Difference Wiki

Pitch vs. Tone

The main difference between Pitch and Tone is that the Pitch is a key auditory factor of the sound, whereas Tone relates to the sound quality.

Key Differences

When we talk about music, the pitch is the value of a tone in it; on the flip side, the tone is known as the thickness of the note in music.
Pitch is a key auditory factor of the sound. It is defined as the perceived fundamental frequency of sound. On the other hand, tone refers to the ‘quality’ of sound.
Pitch can be perfect in music; conversely, the tone cannot.
The lexical or grammatical meaning cannot be distinguished by the pitch; on the other side, the tone that can distinguish the lexical or grammatical meaning.
Harlon Moss
Mar 20, 2022
Pitch is the degree of how high and low is the sound, whereas the tone refers to the musical sound concerning the pitch, quality, and strength of the sound.
The pitch of the sound depends on its frequency. The sound with high frequency is shrill, and the sound with low frequency is like a cloud thunder. While the tone of a sound is used to determine the quality of sound, it is the reason that we like or dislike the voice of some singers.
Harlon Moss
Mar 20, 2022
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The related element with pitch is frequency; on the contrary, the related elements with tone are pitch, strength, and quality.
Janet White
Mar 20, 2022

Comparison Chart

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The main auditory factor of the sound is pitch
The ‘quality’ of sound is the tone

Related Elements

Frequency
Pitch, quality, and strength

In the Field of Music

It is the value of a tone
The thickness of the note in music

Perfection in Music

It has
It does not have

Lexical and Grammatical Meaning

Not used to distinguish
Used to distinguish
Aimie Carlson
Mar 20, 2022
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Pitch and Tone Definitions

Pitch

Any of various thick, dark, sticky substances obtained from the distillation residue of coal tar, wood tar, or petroleum and used for waterproofing, roofing, caulking, and paving.

Tone

A sound of distinct pitch, quality, and duration; a note.

Pitch

Any of various natural bitumens, such as mineral pitch or asphalt.

Tone

The interval of a major second in the diatonic scale; a whole step.

Pitch

A resin derived from the sap of various coniferous trees, as the pines.

Tone

A recitational melody in a Gregorian chant.
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Pitch

The act or an instance of pitching.

Tone

The quality or character of sound.

Pitch

A throw of the ball by the pitcher to the batter.

Tone

The characteristic quality or timbre of a particular instrument or voice.

Pitch

A ball so thrown
Hit the pitch into left field.

Tone

The pitch of a word used to determine its meaning or to distinguish differences in meaning.

Pitch

(Sports) A playing field. Also called wicket.

Tone

The particular or relative pitch of a word, phrase, or sentence.

Pitch

(Nautical) The alternate dip and rise of a vessel's bow and stern.

Tone

Manner of expression in speech or writing
Took an angry tone with the reporters.

Pitch

The alternate lift and descent of the nose and tail of an airplane.

Tone

A general quality, effect, or atmosphere
A room with an elegant tone.

Pitch

A steep slope.

Tone

A color or shade of color
Light tones of blue.

Pitch

The degree of such a slope.

Tone

Quality of color
The green wallpaper had a particularly somber tone.

Pitch

(Sports) A single interval between ledges or anchors used as belaying points in mountaineering
A climb of six pitches.

Tone

The general effect in painting of light, color, and shade.

Pitch

The angle of a roof.

Tone

The normal state of elastic tension or partial contraction in resting muscles.

Pitch

The highest point of a structure
The pitch of an arch.

Tone

Normal firmness of a tissue or an organ.

Pitch

A level or degree, as of intensity
Worked at a feverish pitch.

Tone

To give a particular tone or inflection to.

Pitch

(Acoustics) The distinctive quality of a sound, dependent primarily on the frequency of the sound waves produced by its source.

Tone

To soften or change the color of (a painting or photographic negative, for example).

Pitch

(Music) The relative position of a tone within a range of musical sounds, as determined by this quality.

Tone

To sound monotonously; intone.

Pitch

(Music) Any of various standards for this quality associating each tone with a particular frequency.

