VIII. 20th- and 21st-Century Techniques

# Pitch and Pitch Class

Megan Lavengood

Key Takeaways

• often relies on the distinction between versus .
• Pitch classes are best represented with , where C=0.

# Pitch

are discrete tones with individual frequencies.

The concept of pitch, then, does not imply . C4 is a pitch, and it is not the same pitch as C3.

# Pitch Class

Throughout , the word “class” means “group.” So a pitch class is a group of pitches—all pitches related by and . You have probably encountered both of these concepts before, even if not by name.

Our system of letter names for notes implies : equivalence between pitches that are spelled the same but are any number of octaves apart. C4 is the same as C3 is the same as C9, and so on, because they are all Cs (Example 1).

When someone says “there are twelve notes,” they are implying . Two notes are enharmonically equivalent if you would press the same key on the piano to play them—even if the spelling is different. Enharmonic equivalence is the sense in which A♭ and G♯ are “the same.” While tonal music nearly always distinguishes between enharmonic pitches—A♭ as le $(\downarrow\hat{6})$ leads to G, but G♯ as si $(\uparrow\hat{5})$ leads to A—post-tonal music is often different.[1] Because many composers no longer felt constrained by a tonal center, the relationships among scale degrees and spellings aren’t important.

In summary, pitch classes are groups of pitches related by octave and enharmonic equivalence. A♭4, A♭3, G♯2, etc. are all members of the same pitch class.

Example 1. Pitch versus pitch class.

# Integer Notation

If notes are enharmonically equivalent, then the system of seven letter names does not work well to describe the twelve pitch classes. Instead, in set theory, we use integer notation, which assigns a number between 0 and 11 to each pitch class (Example 2). All Cs, and any notes that are enharmonically equivalent to C (B♯, for example), are pitch class 0. All C♯s, and any notes that are enharmonically equivalent to C♯ (D♭, for example) are pitch class 1, and so on. To summarize with a few of the most common note names:

1. C (B♯, etc.)
2. C♯, D♭
3. D (C𝄪, etc.)
4. D♯, E♭
5. E (F♭, etc.)
6. F (E♯, etc.)
7. F♯, G♭
8. G (F𝄪, etc.)
9. G♯, A♭
10. A (G𝄪, etc.)
11. A♯, B♭
12. B (C♭, etc.)

Practice

Test your recall of integer names by filling in the blanks.

• Straus, Joseph N. 2016. Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Resources
Assignments
1. Pitch and pitch class (.pdf, .mscz). Asks students to translate between pitch class integers, note names, and staff notation.