Pitch Detector
Use one clear voice or instrument note in a quiet room. Audio stays in your browser.
Chromatic mode follows the nearest note.
Settings & measurement notes
Microphone features need HTTPS and browser permission. Stop or hide/leave the page to release input. Reference tones pause measurement. Noise, harmonics and polyphonic sound can affect estimates.
A4 defaults to 440 Hz. An octave doubles frequency; twelve equal-tempered semitones make an octave.
Related tools
- Note Finder — Group monophonic notes into an ordered event list.
- Audio File Pitch Detector — Inspect a solo recording’s pitch trace and summary.
- Frequency Detector — Measure one fundamental in hertz and interpret it.
- Pitch Accuracy Checker — Compare voiced time with an explicit pitch target.
Sing, hum or play one clear note to identify its pitch with the online pitch detector. Start the microphone, allow access and read the nearest musical note, octave, frequency in hertz and tuning offset in cents. The moving trace helps you see whether a sustained sound stays near one pitch or changes over time.
Use the result to answer a practical question: what note is this, how high or low is it, or is this string above or below its tuning target? The tool follows a single pitched source. It does not separate all the instruments in a song, identify a song title or evaluate the quality of your voice.
Detect a note with your microphone
- Open the page over HTTPS and choose a quiet place.
- Check the A4 reference in Settings if you need something other than 440 Hz.
- Select Start microphone and approve the browser’s microphone request.
- Sing or play one comfortable, steady note near the selected input.
- Read the note and octave first, then check hertz and cents.
- Use Stop when finished. Copy or save the available result before resetting if you want a record.
Begin with a familiar reference rather than your highest or lowest possible sound. A relaxed hum, one open string or a sustained instrument tone is easier to interpret than a loud chord or a rapidly changing phrase. Keep other music quiet so the detector has one main source to follow.
Understand the three pitch readings
The note name places the sound near a pitch in twelve-tone equal temperament. The octave distinguishes notes with the same letter: A3 is lower than A4, and A4 is lower than A5. In the notation used here, middle C is C4.
Hertz measures cycles per second. With A4 set to 440 Hz, A3 is 220 Hz and A5 is 880 Hz. Doubling frequency raises the pitch by an octave. This is a ratio relationship, so a fixed change of ten hertz is not the same musical interval at every starting pitch.
Cents express the difference from a reference on a musical scale. One equal-tempered semitone is 100 cents and an octave is 1,200 cents. A negative reading means below the reference; a positive reading means above it. In chromatic mode, the reference follows the nearest note rather than staying on a note you previously played.
Pitch and loudness are separate. Singing louder does not necessarily raise the intended note, and a strong microphone signal does not establish accurate tuning. Use enough level for a clear reading without clipping, then judge the pitch from the note, frequency and cents rather than from how powerful the sound feels.
| Reading | Useful question | Example at A4 = 440 Hz |
|---|---|---|
| Note and octave | Which pitch is nearest? | A4 |
| Frequency | How quickly is the sound repeating? | 440 Hz |
| Cents | How far from the reference? | 0 cents at exactly 440 Hz |
Why the note can change while the sound seems steady
A sung tone rarely stays at one exact frequency. Vibrato, a sliding onset and ordinary breath changes move the reading. A sound near the midpoint between two notes can also make the nearest-note label alternate. Use the trace and frequency together rather than treating every label change as a new intended note.
The detector estimates the fundamental from repeating patterns in the waveform. Harmonics, background tones and irregular sounds can make that estimate uncertain. An octave jump can reflect a harmonic being tracked, not an actual octave leap by the performer. Try a cleaner onset and a steadier tone before interpreting a surprising extreme as a reliable result.
The current microphone analysis searches roughly 50–2,000 Hz. This does not mean every sound within those limits will be tracked correctly, and the manual conversion range is different. Very low bass fundamentals, very high tones, noisy attacks and several simultaneous notes require particular caution.
Read the pitch trace as a short observation
The graph shows a rolling fifteen-second view of detected pitch. A horizontal region suggests a held pitch; a rising line suggests an upward movement. Gaps can occur when the sound becomes quiet, unvoiced or insufficiently periodic. They should not be interpreted as a zero-hertz note.