Tone

To make firmer or stronger. Often used with up
Exercises that tone up the body.

Pitch

The distance traveled by a machine screw in a single revolution.

Tone

To assume a particular color quality.

Pitch

The distance between two corresponding points on adjacent screw threads or gear teeth.

Tone

To harmonize in color.

Pitch

The distance between two corresponding points on a helix.

Tone

(music) A specific pitch.

Pitch

The distance that a propeller would travel in an ideal medium during one complete revolution, measured parallel to the shaft of the propeller.

Tone

(music) (in the diatonic scale) An interval of a major second.

Pitch

A line of talk designed to persuade
"[his] pious pitch for ... austerity" (Boston Globe).

Tone

(music) (in a Gregorian chant) A recitational melody.

Pitch

An advertisement.

Tone

The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.

Pitch

Chiefly British The stand of a vendor or hawker.

Tone

(linguistics) The pitch of a word that distinguishes a difference in meaning, for example in Chinese.

Pitch

(Games) See seven-up.

Tone

(dated) A whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm and a regular rise and fall of the voice.
Children often read with a tone.

Pitch

(Printing) The density of characters in a printed line, usually expressed as characters per inch.

Tone

(literature) The manner in which speech or writing is expressed.

Pitch

To smear or cover with pitch.

Tone

(obsolete) State of mind; temper; mood.

Pitch

To throw, usually with careful aim.

Tone

The shade or quality of a colour.

Pitch

To discard by throwing
Pitched my worn-out sneakers.

Tone

The favourable effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, or of colours.
This picture has tone.

Pitch

To throw (the ball) from the mound to the batter.

Tone

The definition and firmness of a muscle or organ; see also: tonus.

Pitch

To play (a game or part of a game) as pitcher.

Tone

(biology) The state of a living body or of any of its organs or parts in which the functions are healthy and performed with due vigor.

Pitch

To assign as pitcher
The manager decided to pitch a left-hander.

Tone

(biology) Normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli.

Pitch

To erect or establish; set up
Pitched a tent.
Pitch camp.

Tone

A gun

Pitch

To set firmly; implant; embed
Pitched stakes in the ground.

Tone

(figuratively)

Pitch

To set at a specified downward slant
Pitched the roof at a steep angle.

Tone

The general character, atmosphere, mood, or vibe (of a situation, place, etc.).
Her rousing speech gave an upbeat tone to the rest of the evening.

Pitch

To set at a particular level, degree, or quality
Pitched her expectations too high.

Tone

(Chiefly in the form lower/raise the tone of something) The quality of being respectable or admirable.

Pitch

(Music) To set the pitch or key of.

Tone

(transitive) to give a particular tone to

Pitch

To adapt so as to be applicable; direct
Pitched his speech to the teenagers in the audience.

Tone

(transitive) to change the colour of

Pitch

(Informal) To attempt to promote or sell, often in a high-pressure manner
"showed up on local TV to pitch their views" (Business Week).

Tone

(transitive) to make (something) firmer

Pitch

(Sports) To hit (a golf ball) in a high arc with backspin so that it does not roll very far after striking the ground.

Tone

(transitive) to utter with an affected tone.

Pitch

To lead (a card), thus establishing the trump suit.

Tone

The one (of two)

Pitch

To discard (a card other than a trump and different in suit from the card led).

Tone

Sound, or the character of a sound, or a sound considered as of this or that character; as, a low, high, loud, grave, acute, sweet, or harsh tone.
[Harmony divine] smooths her charming tones.
Tones that with seraph hymns might blend.

Pitch

To throw or toss something, such as a ball, horseshoe, or bale.

Tone

Accent, or inflection or modulation of the voice, as adapted to express emotion or passion.
Eager his tone, and ardent were his eyes.

Pitch

(Baseball) To play in the position of pitcher.

Tone

A whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm ahd a regular rise and fall of the voice; as, children often read with a tone.

Pitch

To plunge headlong
He pitched over the railing.

