Singing and Pitch

What Is Pitch?#

Close your eyes. Listen to a bird singing outside. Now listen to a big dog barking. Which sound is higher? Which is lower?

The highness or lowness of a sound is called pitch. A bird's chirp has a high pitch. A dog's bark has a lower pitch. A tiny mouse would have a very high-pitched squeak. A big bear's growl would have a very low pitch.

How Do We Make Different Pitches?#

When something vibrates, it makes sound. The faster it vibrates, the higher the pitch. The slower it vibrates, the lower the pitch.

Think about a rubber band: stretch it tight and pluck it — it vibrates fast and makes a high-pitched sound. Loosen it and pluck it — it vibrates slowly and makes a lower sound.

Your voice makes sound the same way! Inside your throat, you have vocal cords — two thin folds of tissue. When you breathe and speak or sing, air pushes past these vocal cords and makes them vibrate. When you tighten them, they vibrate faster and your pitch gös higher. When you loosen them, your pitch gös lower.

High, Middle, and Low#

We organize pitches from low to high:

• Low pitches sound deep, heavy, and serious — like a tuba or a big drum.
• Middle pitches sound warm and natural — like speaking voice.
• High pitches sound light, bright, and clear — like a flute or a little bell.

In music, we use the letters A through G to name specific pitches. These letter names repeat going up and down.

Exploring Pitch with Your Voice#

Your voice can travel over a wide range of pitches! Try:

• Starting on a low pitch and sliding up slowly to a high pitch (like a siren).
• Saying "Weeee!" going from low to high.
• Saying "Ohhhh" going from high to low (like something falling).

These slides up and down are called glissandos. Exploring glissandos with your voice helps you understand pitch and warms up your voice muscles!