![Transposing instrument- written sounds as](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/Transposing_instrument-_written_sounds_as.png)
Concert pitch is the
pitch reference to which a group of
musical instrument
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
s are
tuned for a performance. Concert pitch may vary from
ensemble
Ensemble may refer to:
Art
* Architectural ensemble
* ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album
* Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary
* Ensemble cast (drama, comedy)
* Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus
* ''En ...
to ensemble, and has varied widely over
music history
Music history, sometimes called historical musicology, is a highly diverse subfield of the broader discipline of musicology that studies music from a historical point of view.
In theory, "music history" could refer to the study of the history o ...
. The most common modern tuning standard uses
440 Hz for A above
middle C
C or Do is the first note and semitone of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequen ...
as a reference note, with other notes being set relative to it. In the literature this is also called ''international standard pitch''.
The term "concert pitch" is also used to distinguish between the "written" (or "nominal"), and "sounding" (or "real") notes of a
transposing instrument
A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch (concert pitch is the pitch on a non-transposing instrument such as the piano). For example, playing a written middle C on a transposing i ...
, i.e. ''concert pitch'' may refer to the sounding pitch on a non-transposing instrument. Music for transposing instruments is transposed into different
keys
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
from that of non-transposing instruments. For example, playing a written C on a B
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
or
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
produces a non-transposing instrument's B. This pitch is referred to as "concert B".
Modern standard concert pitch
The A above
middle C
C or Do is the first note and semitone of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequen ...
is often set at
440 Hz. Historically, this A has been tuned to a variety of higher and lower pitches.
History of pitch standards in Western music
Historically, various standards have been used to fix the pitch of notes at certain frequencies. Various systems of
musical tuning
In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:
* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.
* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.
Tuning practice
Tun ...
have also been used to determine the relative frequency of notes in a scale.
Pre-19th century
Until the 19th century, there was no coordinated effort to standardize musical pitch, and the levels across Europe varied widely. Pitches did not just vary from place to place, or over time—pitch levels could vary even within the same city. The pitch used for an English cathedral organ in the 17th century, for example, could be as much as five
semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...
s lower than that used for a domestic
keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital piano ...
in the same city.
Even within one church, the pitch used could vary over time because of the way
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
s were tuned. Generally, the end of an organ pipe would be hammered inwards to a cone, or flared outwards, to raise or lower the pitch. When the pipe ends became frayed by this constant process they were all trimmed down, thus raising the overall pitch of the organ.
From the early 18th century, pitch could also be controlled with the use of
tuning fork
A tuning fork is an acoustic resonator in the form of a two-pronged fork with the prongs (tines) formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal (usually steel). It resonates at a specific constant pitch when set vibrating by striking it against ...
s (invented in 1711), although again there was variation. For example, a tuning fork associated with
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
, dating from 1740, is pitched at A = while a later one from 1780 is pitched at A = about a quarter-tone lower. A tuning fork that belonged to
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
around 1800, now in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
, is pitched at A = , well over a half-tone higher.
Overall, there was a tendency towards the end of the 18th century for the frequency of the A above middle C to be in the range of to
The frequencies quoted here are based on modern measurements and would not have been precisely known to musicians of the day. Although
Mersenne
Marin Mersenne, OM (also known as Marinus Mersennus or ''le Père'' Mersenne; ; 8 September 1588 – 1 September 1648) was a French polymath whose works touched a wide variety of fields. He is perhaps best known today among mathematicians for ...
had made a rough determination of sound frequencies as early as the 17th century, such measurements did not become scientifically accurate until the 19th century, beginning with the work of German physicist
Johann Scheibler in the 1830s. The term formerly used for the unit of pitch,
cycle per second
The cycle per second is a once-common English name for the unit of frequency now known as the hertz (Hz). The plural form was typically used, often written cycles per second, cycles/second, c.p.s., c/s, or, ambiguously, just cycles (Cy./Cyc.). The ...
(CPS) was renamed the
hertz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...
(Hz) in the 20th century in honor of
Heinrich Hertz
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ( ; ; 22 February 1857 – 1 January 1894) was a German physicist who first conclusively proved the existence of the electromagnetic waves predicted by James Clerk Maxwell's Maxwell's equations, equations of electrom ...
.
