Part 1

 Music Theory Fundamentals

What is a Sound, Pitch, Note,

Timbre and Tone?

This may seem like a simple question but the answer may be as complicated as

you want it to be. It could be said that everything in nature is energy vibrating

and different frequencies; there are scientific theories that even the reality itself

on the tiniest layers is just that—a vibration in the quantum field. When

something vibrates it produces waves. Waves, in physics, are disturbances that

transfer energy and there are two main types we experience in our perceivable

surroundings: mechanical and electromagnetic. The main difference is that

mechanical waves require the presence of physical matter, like air, through

which they can travel. Electromagnetic waves do not require physical medium—

they can travel through the vacuum of space.

So what is a sound then? In the simplest terms, sound can be defined as:

mechanical pressure waves that travel through a physical medium, like air or

water. Sound has its own unique properties, such as: frequency, speed,

amplitude, duration, etc. The property which concerns us most is the frequency,

which we can define as: the number of pressure waves that repeat over a period

of time. Sound frequency is measured in hertz (Hz), where 1 hertz means that a

pressure wave repeats once per second. Higher frequency simply means more

waves per second and vice versa.

This brings us to the pitch. Physically, it can be said that pitch is a specific

frequency of sound produced by a vibrating object, such as a guitar string. Us

humans have the ability to hear a wide range of sound frequencies ranging from

20 Hz to 20 000 Hz (or 20 kHz) on average, although this range reduces as we

age (and it is nothing compared to some animals). Musically, a pitch is like the

harmonic value of a note, and it is said to be higher or lower than other pitches.

In a sense, studying harmony and melody is studying pitch and the relationships

between pitches.

A note, by the way, is simply a named specific pitch with a particular duration,

loudness and quality. The notes are named with an alphabet letter ranging from

A to G (we’ll get to them in a bit). Each of the notes has its own pitch, that

makes it the note that it is (for example, A note found on the 5th guitar string is

110 Hz, when tuned to the standard pitch).

Two sounds can have different rhythmic values and can sound different overall

but if they have the same pitch, they will still be the same note. If two sounds

that are the same note sound different, then it is said that these two sounds have

different timbres. A timbre is like a sound color or sound quality that comes

from different instruments. For instance, a C note played on a piano is the same

note as C played on a violin, but we perceive their sound quality differently

because of the timbre.

Finally, the term ‘tone’ is often used interchangeably with a lot of these terms in

music, which usually causes some confusion. Tone is often synonymous with

timbre; when we say that different instruments have different tones, or that they

have good tones, we are actually talking about their timbres. Furthermore, tone

is synonymous with a note, usually when we talk about playing different tones;

and it is used as a name for a particular music interval. Musical tone is also

considered as a steady sound with properties like a regular note, only that it is a

single (pure) frequency that can only be produced digitally. If you want to hear a

pure single frequency the best way to do that is in a soundproof room that

eliminates any excess resonance or vibration. On the other hand, musical note

produced by a musical instrument is way more complex than a single frequency

due to the instrument’s natural resonance and harmonics (as well as the acoustics

of the environment and the way that the note is played); what we hear as a single

note is actually a whole spectrum of frequencies coming from the instrument that

our ears perceive, more or less, as a single frequency.