Tone

A sound considered as to pitch; as, the seven tones of the octave; she has good high tones.

Pitch

To stumble around; lurch.

Tone

That state of a body, or of any of its organs or parts, in which the animal functions are healthy and performed with due vigor.

Pitch

To buck, as a horse.

Tone

Tonicity; as, arterial tone.

Pitch

(Nautical) To dip bow and stern alternately.

Tone

State of mind; temper; mood.
The strange situation I am in and the melancholy state of public affairs, . . . drag the mind down . . . from a philosophical tone or temper, to the drudgery of private and public business.
Their tone was dissatisfied, almost menacing.

Pitch

To oscillate about a lateral axis so that the nose lifts or descends in relation to the tail. Used of an aircraft.

Tone

Tenor; character; spirit; drift; as, the tone of his remarks was commendatory.

Pitch

To oscillate about a lateral axis that is both perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and horizontal to the earth. Used of a missile or spacecraft.

Tone

General or prevailing character or style, as of morals, manners, or sentiment, in reference to a scale of high and low; as, a low tone of morals; a tone of elevated sentiment; a courtly tone of manners.

Pitch

To slope downward
The hill pitches steeply.

Tone

The general effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, together with color in the case of a painting; - commonly used in a favorable sense; as, this picture has tone.

Pitch

To set up living quarters; encamp; settle.

Tone

Quality, with respect to attendant feeling; the more or less variable complex of emotion accompanying and characterizing a sensation or a conceptual state; as, feeling tone; color tone.

Pitch

(Sports) To hit a golf ball in a high arc with backspin so that it does not roll very far after striking the ground.

Tone

Color quality proper; - called also hue. Also, a gradation of color, either a hue, or a tint or shade.
She was dressed in a soft cloth of a gray tone.

Pitch

A sticky, gummy substance secreted by trees; sap.
It is hard to get this pitch off my hand.

Tone

The condition of normal balance of a healthy plant in its relations to light, heat, and moisture.

Pitch

A dark, extremely viscous material remaining in still after distilling crude oil and tar.
They put pitch on the mast to protect it.
The barrel was sealed with pitch.
It was pitch black because there was no moon.

Tone

To utter with an affected tone.

Pitch

(geology) Pitchstone.

Tone

To bring, as a print, to a certain required shade of color, as by chemical treatment.
Its thousand hues toned down harmoniusly.
The best method for the purpose in hand was to employ some one of a character and position suited to get possession of their confidence, and then use it to tone down their religious strictures.

Pitch

A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand.
A good pitch in quoits

Tone

The quality of a person's voice;
He began in a conversational tone
He spoke in a nervous tone of voice

Pitch

(baseball) The act of pitching a baseball.
The pitch was low and inside.

Tone

(linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages;
The Beijing dialect uses four tones

Pitch

The field on which cricket, soccer, rugby, gridiron or field hockey is played. cricket pitch.}} Not often used in the US or Canada, where "field" is the preferred word.
The teams met on the pitch.

Tone

(music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound);
The timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely
The muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet

Pitch

(rare) The field of battle.

Tone

The general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people;
The feel of the city excited him
A clergyman improved the tone of the meeting
It had the smell of treason

Pitch

An effort to sell or promote something.
He gave me a sales pitch.

Tone

A quality of a given color that differs slightly from a primary color;
After several trials he mixed the shade of pink that she wanted

Pitch

The distance between evenly spaced objects, e.g. the teeth of a saw or gear, the turns of a screw thread, the centres of holes, or letters in a monospace font.
The pitch of pixels on the point scale is 72 pixels per inch.
The pitch of this saw is perfect for that type of wood.
A helical scan with a pitch of zero is equivalent to constant z-axis scanning.

Tone

A notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound;
The singer held the note too long

Pitch

The angle at which an object sits.
The pitch of the roof or haystack

Tone

A steady sound without overtones;
They tested his hearing with pure tones of different frequencies

Pitch

The rotation angle about the transverse axis.