A trace is useful for comparing two attempts at the same task. Keep the microphone, distance, room and reference tuning consistent. Changing those conditions while comparing recordings can introduce differences unrelated to the pitch control you intended to practice.
A session’s observed notes are not automatically your comfortable singing range. A brief squeak, an accidental harmonic or one strained extreme should not define it. Use the Vocal Range Test when you want to save repeatable low and high endpoints deliberately.
Use tuning presets for a specific string
Chromatic mode follows nearby notes across the scale. The guitar, high-G ukulele and violin presets provide string targets. Select the appropriate string when you want the cents reading to refer to that intended pitch instead of allowing the nearest-note target to change as you tune.
Check the octave before tightening a string. A note letter alone does not show whether you are approaching the correct register. Make small adjustments and play one string at a time, muting the others. The tool measures pitch; it cannot inspect string tension or protect an instrument from an incorrect tuning decision.
Instrument-specific pages provide focused guidance: the Guitar Tuner, Ukulele Tuner and Violin Tuner. A transposing instrument’s written note may also differ from the sounding pitch shown by a microphone detector.
Check a frequency you already know
The manual frequency box converts an entered value from 20 to 5,000 Hz into a nearest note and cents offset. It does not measure the room or verify the source of that number. This is useful when another application has already supplied a frequency and you need its musical interpretation.
For a broader numerical conversion and a note-frequency reference table, use the Frequency to Note Converter. For the opposite direction, the Note to Frequency Converter calculates a selected note at the chosen A4 reference.
Changing A4 changes the reference grid. A sound can have the same measured hertz value yet receive a different cents offset under A4 = 432 rather than A4 = 440. It does not retune your instrument or alter an existing recording.
Choose a file or note-event workflow when appropriate
This homepage is centered on live microphone detection and manual frequency conversion. For an MP3 or another supported recording, open the Audio File Pitch Detector. It analyzes a local excerpt and provides timestamped pitch information without requiring you to play the recording into the microphone.
If your goal is a readable sequence of detected notes, the Note Finder groups sufficiently sustained monophonic detections into events. If you need editable note instructions for a sequencer, the Pitch to MIDI Converter offers a separate monophonic conversion. Neither is a promise of complete polyphonic sheet-music transcription.
Troubleshoot microphone and detection problems
If microphone access is denied, check this site’s permission and your operating system’s input settings, then start again. Select the intended microphone if several inputs are available. A headset input, laptop microphone and audio interface can be different devices even on the same computer.
If the level reacts but no note appears, use a clearer sustained sound and reduce background noise. Speaking consonants and breath are not all periodic, so a pitch detector should leave some frames unvoiced. Raising the noise gate too far can also reject a quiet intended note.
Calibrate room noise while the microphone is active and the room is quiet, rather than while singing. Calibration adjusts the input gate; it does not establish laboratory frequency accuracy or calibrate sound-pressure level. The tool’s pitch readings are not a decibel or hearing assessment.
Microphone analysis runs in browser memory. This plugin does not create an audio recording or upload that live input. Stopping, hiding or leaving the page releases the input. This describes the tool’s processing, rather than making a claim about every unrelated service on the website.
Frequently asked questions
Can a pitch detector tell me what note I am singing?
It can estimate the nearest note and octave from one clear singing voice. Check hertz, the trace and any octave jumps before treating every displayed value as an intended sung note.
Can it detect every note in a chord?
No. This is a single-pitch tracker. Simultaneous voices and instruments can produce an ambiguous or misleading fundamental estimate.
Why does it show a note during silence?
A fan, speaker, instrument resonance or other background tone may be reaching the microphone. Reduce the source, check the selected input and adjust the noise gate carefully.
Does a centered meter prove that I sang the melody correctly?
No. In chromatic mode it shows closeness to the nearest note. You could be centered on a different note from the melody’s target; use target-note practice for that question.
Can I find a song title from the detected pitch?
No. A note or short pitch trace does not uniquely identify a song, and this tool does not search a song database.
Does this page need microphone permission for manual conversion?
No. Entering a known frequency is a numerical calculation. Permission is required when you choose to start live input.