Higher and lower
Tell which of two notes is higher, find the same note an octave up or down, keep higher apart from louder, and match a note by humming.
UP AND DOWN
Pitch: how high or low a note is
Every note is something vibrating: a string, a column of air, your vocal cords. Faster vibration sounds higher, slower sounds lower. That's all the physics you need. On a keyboard it's laid out for you: keys to the right are higher, keys to the left are lower.
Play C4 (the C near the middle of the keyboard), then G4, seven keys to its right counting black and white. G4 is higher. Play them the other way round and the tune goes down.
Higher is not louder
Pitch · higher or lower
How fast the thing vibrates. Changes when you move to another key. A soft, whispery note can be very high.
Volume · louder or softer
How hard it vibrates. Changes when you press the same key harder. A booming note can be very low. People say "turn it up" for louder, which is where the mix-up comes from.
Check yourself
What changed: the pitch or the volume?
- Leila plays C4, then the same C4 much harder
- Leila plays C4, then E4
- Someone turns the radio up during the chorus
- A singer's voice climbs on the last word of a line
- Omid whispers a word, then shouts the same word on the same note
- A child sings the same tune as her father, on notes further to the right
Show the answer
Pitch: higher or lower: Leila plays C4, then E4, A singer's voice climbs on the last word of a line, A child sings the same tune as her father, on notes further to the right
Volume: louder or softer: Leila plays C4, then the same C4 much harder, Someone turns the radio up during the chorus, Omid whispers a word, then shouts the same word on the same note
SAME NOTE, HIGHER
The octave
Start on C4 and go up 12 half steps (a half step is one key to the next, black keys included). You land on C5. It is clearly higher, yet it sounds like the same note. That distance is an octave. The top note vibrates exactly twice as fast, and your ear hears that clean 2-to-1 match as sameness.
The number after the letter tells you which octave you're in. It goes up by one at every C: B4 is followed by C5, not C4.
Counting C4 up to C5, one key at a time.
C4 -> C# 1
D 2
D# 3
E 4
F 5
F# 6
G 7
G# 8
A 9
A# 10
B 11
C5 1212 half steps = one octave.
C4 and C5: same name, the top one twice as fast.Count moves, not keys: don't count the key you start on. The same works from any note: E4 up 12 is E5, A3 up 12 is A4.
Check yourself
Sara hums C5 and asks Daniel to match it. His note is clearly lower, yet it blends with hers and sounds like the same note. What did he most likely hum?
- B4, one half step below hers
- C4, an octave below
- C5, just more quietly
- G4, because it sits inside the same octave
Show the answer
C4, an octave below
Yes. C4 is 12 half steps below C5 and vibrates half as fast, so it blends as the same note. For matching a pitch, an octave away counts.
Which is higher? Count half steps up from C4.
C4 0
G4 7
A4 9
B4 11
C5 12B4 is lower than C5, by 1 half step.
A4 is lower than C5, by 3.
The letters restart at every C, so the number decides.Beginners often think B must be higher than C because it comes later in the alphabet. Within one octave that's true (B4 is above C4), but C5 is the next octave up.
Check yourself
Kian plays B4 and then C5. The melody went down, because B comes after C in the alphabet.
Show the answer
False
False. C5 is one key to the right of B4, one half step higher, so the melody went up. The letters start again at every C and the octave number rises with them: B4 is 11 half steps above C4, and C5 is 12.
Match a note by humming
- Play one note and just listen
Pick something comfortable, like G3 for a low voice or G4 for a higher one. Let it ring for two seconds before you make a sound.
- Hum softly on "mmm"
Quiet humming lets you hear the piano and yourself at the same time. Loud singing covers the note you're trying to match.
- Slide slowly towards it
Don't jump. Glide your hum a little up or a little down and listen to how it rubs against the note.
- Stop where the rub disappears
When you match, the two sounds melt into one. If the note is out of reach, hum it an octave lower or higher: that still counts.
Check yourself
Parisa hums along with an E4 on the piano. She hears a wobble, and when she slides her hum a little higher the wobble gets faster. What should she do?
- Keep sliding up; a faster wobble means she's nearly there
- Hum louder so the wobble is covered
- Slide down until the wobble slows and stops
- Switch to a different note, since E4 is out of her range
Show the answer
Slide down until the wobble slows and stops
Right. A faster wobble means she moved further away, so she started above E4 or went past it. Sliding down slows the wobble, and it stops when she's on the note.
Lesson recap
- Pitch is how high or low a note is: faster vibration sounds higher. On a keyboard, right is higher.
- Higher is not louder. Pitch changes with the key; volume changes with how hard you play it.
- An octave is 12 half steps, C4 to C5: the same note, higher, vibrating twice as fast.
- Men and women singing together are usually an octave apart, and it still sounds like one tune.
- To match a note, hum softly and slide until the wobble slows and stops; an octave away counts.