Tone

The elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli;
The doctor tested my tonicity

Pitch

The degree to which a vehicle, especially a ship or aircraft, rotates on such an axis, tilting its bow or nose up or down. Compare with roll, yaw, and heave.
The pitch of an aircraft

Tone

A musical interval of two semitones

Pitch

(aviation) A measure of the angle of attack of a propeller.
The propeller blades' pitch went to 90° as the engine was feathered.

Tone

The quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author;
The general tone of articles appearing in the newspapers is that the government should withdraw
From the tone of her behavior I gathered that I had outstayed my welcome

Pitch

An area in a market (or similar) allocated to a particular trader.

Tone

Utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically;
The students chanted the same slogan over and over again

Pitch

(by extension) The place where a busker performs, a prostitute solicits clients, or an illegal gambling game etc. is set up before the public.

Tone

Of one's speech, varying the pitch

Pitch

An area on a campsite intended for occupation by a single tent, caravan or similar.

Tone

Change the color or tone of;
Tone a negative

Pitch

A level or degree, or (by extension), a peak or highest degree.

Tone

Change to a color image;
Tone a photographic image

Pitch

A point or peak; the extreme point of elevation or depression.

Tone

Give a healthy elasticity to;
Let's tone our muscles

Pitch

The most thrust-out point of a headland or cape.

Pitch

Collectively, the outermost points of some part of the body, especially the shoulders or hips.

Pitch

The height a bird reaches in flight, especially a bird of prey preparing to swoop down on its prey.

Pitch

A person's or animal's height.

Pitch

Prominence; importance.

Pitch

(climbing) A section of a climb or rock face; specifically, the climbing distance between belays or stances.

Pitch

(caving) A vertical cave passage, only negotiable by using rope or ladders.
The entrance pitch requires 30 metres of rope.

Pitch

(cricket) That point of the ground on which the ball pitches or lights when bowled.

Pitch

A descent; a fall; a thrusting down.

Pitch

The point where a declivity begins; hence, the declivity itself; a descending slope; the degree or rate of descent or slope; slant.
A steep pitch in the road
The pitch of a roof

Pitch

(mining) The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.

Pitch

The perceived frequency of a sound or note.
The pitch of middle "C" is familiar to many musicians.

Pitch

(music) The standard to which a group of musical instruments are tuned or in which a piece is performed, usually by reference to the frequency to which the musical note A above middle C is tuned.
Are we in baroque pitch for this one?

Pitch

(music) In an a cappella group, the singer responsible for singing a note for the other members to tune themselves by.
Bob, our pitch, let out a clear middle "C" and our conductor gave the signal to start.

Pitch

To cover or smear with pitch.

Pitch

To darken; to blacken; to obscure.

Pitch

(transitive) To throw.
He pitched the horseshoe.

Pitch

To throw (the ball) toward a batter at home plate.
The hurler pitched a curveball.
He pitched high and inside.

Pitch

To play baseball in the position of pitcher.
Bob pitches today.

Pitch

(transitive) To throw away; discard.
He pitched the candy wrapper.

Pitch

(transitive) To promote, advertise, or attempt to sell.
He pitched the idea for months with no takers.

Pitch

(transitive) To deliver in a certain tone or style, or with a certain audience in mind.
At which level should I pitch my presentation?

Pitch

(transitive) To assemble or erect (a tent).
Pitch the tent over there.

Pitch

(intransitive) To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp.

Pitch

To move so that the front of an aircraft or boat goes alternatively up and down.
The typhoon pitched the deck of the ship.
The airplane pitched.

Pitch

To play a short, high, lofty shot that lands with backspin.
The only way to get on the green from here is to pitch the ball over the bunker.

Pitch

To bounce on the playing surface.
The ball pitched well short of the batsman.

Pitch

To settle and build up, without melting.

Pitch

To alight; to settle; to come to rest from flight.

Pitch

(with on or upon) To fix one's choice.

Pitch

(intransitive) To plunge or fall; especially, to fall forward; to decline or slope.
To pitch from a precipice
The field pitches toward the east.

Pitch

To set, face, or pave with rubble or undressed stones.