Pitch inflation
During historical periods when instrumental music rose in prominence (relative to the voice), there was a continuous tendency for pitch levels to rise. This "pitch inflation" seemed largely a product of instrumentalists competing with each other, each attempting to produce a brighter, more "brilliant", sound than that of their rivals. On at least two occasions, pitch inflation had become so severe that reform became needed. At the beginning of the 17th century,
Michael Praetorius
Michael Praetorius (probably 28 September 1571 – 15 February 1621) was a German composer, organist, and music theorist. He was one of the most versatile composers of his age, being particularly significant in the development of musical forms ba ...
reported in his encyclopedic ''Syntagma musicum'' that pitch levels had become so high that singers were experiencing severe throat strain and
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
nists and
viol
The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...
players were complaining of snapped strings. The standard voice ranges he cites show that the pitch level of his time, at least in the part of Germany where he lived, was at least a
minor third
In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...
higher than today's. Solutions to this problem were sporadic and local, but generally involved the establishment of separate standards for voice and organ () and for chamber ensembles (). Where the two were combined, as for example in a
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
The meaning of ...
, the singers and instrumentalists might perform from music written in different keys. This system kept pitch inflation at bay for some two centuries.
Concert pitch rose further in the 19th century as may be seen reflected in the tuning forks of France. The pipe organ tuning fork in
Versailles Chapel in 1795 is 390 Hz,
[ but in the ]Paris Opera
The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...
an 1810 tuning fork gives A = 423 Hz, an 1822 fork gives A = 432 Hz, and an 1855 fork gives A = 449 Hz. At La Scala
La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...
in Milan, the A above middle C rose as high as .
19th- and 20th-century standards
The strongest opponents of the upward tendency in pitch were singers, who complained that it was putting a strain on their voices. Largely due to their protests, the French government passed a law on February 16, 1859, which set the A above middle C at 435 Hz. This was the first attempt to standardize pitch on such a scale, and was known as the ''diapason normal''.[ It became quite a popular pitch standard outside France as well, and has also been known at various times as ''French pitch'', ''continental pitch'' or ''international pitch'' (the last of these not to be confused with the 1939 "international standard pitch" described below). An 1885 conference in Vienna established this value among Italy, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Prussia, Saxony, Sweden and Württemberg. This was included as "Convention of 16 and 19 November 1885 regarding the establishment of a concert pitch" in the ]Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
in 1919 which formally ended World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The ''diapason normal'' resulted in middle C
C or Do is the first note and semitone of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequen ...
being tuned at about .
An alternative pitch standard known as ''philosophical'' or ''scientific pitch
Scientific pitch, also known as philosophical pitch, Sauveur pitch or Verdi tuning, is an absolute concert pitch standard which is based on middle C ( C4) being set to 256 Hz rather than 261.62 Hz, making it approximately 37.6 cents l ...
'' fixes middle C at (that is, 28 Hz), which results the A above it being approximately in equal temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament or tuning system, which approximates just intervals by dividing an octave (or other interval) into equal steps. This means the ratio of the frequencies of any adjacent pair of notes is the same, wh ...
tuning. The appeal of this system is its mathematical idealism (the frequencies of all the Cs being powers of two
A power of two is a number of the form where is an integer, that is, the result of exponentiation with number two as the base and integer as the exponent.
In a context where only integers are considered, is restricted to non-negative ...
). This system never received the same official recognition as the French A = 435 Hz and has not been widely used. This tuning has been promoted unsuccessfully by the LaRouche movement
The LaRouche movement is a political and cultural network promoting the late Lyndon LaRouche and his ideas. It has included many organizations and companies around the world, which campaign, gather information and publish books and periodicals. ...
's Schiller Institute
The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...
under the name ''Verdi tuning'' since Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
had proposed a slight lowering of the French tuning system. However, the Schiller Institute's recommended tuning for A of 432 Hz is for the Pythagorean
Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to:
Philosophy
* Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras
* Ne ...
ratio of 27:16, rather than the logarithmic ratio of equal temperament tuning.
British attempts at standardisation in the 19th century gave rise to the ''old philharmonic pitch'' standard of about A = 452 Hz (different sources quote slightly different values), replaced in 1896 by the considerably "deflated" ''new philharmonic pitch'' at A = 439 Hz. The high pitch was maintained by Sir Michael Costa for the Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building
* ...
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
Festivals, causing the withdrawal of the principal tenor Sims Reeves
John Sims Reeves (21 October 1821 – 25 October 1900) was an English operatic, oratorio and ballad tenor vocalist during the mid-Victorian era.
