MusicHigh Sounds and Low Sounds
Melody sits on a sunny park bench with a small drum in her lap and a tiny tin whistle in her hand, tilting her ear up toward a robin chirping in the tree above her and then down toward the rumbling drum resting on her knees.
- Identify a sound as high or low by thinking carefully about it.
- Compare two sounds and explain which one is higher and which one is lower.
- Sort everyday sounds into high-sound and low-sound groups.
- Predict whether a small thing or a large thing is more likely to make a high sound.
Key terms
- Pitch
- How high or low a sound is when you hear it.
- High pitch
- A bright, light sound that seems to go up high.
- Low pitch
- A deep, heavy sound that seems to rumble down low.
- Vibration
- The fast back-and-forth shaking that makes a sound happen.
What Pitch Really Is
Pitch is the word for how high or low a sound is. Every sound is made when something vibrates, which means it shakes back and forth very fast. When something shakes very quickly, it makes a high pitch that sounds bright and light. When something shakes more slowly, it makes a low pitch that sounds deep and heavy. So pitch is really about how fast something is vibrating to make its sound travel to your ears.
Size Gives You a Clue
You can often guess the pitch of something by looking at its size. Small things usually make high sounds, and big things usually make low sounds. A tiny bird, a thin whistle, and a little triangle all make high pitches because their small parts vibrate quickly. A big bass drum, a long foghorn, and a large lion make low pitches because their big parts vibrate slowly. This size clue works for many instruments too, like a tiny piccolo flute compared to a giant tuba.
High and Low Are Not Loud and Soft
It is easy to mix up pitch with loudness, but they are completely different. Pitch is about how high or low a sound is, while loudness is about how strong or quiet a sound is. A tiny bird can chirp a high sound very softly, or a referee can blow a high whistle very loudly. A big drum can boom a low sound loudly, or rumble a low sound softly. So always ask two separate questions: is it high or low, and is it loud or soft?
Worked examples
Is a tiny flute or a big tuba higher in pitch?
- Look at the size of each instrument: the flute is small and thin, the tuba is big and wide.
- Remember that small things vibrate quickly and make high sounds.
- Remember that big things vibrate slowly and make low sounds.
- Match each instrument to its likely pitch using the size clue.
Answer: The tiny flute is higher in pitch, because small things usually make high sounds.
Put these three sounds in order from lowest to highest.
- Picture a foghorn on a big ship — very big, so it is a low sound.
- Picture a drum tap — medium and heavy, lower than a whistle but the foghorn is deeper.
- Picture a tiny whistle — very small, so it is the highest sound.
- Arrange them from the deepest rumble up to the brightest squeak.
Answer: From lowest to highest: foghorn, then drum, then whistle.
Activity
Look at the name of each sound and sort it into the HIGH or LOW bucket.
Practice
Hum a high sound like a bird, then hum a low sound like a bear.
Point to small things around you and guess if they make high or low sounds.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Loud sounds are always high.Loudness and pitch are different — a big drum can be loud and still very low.
- Big things make high sounds.Big things usually make low sounds because their large parts vibrate slowly.
Check your understanding
A tiny bird makes a sound. Is it HIGH or LOW?
Melody hits a big bass drum. What kind of sound does it make?
Which of these sounds is HIGH?
Recap
Pitch means how high or low a sound is, and it depends on how fast something vibrates. Small things usually vibrate quickly and make high sounds, while big things vibrate slowly and make low sounds. Pitch is not the same as loudness, which is about how strong a sound is.
Reflect
Can you name one high-sounding thing and one low-sounding thing near you?