Pitch

To set or fix.

Pitch

To discard for some gain.

Pitch

To attack, or position or assemble for attack.

Pitch

(intransitive) To produce a note of a given pitch.

Pitch

(transitive) To fix or set the tone of.

Pitch

A thick, black, lustrous, and sticky substance obtained by boiling down tar. It is used in calking the seams of ships; also in coating rope, canvas, wood, ironwork, etc., to preserve them.
He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith.

Pitch

See Pitchstone.

Pitch

A throw; a toss; a cast, as of something from the hand; as, a good pitch in quoits.

Pitch

That point of the ground on which the ball pitches or lights when bowled.

Pitch

A point or peak; the extreme point or degree of elevation or depression; hence, a limit or bound.
Driven headlong from the pitch of heaven, downInto this deep.
Enterprises of great pitch and moment.
To lowest pitch of abject fortune.
He lived when learning was at its highest pitch.
The exact pitch, or limits, where temperance ends.

Pitch

Height; stature.

Pitch

A descent; a fall; a thrusting down.

Pitch

The point where a declivity begins; hence, the declivity itself; a descending slope; the degree or rate of descent or slope; slant; as, a steep pitch in the road; the pitch of a roof.

Pitch

The relative acuteness or gravity of a tone, determined by the number of vibrations which produce it; the place of any tone upon a scale of high and low.

Pitch

The limit of ground set to a miner who receives a share of the ore taken out.

Pitch

The distance from center to center of any two adjacent teeth of gearing, measured on the pitch line; - called also circular pitch.

Pitch

The distance between symmetrically arranged or corresponding parts of an armature, measured along a line, called the pitch line, drawn around its length. Sometimes half of this distance is called the pitch.

Pitch

To cover over or smear with pitch.

Pitch

Fig.: To darken; to blacken; to obscure.
The welkin pitched with sullen could.

Pitch

To throw, generally with a definite aim or purpose; to cast; to hurl; to toss; as, to pitch quoits; to pitch hay; to pitch a ball.

Pitch

To thrust or plant in the ground, as stakes or poles; hence, to fix firmly, as by means of poles; to establish; to arrange; as, to pitch a tent; to pitch a camp.

Pitch

To set, face, or pave with rubble or undressed stones, as an embankment or a roadway.

Pitch

To fix or set the tone of; as, to pitch a tune.

Pitch

To set or fix, as a price or value.

Pitch

To fix or place a tent or temporary habitation; to encamp.

Pitch

To light; to settle; to come to rest from flight.
The tree whereon they [the bees] pitch.

Pitch

To fix one's choise; - with on or upon.
Pitch upon the best course of life, and custom will render it the more easy.

Pitch

To plunge or fall; esp., to fall forward; to decline or slope; as, to pitch from a precipice; the vessel pitches in a heavy sea; the field pitches toward the east.

Pitch

The property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration

Pitch

(baseball) the throwing of a baseball by a pitcher to a batter

Pitch

A vendor's position (especially on the sidewalk);
He was employed to see that his paper's news pitches were not trespassed upon by rival vendors

Pitch

Promotion by means of an argument and demonstration

Pitch

Degree of deviation from a horizontal plane;
The roof had a steep pitch

Pitch

Any of various dark heavy viscid substances obtained as a residue

Pitch

A high approach shot in golf

Pitch

An all-fours game in which the first card led is a trump

Pitch

Abrupt up-and-down motion (as caused by a ship or other conveyance);
The pitching and tossing was quite exciting

Pitch

The action or manner of throwing something;
His pitch fell short and his hat landed on the floor

Pitch

Throw or toss with a light motion;
Flip me the beachball
Toss me newspaper

Pitch

Move abruptly;
The ship suddenly lurched to the left

Pitch

Fall or plunge forward;
She pitched over the railing of the balcony

Pitch

Set to a certain pitch;
He pitched his voice very low

Pitch

Sell or offer for sale from place to place

Pitch

Be at an angle;
The terrain sloped down

Pitch

Heel over;
The tower is tilting
The ceiling is slanting

Pitch

Erect and fasten;
Pitch a tent

Pitch

Throw or hurl from the mound to the batter, as in baseball;
The pitcher delivered the ball

