff btx that A4 on the guitar or the piano. Lol. Loved this video, though. Thanks

[@Krysda225]

Ok. Got to the 6th minute mark and I can hear it now. Love the visuals!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Awesome!! I'm so glad you found this helpful! @@Krysda225

[@GaibBhojpuri]

Very nice video

[@jonathanjrgensen6774]

I havent been able to find the proper keywords to google this issue, so i'll just ask it here. I can't seem to properly hear through the tone to distinguish the pitch. I can hear relatively on each instrument which pitch is higher and lower than the other, but soon as i play on another instrument with a different tone, i have to reset my perception of each note. Do you have any tips for that?

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

This is a great question! I recommend training your ear more intently (that is, if you don’t already know your intervals). You can use apps like Perfect Ear or my go-to site is Teoria.com . Start very small, with just the major and minor 2nd intervals. Then move on major 2nd and 3rd, minor 3rd, etc. it’s admittedly a process that will take some time, but it will absolutely fix your problem! You will start to hear pitches rather than tone! I will say, in addition to that, it might be a good idea to hear/sing the same pitch on multiple instruments (if you have access). So, you’d play middle C on a piano, then the same C on a guitar, and the same C on say, a violin, and start to train your ear that way.

[@sourudranag5623]

Thank you

[@uhf001]

tone is determined by the 3dB response or "roll-off" of the frequency.

[@christiandelvalle282]

This was a really well made video! For someone with no background in music, I feel like I now have a good grasp on the concepts you touched on

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Amazing! Thank you so much, I love to hear it!

[@Charlesworth_music]

Great video

[@normhunter1825]

Brilliantly clear - I finally get it after 68 years! Thank you, thank you!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad it helped! Thanks so much!

[@KorinasX]

But I have read that timbre and tone is two different things, for example there are two violins one has is bright sound other has muted sound (timbre), but tone is the quality of the sound, both violins with different timbres can play the same tone - the same note and giving the quality of an aggressive sound. Lets take an example of singing, two people are singing, a depressive song, making their voice tone - (low and assigning a moody quality), but their voices sound different because they have a different timbre ( due to vocal anatomy, etc..), but they are producing the same tone, and feeling of the sound.

[@thedhirajkushwaha]

IITJEE aspirants enjoying this.....

[@tseringangchu2979]

Thanks!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

No problem!

[@vinong2510]

I think a tone is a note spelled different way. :) Kidding aside, thanks for clarifying the differences.

[@RebekahRoberts]

I'm taking my first music class this year and I've been a little confused and felt too behind, but your video helped me a lot! Great video!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

That makes me SO happy!! Glad I could help (: Good luck!

[@multihyphsa5355]

Super dope! Thank you

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad you like it!

[@ozunkeskin2380]

supremely helpful, easy, fundemental, and essy to understand by without knowing anything of the topic for those people like me

[@petsatcom]

Great Job

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thank you!

[@davidribeiro5254]

Have just found your channel and absolutely love it. You got a new subscriber!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Welcome!!! Happy you're here!

[@mohdzhafirin1498]

❤ 🎶

[@joaoamaro9493]

Amazing videos!!!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

thank you!

[@rayraymartineziii]

7:04 is the answer guys

[@kaddeesh]

Brilliant! Wonderful job! Thank you!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@cutchibodyhitthefloo]

Very informative video, I speak spanish and I was having trouble grasping the difference between pitch and tone since in my language pitch and tone are translated as synonyms (in principle). However now as I see it, "pitch" refers to the sinusoidal "pure" sound. And "tone" refers to the complex sound of an instrument made of a composition of pitches (pure sounds). ¿Maybe in this context "tone" is a synonym of the "timbre"?) hehe idk but you have a new subscriber :)

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Seems like you got it! Thanks for watching!

[@robbes7rh]

On the demonstration of tone with the graphic equalizer it shows activity at frequencies below the fundamental pitch. What is that?

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Great question! Those are the subharmonics or the undertone series.

[@robbes7rh]

@@MusicTheoriesChannel - thanks! I was unaware of this phenomenon. It does make sense because adjusting low frequencies on an equalizer changes the character of pitches well above its range.

[@sammywilliams5045]

Underrated channel

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Thank you so much!

[@karenfal8448]

Very informative. Could you also say pitch is how high or low the sound is? I'm a beginner piano player and trying to learn as much as I can. Thank you!

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Yes, that’s the idea!

[@pauchrysostomo482]

What the exact differebce of tone or timbre with pitch? In. Grade 1 book it is compared in a high and liw spund

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

To be honest, in the colloquial sense people sort of use tone and timbre interchangeably. But the way I think about it is tone describes the balance of the sound and the timbre describes the quality of the overall sound. For example a singer can adjust their tone using registers and placement; if they sing in their upper head voice it may have an "airy" tone compared to their mixed voice which may have a "nasally" tone, compared to their chest voice which may have a "hearty" tone. But timbre describes the singer's voice as a whole, which might be "smooth" or "brassy" or "warm". An electric guitar's tone can be adjusted on an amplifier by playing around with lows (bass), mids, and highs (treble) among other things. The timbre will come from that specific guitar's overall sound quality, which is mostly designated by the specific pick ups the guitar is using. I hope that makes sense!

[@A_440Hz]

What app did you use for the equaliser?

[@MusicTheoriesChannel]

Its a plug in from FabFilter called Pro-Q! I'm using it in Logic Pro X