Find the pitch of any note in seconds. This online pitch detector listens through your microphone and shows the note name and octave, the exact frequency in hertz (Hz), and how many cents the note is sharp or flat on a tuner needle. It works for singing, humming, whistling and instruments. A live pitch trace shows how steady your notes are.
Pitch Detector
Sing, hum or play a note to see its name, frequency in Hz and how many cents it is sharp or flat, live from your microphone.
Press Start and allow microphone access. Sound is analysed in your browser; nothing is recorded or uploaded.
within 10 cents more than 10 cents off · last 10 seconds
Notes you held
Each note you hold for about a third of a second is listed here.
Session
- Lowest note
- –
- Highest note
- –
- Time in tune
- –
- Target match
- No target
Settings: mode, A4 calibration, sensitivity, target note, reference tone
Use headphones for the reference tone. While it plays, the detector pauses so it does not measure its own sound.
Related Tools
- Note Identifier
Identify each note of a melody you sing or play, one note after another.
- Pitch Accuracy Test
Find out how accurately you can match target notes.
- Voice Range Test
Find your lowest and highest singing notes.
- Tone Generator
Play any frequency or note to tune to or test against.
- Interval Ear Training
Train your ear to recognise the distance between notes.
- Voice Type Test
See whether you're a soprano, alto, tenor, baritone or bass.
How to Use the Pitch Detector
- Press Start pitch detector and allow microphone access when your browser asks.
- Sing, hum or play one steady note. The note name, frequency and cents appear straight away.
- Watch the needle. Left of centre is flat, right is sharp, and the green zone is in tune.
- Hold a note for about a third of a second and it’s added to Notes you held, with its exact Hz and cents.
- Press Hold to freeze a reading on screen, or Stop when you’re done. The last note stays visible, and Copy notes saves the whole list.
Only one sound source works at a time. Chords, background music or several voices at once confuse any single-note pitch detector.
What the Pitch Detector Shows
- Note and octave: the nearest note in scientific pitch notation, where middle C is C4 and A4 is the A above it.
- Frequency (Hz): how many times per second the sound vibrates. The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch.
- Cents: how far you are from the exact note. 100 cents make one semitone. Within about ±5 cents counts as in tune on most tuners.
- Pitch trace: the last 10 seconds of your pitch on a piano-roll grid. Blue dots are within 10 cents of a note, and orange dots are further off. Use it as a vocal pitch monitor to see slides, wobble and vibrato.
- Session: your lowest and highest held notes, and the share of time you spent within 10 cents of a note.
| Note | Frequency (A4 = 440 Hz) | Where you hear it |
|---|---|---|
| E2 | 82.4 Hz | Low bass voice; lowest string of a guitar |
| C3 | 130.8 Hz | Low end of a tenor voice |
| C4 (middle C) | 261.6 Hz | Middle of the piano keyboard |
| A4 | 440.0 Hz | Standard tuning note |
| C5 | 523.3 Hz | Top of many tenor and alto songs |
| C6 | 1,046.5 Hz | High soprano “high C” |
Find the Note You’re Singing
“What note am I singing?” is the most common reason people use a pitch detector. Sing on an open vowel like “ah”, keep the volume steady, and hold the note until the display settles. The first fraction of a second of any note wavers, so read the value once the needle stops moving. If you want to name every note of a tune in order, the note identifier is built for that. To check how accurately you can hit notes on purpose, take the pitch accuracy test.
Settings: Mode, A4 Calibration and Sensitivity
- Detection mode: Voice listens from 60 to 1,400 Hz, covering the singing voice with a margin. Instrument listens from 40 Hz to 4,200 Hz, from the low E of a bass guitar (41.2 Hz) to the top of a piano. Use the narrowest mode that fits: a narrower range means fewer wrong readings.
- A4 calibration: 440 Hz is the international standard. Change it (415–466 Hz) to match an ensemble, a baroque instrument (A = 415 Hz) or an orchestra tuned to 442 Hz. Every note name and cents value adjusts to it.
- Sensitivity: High picks up quiet voices in a quiet room, and Low ignores background noise in a noisy room.
- Target note: choose a note to practise. The display shows how many cents you are from it, and the session shows how much of the time you were within 25 cents of it.
- Reference tone: plays any note from C1 to C7 so you can match it. Use headphones: the detector pauses while the tone plays so it doesn’t measure its own sound.
How the Pitch Detection Works
Your browser passes short slices of the microphone signal to the detector 20–30 times a second. It uses the YIN pitch-detection method, which compares the sound wave with delayed copies of itself to find its repeat period. The frequency is 1 ÷ that period. The frequency is then converted into the nearest note using equal temperament: every semitone multiplies the frequency by the twelfth root of two, so an octave doubles it (A3 = 220 Hz, A4 = 440 Hz, A5 = 880 Hz).
Readings are only accepted when the sound is clearly periodic, which filters out noise and breath. A short median filter keeps the display from flickering. All of this happens in your browser, and no audio is recorded or uploaded.
Tips for Accurate Readings
- Test in a quiet room, with music, TV and fans off.
- Keep the microphone 15–30 cm from your mouth or instrument, and don’t shout into it.
- Sing clear vowels. Consonants, whispers and breathy tones have no clear pitch.
- If the note jumps an octave, switch to the mode that matches your source, or sing a little louder and steadier.
- Very high instrument notes (above about 2,000 Hz) read slightly less precisely than mid-range notes.
- Pitch keeps drifting? Practise with the target note, then read how to sing on key and how to improve pitch accuracy.
What a Pitch Detector Can’t Do
It follows one note at a time, so it can’t name chords or separate a voice from backing music. It measures pitch, not tone quality or voice type. For that, use the voice type test, or find your full range with the voice range test. For the key of a whole song, use the song key finder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this pitch detector free and private?
Yes. It’s free, needs no sign-up or app, and analyses sound only in your browser. Nothing is recorded, saved or sent anywhere.
Can I use it as a tuner for my instrument?
Yes. Choose Instrument mode, play one string or note at a time, and tune until the needle sits in the green zone. Set A4 calibration if your group tunes to something other than 440 Hz.
Why does the detected note change while I hold one note?
Voices naturally waver, and vibrato swings a few dozen cents either side of the note. Look at the note that stays most of the time, or press Hold when the needle is steady. The trace shows the movement clearly.
What is a good cents reading?
Within ±5 cents sounds in tune to most listeners. Up to about ±15 cents is often acceptable in singing. Beyond about ±25 cents, most people hear the note as out of tune.
Does it work on phones?
Yes, in current versions of Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox, over a secure (https) connection. If nothing happens, check that the browser has microphone permission for this site.