Glossary

A short glossary of the music ideas Pitchpath drills. Tap any example to hear it.

Pitch

Pitch is how high or low a sound is. Two pitches sound the same if they're the same frequency; different if they aren't.

Note

A note has a name (A, B, C, …) and a pitch. The same note name in different octaves sounds related — that's the basis of an "octave".

Interval

An interval is the distance between two notes. A 5th sounds bright and stable; an octave is two notes that sound "the same" but one is higher.

Chord

A chord is several notes played at the same time. The "quality" of a chord (major, minor…) describes its mood.

Scale

A scale is a sequence of notes within an octave that establishes a key. The major scale (Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do) is the most common in Western music.

Key

A key is a "home" pitch (the tonic) plus the scale built on it. C major has C as its home; songs in C major feel resolved when they land on C.

Solfège

A movable-do system that names notes by their function in a key, not by letter. C in C major is "Do"; C in F major is "Sol". Useful because it travels with the key.

Contour

The shape of a melody — whether it ascends, descends, or both. Easier to hear than specific intervals, and a good warm-up.