Music Note Fundamental Frequencies
It might come as a surprise but this page contains, dun, dun, dun… a list of music note frequencies.
Music note fundamental frequencies form the core of understanding how musical notes are produced and perceived. These frequencies, measured in Hertz (Hz), indicate the number of vibrations per second that create a particular pitch. Each note, whether it’s on a piano, a guitar, or a synthesizer, corresponds to a specific fundamental frequency. For example, the note A4 has a fundamental frequency of 440 Hz, which serves as a tuning standard for most instruments around the world. However, fundamental frequencies are not just useful for tuning; they’re essential in many areas of music production, sound engineering, and music theory.
Table of Contents
The Science of Fundamental Frequencies
When we hear a musical note, we’re actually perceiving a combination of different sound waves. The fundamental frequency is the lowest frequency in a note and is typically the most prominent, defining the pitch that we recognize. However, a note also contains a series of higher frequencies called overtones or harmonics, which contribute to the note’s timbre or tone color. The fundamental frequency is crucial for tuning because it forms the baseline pitch of the note. While overtones enrich the sound, the fundamental frequency provides the core pitch that we identify, such as C, G, or F.
In the world of acoustics, sound is essentially a vibration of air molecules, and when a note is played, the instrument vibrates at a specific rate, generating a sound wave. The faster the vibration, the higher the pitch. For instance, doubling the frequency of a note will raise its pitch by one octave. So, if A4 is 440 Hz, A5 will be 880 Hz. This predictable relationship between pitch and frequency is a key part of why music works as it does.
Practical Applications of Music Note Fundamental Frequencies
Tuning Instruments
One of the most common uses of fundamental frequencies is for tuning instruments. Musicians need their instruments to be perfectly in tune to produce harmoniously pleasing music. By referencing the fundamental frequency of specific notes, musicians can ensure that their instruments are accurately tuned. This is especially crucial for instruments like pianos, where a wide range of frequencies needs to be precisely calibrated, or guitars, where small variations in tuning can significantly affect the sound.
Digital tuners, commonly used by musicians today, measure the frequency of the sound being played and compare it to the target fundamental frequency. If the pitch is too high or too low, the tuner will indicate whether the musician needs to tighten or loosen the string or adjust the instrument’s settings.
Equalization in Music Production
In music production, knowing the fundamental frequencies of notes is essential for equalization (EQ), the process of adjusting the balance of different frequencies in an audio track. Each instrument in a recording occupies a certain range of frequencies. For example, a bass guitar primarily occupies the lower frequency range, while a snare drum may sit in the midrange, and cymbals occupy the high frequencies. To create a balanced mix, sound engineers need to boost or cut certain frequencies to ensure that each instrument is clearly audible without clashing with others.
Understanding the fundamental frequencies of notes can help engineers make more precise EQ decisions. For instance, if a mix sounds too “muddy,” the engineer might reduce the frequencies around 200 Hz, where certain notes or instruments might be overlapping. Similarly, to make a vocal track clearer, they may boost frequencies around 2-5 kHz, which is where the clarity of the human voice often lies.
Sound Design and Synthesis
For music producers working with synthesizers, understanding fundamental frequencies is crucial for sound design. Synthesizers generate sound by manipulating waveforms, and the frequency of these waveforms determines the pitch of the sound produced. Producers can precisely control the oscillators in a synthesizer to match the fundamental frequency of any musical note, allowing them to create custom sounds that fit seamlessly into a composition.
Additionally, harmonics and overtones play a significant role in shaping the sound of a synthesizer. By understanding the relationship between fundamental frequencies and their harmonics, producers can craft rich, dynamic sounds with the right balance of frequencies. For example, adjusting the harmonics can make a sound feel warmer or more metallic, depending on how much emphasis is placed on the higher frequencies.
Acoustics and Room Treatment
In live sound settings or studio environments, understanding fundamental frequencies also helps with acoustics and room treatment. Every room has a set of resonant frequencies, often called room modes, where sound waves reflect and build up, creating areas where certain frequencies are either amplified or diminished. For instance, low frequencies often accumulate in the corners of a room, causing a bass-heavy sound. By knowing the fundamental frequencies of the music being played, sound engineers can apply acoustic treatments to reduce these unwanted effects, such as using bass traps or diffusers to manage the sound reflections in a room.
Music Theory and Harmonics
From a music theory perspective, understanding fundamental frequencies is key to grasping how notes relate to one another. For example, the concept of intervals, which are the distances between two notes, can be explained in terms of frequency ratios. A perfect fifth, one of the most consonant intervals in Western music, has a frequency ratio of 3:2. This means that if one note has a frequency of 300 Hz, the note a perfect fifth above it would have a frequency of 450 Hz.
This understanding extends into harmonics, which are multiples of the fundamental frequency. The first harmonic is the fundamental frequency itself, the second harmonic is double the frequency, the third is triple, and so on. These harmonics define the characteristic sound of different instruments and give rise to concepts like consonance and dissonance in music.
Audio Forensics and Analysis
Outside of music creation, fundamental frequencies also have applications in fields like audio forensics, where experts analyze sound recordings for evidence. Understanding the frequencies present in a recording can help analysts identify the source of a sound, detect whether a recording has been tampered with, or even enhance the clarity of speech or environmental noises in the recording.
