Convert any musical note to its frequency in Hz, or any frequency back to the nearest note. Includes a full note frequency chart across nine octaves and an adjustable tuning reference. Free, instant, no signup.
Full note frequency chart
How note frequencies actually work
Everything is anchored to one number: A4 = 440 Hz. From there the whole system is built on two rules.
- Up an octave doubles the frequency. A4 is 440 Hz, A5 is 880 Hz, A3 is 220 Hz.
- Up a semitone multiplies by the twelfth root of two (about 1.05946). Twelve of those multiplications land you back on a doubling, which is why there are twelve semitones in an octave.
This is why the scale is logarithmic, not linear, and why the answer to “how many Hz between notes” changes depending on where you are.
How many Hz are between notes?
The gap grows as pitch rises, even though the musical distance stays identical:
| Interval | From | To | Gap in Hz |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 to A#1 | 55.00 Hz | 58.27 Hz | 3.3 Hz |
| A3 to A#3 | 220.00 Hz | 233.08 Hz | 13.1 Hz |
| A4 to A#4 | 440.00 Hz | 466.16 Hz | 26.2 Hz |
| A5 to A#5 | 880.00 Hz | 932.33 Hz | 52.3 Hz |
Every one of those is the same semitone. The ratio is constant at about 1.0595; only the absolute gap changes. This is also why a fixed-Hz EQ boost feels much wider at low frequencies than at high ones.
Why this matters when you mix
Knowing a part’s fundamental turns EQ from guesswork into a decision.
Finding the fundamental
If a bassline is playing E1, its fundamental is 41.20 Hz. Everything below about 35 Hz is rumble, not note, so a high-pass there cleans up without thinning the sound. If you high-passed at 60 Hz instead you would be cutting the note itself.
Fundamental vs harmonics
The fundamental gives weight; the harmonics above it give definition and let the part cut through on small speakers. A bass at E1 has harmonics at roughly 82 Hz, 124 Hz, 165 Hz and up. Boosting around 800 Hz to 1 kHz often makes a bass audible on a phone speaker even though the fundamental is inaudible there.
Common fundamental ranges
| Source | Fundamental range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Kick drum | 40 – 80 Hz | Around E1 to E2. Click and beater live at 2 – 5 kHz. |
| Bass guitar (4-string) | 41 – 392 Hz | Open E is E1 at 41.20 Hz. |
| Male vocal | 85 – 180 Hz | Roughly F2 to F3. |
| Female vocal | 165 – 255 Hz | Roughly E3 to C4. |
| Snare drum | 150 – 250 Hz | Body here; crack around 4 – 6 kHz. |
| Guitar (standard) | 82 – 1319 Hz | Low E is E2 at 82.41 Hz. |
Tuning references other than 440 Hz
A4 = 440 Hz became the international standard in 1955, but it is a convention, not a law of physics.
- 442 – 443 Hz — many European orchestras tune slightly sharp for a brighter tone.
- 415 Hz — baroque pitch, roughly a semitone below modern. Period ensembles use it so gut strings sit at historical tension.
- 432 Hz — popular online, sometimes with claims about health or resonance. There is no scientific evidence for those claims. It is simply a slightly lower tuning, and it will sound flat against anything recorded at 440.
Change the reference in the tool above and every note in the chart shifts proportionally.
Frequently asked questions
What note is 60 Hz?
60 Hz sits between A#1 (58.27 Hz) and B1 (61.74 Hz), closest to B1 about 49 cents flat. In mixing terms this is the low bass region where kick drum and bass fundamentals live. It is also the mains hum frequency in North America, which is why 60 Hz noise shows up in badly grounded recordings there (50 Hz in Europe and most of Asia).
What frequency is each musical note?
Every note derives from A4 = 440 Hz. Each semitone up multiplies the frequency by about 1.05946, and each octave doubles it. The chart above lists every note from octave 0 to 8.
How many Hz are between notes?
It depends on the octave, because the scale is logarithmic. Between A3 (220 Hz) and A#3 there are about 13 Hz, but between A5 (880 Hz) and A#5 there are about 52 Hz. Both are one semitone.
What note is 639 Hz?
639 Hz is closest to D#5 (622.25 Hz), about 46 cents sharp, sitting between D#5 and E5 (659.26 Hz). It is not a standard tuned pitch at A4 = 440 Hz.
What note is 20 Hz?
20 Hz is close to E0 (20.60 Hz) and is generally considered the lower limit of human hearing. At this frequency you feel it more than hear it, and most speakers cannot reproduce it meaningfully.
What are cents?
A cent is one hundredth of a semitone, used to describe how far off a pitch is. Most people notice being out of tune somewhere around 5 to 10 cents; 50 cents is a quarter tone and sounds clearly wrong.
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