Which statement best describes the relationship between frequency and pitch?

• A. Pitch is the human perception of the fundamental frequency
• B. Pitch is the speed of the sound
• C. Pitch is the amplitude of the waveform
• D. Pitch is the wavelength of the wave

Answer: (A)

Pitch is the perceptual quality we hear as how high or low a sound seems. Frequency is the physical measure of how often the wave repeats per second. Our ears primarily use the fundamental frequency—the basic repeating pattern—to judge pitch, so higher frequency generally means higher pitch. In fact, doubling the frequency raises the pitch by about an octave. The other descriptions refer to speed of sound, loudness (amplitude), or wavelength, none of which define pitch.