Pitch

Hit (a golf ball) in a high arc with a backspin

Pitch

Lead (a card) and establish the trump suit

Pitch

Set the level or character of;
She pitched her speech to the teenagers in the audience

Pitch vs. Tone

Pitch determines the quality of the sound produced; on the other hand, the tone is another feature of sound that determines its quality. Pitch is the degree of how high and low is the sound, while the tone refers to the musical sound concerning the pitch, quality, and strength of the sound.

Pitch is a key auditory factor of the sound. It is defined as the perceived fundamental frequency of sound. On the contrary, tone refers to the ‘quality’ of sound, tone distinguishes the sound and makes it recognizable by its constant ‘pitch.’

When we talk about music, the pitch is the value of a tone in it; on the flip side, the tone is known as the thickness of the note in music. Pitch can be perfect in music, but the tone cannot.

The related element with pitch is frequency; on the flip side of the coin, the related elements with tone are pitch, strength, and quality. The pitch can not distinguish the grammatical or lexical meaning. Tone can distinguish the grammatical or lexical meaning.

What is Pitch?

Pitch is one of the factors to determine the quality of the sound. It is the degree of how high and low the sound is. Pitch is defined as a key auditory factor of the sound. When we talk about music, the pitch is the value of a tone in it. Pitch can be perfect in music, but tone cannot. The related element with pitch is frequency. Pitch is the components of sound that cannot distinguish the lexical or grammatical meaning.

The pitch of the sound depends on its frequency. The sound with high frequency is shrill, and the sound with low frequency is like a cloud thunder. In the music field, the pitch is the value of the note sung. A natural vocal production needs to be established in music before a singer works on his pitch. With the natural vocal in place, the singing can be easy on the pitch. In music, the notes are the symbols of music indicating the location of a pitch.

Pitch is governed by the rate of the production of vibrations. A high pitch is having a high frequency, whereas low pitch has a low frequency. Frequency is defined as the rate at which the vibrations occur. Some people have a high-pitched voice, and some have a low pitched voice. Pitch is also related to human emotions. For example, if a person is angry or excited, he will shout by making a high pitch sound, but if one is sad or tired, he/she will make low pitch sound.

The reason that we feel some sounds pleasant, while unpleasant is the pitch of that sound. The pitch of the tone is its depth/height related to the complete series of tones heard by the ear. This is the reason that two instruments with the same pitch sound differently. The listener evaluation of frequency also represents the pitch of a tone. The higher the pitch, the higher its frequency is, and the same is the case with the lower pitch having a lower frequency.

What is Tone?

Tone refers to the musical sound concerning the pitch, quality, and strength of the sound. It is one of the reasons behind the variations in sound produced from different sources. The tone relates to the sound quality. It distinguishes the sound and makes it recognizable by its constant ‘pitch.’ The tone is known as the thickness of the note in music. The related elements with tone are pitch, strength, and quality. The tone can also distinguish the lexical or grammatical meaning.

The tone is the reason that we like or dislike the voice of some singers. It helps us in differentiating between many voices. The tone is known as the color or the timbre of the pitch. Different words describe the tone of the sound. These words are dark, warm, brilliant, ringing, rich, lush, shrill, strident, etc. The emotions conveyed in the voice also depends upon this tone factor of the voice. The tone reflects our mood, as well.

In musical terms, the tone is the timbre or quality of the note. It is easy for a singer to have perfect pitch, but making a perfect tone is quite difficult — a lot of factors influence tones such as breath support, physical condition, technique, and the like. Tone refers to the quality of sound of any voice or musical instrument or singing.

Tone also directs the semantic, contrasting, phonemic, or lexical contrasts between words that are signaled by the difference in pitch. It helps us in differentiating between many voices. A person’s voice contains many overtones with harmonics. Different sounds have different overtones, and this is the reason that every individual in this world has a different voice.

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