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| Pitch, in music, is the relative highness or lowness of a tone.
Pitch is the musical term for the scientific concept of Frequency.
Frequency is the number of beats per second something vibrates to produce a tone.
The A below middle C is generally tuned to 440 beats per second.
The A above middle C would then be tuned to 880 beats per second.
Octaves, when in tune, function in a 1:2 or 2:1 ratio
When the frequency of a tone is doubled, the pitch will be one octave higher.
When the frequency of a tone is halved, the pitch will be one octave lower.
Pitches are named by using the first seven letters of the alphabet:
A B C D E F G
Relating pitch to the piano keyboard, the pitches on the left end are the lowest and the ones on the right end are the highest.
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Using the pitch C as a reference point, the keyboard can be divided into octaves.
An octave is the distance between a C and the next closest C.
The C closest to the middle of the piano is generally referred to as
"middle C." It is considered C4.
Starting with the lowest C they are numbered from left to right from C1 to C8.
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All the pitches that lie between one C and the next are said to be in the same octave register. The register includes the lower C but the upper C begins the next register. See the diagram below.
C1 D1 E1 F1 G1 A1 B1 C2 D2 E2 F2 G2 A2 B2 C3 etc.
A Staff is used in music to allow us to precisely notate pitches. It consists of 5 lines and four spaces, but may be extended through the use of ledger lines.
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A Clef must appear at the beginning of each staff to indicate which pitches should be associated with the particular lines and spaces.
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A Grand Staff is a combination of two staves joined by a brace. The top clef will be the Treble Clef and the bottom will be the Bass Clef.
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