Making Sense Of The Frequency Table
Music note fundamental frequencies are more than just numbers on a chart—they’re the foundation of how we experience pitch, tone, and harmony in music. Whether you’re tuning an instrument, mixing a track, designing a sound, or studying music theory, understanding these frequencies can deepen your knowledge and improve your work. By mastering the relationship between pitch and frequency, musicians and producers alike can create more precise, harmonious, and impactful music.
Numbered Musical Octaves
In Western music, the system of numbered musical octaves helps to categorize pitches based on their frequency range. An octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double (or half) the frequency. For example, if the frequency of A4 is 440 Hz, the frequency of A5 (one octave higher) will be 880 Hz, and A3 (one octave lower) will be 220 Hz.
The octaves are numbered to indicate where a note falls on the musical spectrum, with middle C (C4) serving as a central reference point. This system allows musicians to differentiate between the same note in different pitch ranges. For instance, C3 is one octave below C4, while C5 is one octave above C4.
The numbering starts from C0 (the lowest C on a standard piano) and increases as the pitch rises. On an 88-key piano, the lowest note is A0, and the highest is C8. This system is particularly useful for instruments, vocal ranges, and digital audio production, as it provides a clear and standardized way to refer to specific notes across different octaves and registers.
Music Note Fundamental Frequencies Table
| Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|
| C0 | 16.35 |
| C#0 - Db0 | 17.32 |
| D0 | 18.35 |
| D#0 - Eb0 | 19.45 |
| E0 | 20.6 |
| F0 | 21.83 |
| F#0 - Gb0 | 23.12 |
| G0 | 24.5 |
| G#0 - Ab0 | 25.96 |
| A0 | 27.5 |
| A#0 - Bb0 | 29.14 |
| B0 | 30.87 |
| Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|
| C1 | 32.7 |
| C#1 - Db1 | 34.65 |
| D1 | 36.71 |
| D#1 - Eb1 | 38.89 |
| E1 | 41.2 |
| F1 | 43.65 |
| F#1 - Gb1 | 46.25 |
| G1 | 49 |
| G#1 - Ab1 | 51.91 |
| A1 | 55 |
| A#1 - Bb1 | 58.27 |
| B1 | 61.74 |
| Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|
| C2 | 65.41 |
| C#2 - Db2 | 69.3 |
| D2 | 73.42 |
| D#2 - Eb2 | 77.78 |
| E2 | 82.41 |
| F2 | 87.31 |
| F#2 - Gb2 | 92.5 |
| G2 | 98 |
| G#2 - Ab2 | 103.83 |
| A2 | 110 |
| A#2 - Bb2 | 116.54 |
| B2 | 123.47 |
| Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|
| C3 | 130.81 |
| C#3 - Db3 | 138.59 |
| D3 | 146.83 |
| D#3 - Eb3 | 155.56 |
| E3 | 164.81 |
| F3 | 174.61 |
| F#3 - Gb3 | 185 |
| G3 | 196 |
| G#3 - Ab3 | 207.65 |
| A3 | 220 |
| A#3 - Bb3 | 233.08 |
| B3 | 246.94 |
| Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|
| C4 (Middle C) | 261.63 |
| C#4 - Db4 | 277.18 |
| D4 | 293.66 |
| D#4 - Eb4 | 311.13 |
| E4 | 329.63 |
| F4 | 349.23 |
| F#4 - Gb4 | 369.99 |
| G4 | 392 |
| G#4 - Ab4 | 415.3 |
| A4 | 440 |
| A#4 - Bb4 | 466.16 |
| B4 | 493.88 |
| Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|
| C5 | 523.25 |
| C#5 - Db5 | 554.37 |
| D5 | 587.33 |
| D#5 - Eb5 | 622.25 |
| E5 | 659.26 |
| F5 | 698.46 |
| F#5 - Gb5 | 739.99 |
| G5 | 783.99 |
| G#5 - Ab5 | 830.61 |
| A5 | 880 |
| A#5 - Bb5 | 932.33 |
| B5 | 987.77 |
| Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|
| C6 | 1046.5 |
| C#6 - Db6 | 1108.73 |
| D6 | 1174.66 |
| D#6 - Eb6 | 1244.51 |
| E6 | 1318.51 |
| F6 | 13.96.91 |
| F#6 - Gb6 | 1479.98 |
| G6 | 1567.98 |
| G#6 - Ab6 | 1661.22 |
| A6 | 1760 |
| A#6 - Bb6 | 1864.66 |
| B6 | 1975.53 |
| Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|
| C7 | 2093 |
| C#7 - Db7 | 2217.46 |
| D7 | 2349.32 |
| D#7 - Eb7 | 2489.02 |
| E7 | 2637.02 |
| F7 | 2793.83 |
| F#7 - Gb7 | 2959.96 |
| G7 | 3135.96 |
| G#7 - Ab7 | 3322.44 |
| A7 | 3520 |
| A#7 - Bb7 | 3729.31 |
| B7 | 3951.07 |
| Note | Frequency (Hz) |
|---|---|
| C8 | 4186.01 |
| C#8 - Db8 | 4434.92 |
| D8 | 4698.64 |
| D#8 - Eb8 | 4978.03 |
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