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Pitch class
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In music, a pitch class (p.c. or pc) is a set of all pitches that are
a whole number of octaves apart, e.g., the pitch class C consists
of the Cs in all octaves. "The pitch class C stands for all
possible Cs, in whatever octave position."[1] Important to
musical set theory, a pitch class is, "all pitches related to each
other by octave, enharmonic equivalence, or both."[2] Thus, Perfect octave Play
using scientific pitch notation, the pitch class "C" is the set

{Cn : n is an integer} = {..., C−2, C−1, C0, C1, C2, C3 ...};

although there is no formal upper or lower limit to this

sequence, only a limited number of these pitches are audible to
the human ear. Pitch class is important because human pitch-
perception is periodic: pitches belonging to the same pitch class
are perceived as having a similar quality or color, a property
called "octave equivalence".

Psychologists refer to the quality of a pitch as its "chroma".[3] A

chroma is an attribute of pitches (as opposed to tone height),
just like hue is an attribute of color. A pitch class is a set of all
pitches that share the same chroma, just like "the set of all white
things" is the collection of all white objects.[4]
All Cs possible on a piano
Note that in standard Western equal temperament, distinct (except C8, available on grand)
spellings can refer to the same sounding object: B♯3, C4, and D Play .

4 all refer to the same pitch, hence share the same chroma, and
therefore belong to the same pitch class; a phenomenon called enharmonic equivalence.

Contents
1 Integer notation
1.1 Disadvantages
2 Other ways to label pitch classes
3 See also
4 Sources
5 Further reading

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Integer notation
To avoid the problem of enharmonic spellings, theorists typically represent pitch classes using
numbers beginning from zero, with each successively larger integer representing a pitch class that
would be one semitone higher than the preceding one, if they were all realised as actual pitches in
the same octave. Because octave-related pitches belong to the same class, when an octave is
reached, the numbers begin again at zero. This cyclical system is referred to as modular arithmetic
and, in the usual case of chromatic twelve-tone scales, pitch-class numbering is regarded as
"modulo 12" (customarily abbreviated "mod 12" in the music-theory literature)—that is, every
twelfth member is identical. One can map a pitch's fundamental frequency f (measured in hertz) to
a real number p using the equation:

This creates a linear pitch space in which octaves have size 12, semitones (the distance between
adjacent keys on the piano keyboard) have size 1, and middle C (C4) is assigned the number 0.
Indeed, the mapping from pitch to real numbers defined in this manner forms the basis of the MIDI
Tuning Standard, which uses the real numbers from 0 to 127 to represent the pitches C−1 to G9
(thus, middle C is 60). To represent pitch classes, we need to identify or "glue together" all pitches
belonging to the same pitch class—i.e. all numbers p and p + 12. The result is a cyclical quotient
group that musicians call pitch class space and mathematicians call R/12Z. Points in this space can
be labelled using real numbers in the range 0 ≤ x < 12. These numbers provide numerical
alternatives to the letter names of elementary music theory:

0 = C, 1 = C♯/D♭, 2 = D, 2.5 = D (quarter tone sharp), 3 = D♯/E♭,

and so on. In this system, pitch classes represented by integers are classes of twelve-tone equal
temperament (assuming standard concert A).

In music, integer notation is the translation

of pitch classes and/or interval classes into
whole numbers.[5] Thus if C = 0, then C♯ = 1
... A♯ = 10, B = 11, with "10" and "11"
substituted by "t" and "e" in some sources,[5]
A and B in others[6] (like the duodecimal
numeral system, which also uses "t" and "e",
or A and B, for "10" and "11"). This allows Integer notation.
the most economical presentation of
information regarding post-tonal materials.[5]

In the integer model of pitch, all pitch classes and intervals between pitch classes are designated
using the numbers 0 through 11. It is not used to notate music for performance, but is a common

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analytical and compositional tool when working with chromatic music, including twelve tone,
serial, or otherwise atonal music.

Pitch classes can be notated in this way by assigning the number 0 to some note and assigning
consecutive integers to consecutive semitones; so if 0 is C natural, 1 is C♯, 2 is D♮ and so on up to
11, which is B♮. The C above this is not 12, but 0 again (12 − 12 = 0). Thus arithmetic modulo 12 is
used to represent octave equivalence. One advantage of this system is that it ignores the "spelling"
of notes (B♯, C♮ and D are all 0) according to their diatonic functionality.

Disadvantages

There are a few disadvantages with integer notation. First, theorists have traditionally used the
same integers to indicate elements of different tuning systems. Thus, the numbers 0, 1, 2, ... 5, are
used to notate pitch classes in 6-tone equal temperament. This means that the meaning of a given
integer changes with the underlying tuning system: "1" can refer to C♯ in 12-tone equal
temperament, but D in 6-tone equal temperament.

