Which term describes the auditory property that places a sound on a scale from low to high?

• A. Volume
• B. Timbre
• C. Pitch
• D. Loudness

Answer: (C)

Pitch is the auditory property that places a sound on a scale from low to high. It comes from the frequency of the sound waves—the higher the frequency, the higher the pitch you perceive; the lower the frequency, the lower the pitch. This is why a note sounding in a higher register seems “higher” on the scale than a note in a lower register.

Volume and loudness, by contrast, describe how strong or quiet a sound seems, which relates to the sound’s amplitude rather than its height. Timbre, or tone color, is about the quality that makes sounds from different instruments or voices distinctive even when they have the same pitch and loudness. So the term that best captures the “low to high” sense is pitch.