Pitch depends mainly on frequency, so faster vibrations are heard as higher notes.

The longer version

Frequency counts how many complete pressure cycles pass a point each second, and the ear reads that rate as height of tone. Doubling the rate moves a note up by an octave, the interval that listeners everywhere treat as the same note in a different register.

Measured in cycles per second, a low hum sits in the tens while a bright hiss sits in the thousands. Loudness and tone colour can shift a little without changing that rate, which is why one note stays recognisable across different sources. Mechanical rate and perceived height track each other closely across most of the range.

Where this entry sits

Sound and Music gathers facts about how vibrations move through air and water, how ears turn them into meaning, and how instruments and notation shape what listeners hear. Expect echoes, pitch, volume, acoustics, and the odd silence in between. The full list sits on the Sound and Music page, where every entry is listed in order.