Body & Senses
How do we tell high and low sounds apart?
A high note, a low note: the Wusels trace the difference back to vibrations.
The short answer
A tone comes from something vibrating: moving back and forth quickly. Faster regular vibrations make a higher pitch; slower ones make a lower pitch. Loud and quiet describe a different difference.
Compare pitch
1. Lower pitch
Fewer vibrations in the same time: lower pitch.
2. Higher pitch
More vibrations in the same time: higher pitch.
3. High is not loud
The drawn waves have equal height. Pitch and loudness are different properties.
All time arrows mean equal intervals. Picture one has fewer vibrations and picture two more, so the second sound is higher.
Wave height and time duration stay equal. The third is a reminder: higher does not automatically mean louder.
Lines are graphs over time, not paths of air particles.
An imagined Wusel scene
Puschel and Flauschi investigate
Puschel hums a low note and Flauschi a high one. Then Puschel hums his low note a little louder. Flauschi listens: it is louder, but not higher. Now they swap notes.
Try explaining it
A string vibrates back and forth faster. What happens to its pitch?
Choose a), b) or c), then explain your choice.
- a)The sound always gets quieter.
- b)The pitch gets lower.
- c)The pitch gets higher.
Show the explanation
Correct: c): The pitch gets higher.
A tone comes from something vibrating: moving back and forth quickly. Faster regular vibrations make a higher pitch; slower ones make a lower pitch. Loud and quiet describe a different difference.
Word help
- cell
- A tiny living unit. Living things are made of cells.
- nerve
- A bundle of fibres that carry signals through the body.
Explore in more detail
Here you will find longer explanations and further details. You can explore them together.
Understand step by step
How it works – simply explained
A movement repeats
A vibrating sound source moves back and forth repeatedly. Its repetitions per second are called frequency.
Fast and slow differ
More regular vibrations per second give a higher pitch; fewer give a lower pitch. Loudness is different. A high note can be quiet and a low note loud.
The ear processes the pattern
Different cochlear regions respond especially to different pitches. Nerves carry signals onwards and the brain processes them to distinguish sounds.
High is different from loud
A small bell can make a high, quiet tone; a big drum may sound low and strong. Pitch concerns how frequently regular vibrations follow one another; loudness is a different property. Many waves in the same time interval represent a higher pitch, fewer a lower one. This is a model, not a visible wavy snake of air.
The key points again
Discovery 1
Sound comes from vibrations and travels to the ear as a wave.
Source: [1]
Discovery 2
Faster regular vibrations sound higher; slower ones sound lower.
Source: [2]
Discovery 3
Sensory cells in the inner ear respond to different pitches. The brain processes their signals.
Source: [1]