Reeves began his singing career in 1838 but continued his vocal studies until 1847. He soon establ ...
in 1877, though at singers' insistence the Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
Festival pitch was lowered (and the organ retuned) at that time. At the Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. From 1895 until 1941, it ...
in London, the establishment of the ''diapason normal'' for the Promenade Concerts
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
in 1895 (and retuning of the organ to A = 435.5 at 15 °C (59 °F), to be in tune with A = 439 in a heated hall) caused the Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a memb ...
and others (including the Bach Choir, and the Felix Mottl
right
Felix Josef von Mottl (between 29 July/29 August 1856 – 2 July 1911) was an Austrian conductor and composer. He was regarded as one of the most brilliant conductors of his day. He composed three operas, of which ''Agnes Bernauer'' (Weima ...
and Arthur Nikisch
Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Br ...
concerts) to adopt the continental pitch thereafter.
In England the term ''low pitch'' was used from 1896 onward to refer to the new Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a membe ...
tuning standard of A = 439 Hz at 68 °F, while "high pitch" was used for the older tuning of A = 452.4 Hz at 60 °F. Although the larger London orchestras were quick to conform to the new, low pitch, provincial orchestras continued using the high pitch until at least the 1920s, and most brass bands were still using the high pitch in the mid-1960s. Highland pipe bands continue to use an even sharper tuning, around A = 470–480 Hz, over a semitone higher than A440. As a result, bagpipes are often perceived as playing in B despite being notated in A (as if they were transposing instrument
A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch (concert pitch is the pitch on a non-transposing instrument such as the piano). For example, playing a written middle C on a transposing i ...
s in D-flat), and are often tuned to match B brass instruments when the two are required to play together.
The Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
Conference of the Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians The Society of German Natural Scientists and Physicians (german: Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte, GDNÄ) is the oldest scientific association in Germany. It was founded in 1822 by the German naturalist Lorenz Oken. Carl Gustav Carus, ...
in 1834 recommended C264 (A440) as the standard pitch based on Scheibler's studies with his Tonometer. For this reason A440 has been referred to as Stuttgart pitch or Scheibler pitch.
In 1939, an international conference recommended that the A above middle C be tuned to 440 Hz, now known as ''concert pitch''. As a technical standard this was taken up by the International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Ar ...
in 1955 and reaffirmed by them in 1975 as ISO 16
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Iso ...
. The difference between this and the ''diapason normal'' is due to confusion over the temperature at which the French standard should be measured. The initial standard was A = , but this was superseded by A = 440 Hz, possibly because 439 Hz was difficult to reproduce in a laboratory since 439 is a prime number
A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
.[
]
Current concert pitches
The most common standard around the world is currently A = 440 Hz.
In practice most orchestras tune to a note given out by the oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
A ...
, and most oboists use an electronic tuning device when playing the tuning note. Some orchestras tune using an electronic tone generator. When playing with fixed-pitch instruments such as the piano, the orchestra will generally tune to them—a piano will normally have been tuned to the orchestra's normal pitch. Overall, it is thought that the general trend since the middle of the 20th century has been for standard pitch to rise, though it has been rising far more slowly than it has in the past. Some orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic
The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
History
The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...
now use a slightly lower pitch (443 Hz) than their highest previous standard (445 Hz).
Many modern ensembles which specialize in the performance of Baroque music
Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...
have agreed on a standard of A = 415 Hz. An exact equal-tempered semitone lower than 440 Hz would be 415.305 Hz, though this is rounded to the nearest integer for simplicity and convenience. In principle this allows for playing along with modern fixed-pitch instruments if their parts are transposed down a semitone. It is, however, common performance practice, especially in the German Baroque idiom, to tune certain works to , approximately a semitone higher than 440 Hz (460–470 Hz) (e.g., Pre-Leipzig period cantatas of Bach).
Orchestras in Cuba typically use A436 as the pitch so that strings, which are difficult to obtain, last longer. In 2015 American pianist Simone Dinnerstein
Simone Andrea Dinnerstein (born September 18, 1972) is an American classical pianist.
Education
Dinnerstein was born in New York City, New York, United States to a Jewish family. She is the daughter of Renee and Simon Dinnerstein. She studied in ...
brought attention to this issue and later traveled to Cuba with strings donated by friends.
Controversial claims for 432 Hz
Particularly in the beginning of the 21st century, many websites and online videos have been published arguing for the adoption of the 432 Hz tuning – often referred to as "Verdi pitch" – instead of the predominant 440 Hz. These claims also include conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
, related to claims of specious health benefits from 432 Hz pitch, or involving Nazis having favored the 440 Hz tuning.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Concert Pitch
Pitch (music)