Music commonly ranges over which frequency set?

• A. 20 Hz–5,000 Hz
• B. 20 Hz–20,000 Hz
• C. 5 Hz–500 Hz
• D. 100 Hz–10,000 Hz

Answer: (A)

Music commonly uses a frequency span starting at about 20 Hz, covering the lowest bass notes, up to about 5,000 Hz. This range contains the fundamental tones of many instruments and the most important harmonics that define timbre and help us perceive pitch and articulation. By around 5 kHz, many of the essential cues for tone quality and clarity are already present, and higher frequencies, while they add brightness, contribute less to the basic musical information and are more affected by playback limits. The other ranges miss key parts of the spectrum: some omit the bass fundamentals, others cut out significant upper-mmidrange content, or try to include the full audible range, which isn’t necessary for describing typical musical listening.