Also, the same numbers are used to represent both pitches and intervals. For example, the number 4
serves both as a label for the pitch class E (if C = 0) and as a label for the distance between the
pitch classes D and F♯. (In much the same way, the term "10 degrees" can label both a temperature
and the distance between two temperatures.) Only one of these labelings is sensitive to the
(arbitrary) choice of pitch class 0. For example, if one makes a different choice about which pitch
class is labeled 0, then the pitch class E will no longer be labeled "4". However, the distance
between D and F♯ will still be assigned the number 4. Both this and the issue in the paragraph
directly above may be viewed as disadvantages (though mathematically, an element "4" should not
be confused with the function "+4").

Other ways to label pitch classes

The system described above is flexible enough to describe any pitch class in any tuning system: for
example, one can use the numbers {0, 2.4, 4.8, 7.2, 9.6} to refer to the five-tone scale that divides
the octave evenly. However, in some contexts, it is convenient to use alternative labeling systems.
For example, in just intonation, we may express pitches in terms of positive rational numbers pq ,
expressed by reference to a 1 (often written " 11 "), which represents a fixed pitch. If a and b are two
positive rational numbers, they belong to the same pitch class if and only if

for some integer n. Therefore, we can represent pitch classes in this system using ratios pq where
neither p nor q is divisible by 2, that is, as ratios of odd integers. Alternatively, we can represent
just intonation pitch classes by reducing to the octave, 1 ≤ pq < 2.

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It is also very common to label pitch classes with reference to

some scale. For example, one can label the pitch classes of n-tone Pitch class
equal temperament using the integers 0 to n − 1. In much the same Pitch
Tonal counterparts
way, one could label the pitch classes of the C major scale, class
C–D–E–F–G–A–B, using the numbers from 0 to 6. This system
0 C (also B♯, D )
has two advantages over the continuous labeling system described
above. First, it eliminates any suggestion that there is something 1 C♯, D♭ (also B )
natural about a twelvefold division of the octave. Second, it avoids
2 D (also C , E )
pitch-class universes with unwieldy decimal expansions when
considered relative to 12; for example, in the continuous system, 3 D♯, E♭ (also F )
the pitch-classes of 19-tet are labeled 0.63158..., 1.26316..., etc.
Labeling these pitch classes {0, 1, 2, 3 ..., 18} simplifies the 4 E (also D , F♭)
arithmetic used in pitch-class set manipulations. 5 F (also E♯, G )
The disadvantage of the scale-based system is that it assigns an 6 F♯, G♭ (also E )
infinite number of different names to chords that sound identical. 7 G (also F , A )
For example, in twelve-tone equal-temperament the C major triad
is notated {0, 4, 7}. In twenty-four-tone equal-temperament, this 8 G♯, A♭
same triad is labeled {0, 8, 14}. Moreover, the scale-based system 9 A (also G , B )
appears to suggest that different tuning systems use steps of the
same size ("1") but have octaves of differing size ("12" in 12-tone 10, t or A A♯, B♭ (also C )
equal-temperament, "19" in 19-tone equal temperament, and so
11, e or B B (also A , C♭)
on), whereas in fact the opposite is true: different tuning systems
divide the same octave into different-sized steps.

In general, it is often more useful to use the traditional integer system when one is working within a
single temperament; when one is comparing chords in different temperaments, the continuous
system can be more useful.

See also
Flat (music)
Pitch circularity
Pitch interval
Tone row (List)

Sources
1. Arnold Whittall, The Cambridge Introduction to Serialism (New York: Cambridge University Press,
2008): 276. ISBN 978-0-521-68200-8 (pbk).
2. Don Michael Randel, ed. (2003). "Set theory", The Harvard Dictionary of Music, p.776. Harvard. ISBN
9780674011632.
3. Tymoczko, Dmitri (2011). A Geometry of Music: Harmony and Counterpoint in the Extended Common
Practice, p.30. Oxford Studies in Music Theory. ISBN 9780199714353.

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4. Müller, Meinard (2007). Information Retrieval for Music and Motion, p.60. ISBN 9783540740483. "A
pitch class is defined to be the set of all pitches that share the same chroma."
5. Whittall (2008), p.273.
6. Robert D. Morris, "Generalizing Rotational Arrays", Journal of Music Theory 32, no. 1 (Spring 1988):
75–132, citation on 83.

Further reading
Purwins, Hendrik (2005). "Profiles of Pitch Classes: Circularity of Relative Pitch and
Key—Experiments, Models, Computational Music Analysis, and Perspectives
(http://opus.kobv.de/tuberlin/volltexte/2005/1085/)". Ph.D. Thesis. Berlin: Technische
Universität Berlin.
Rahn, John (1980). Basic Atonal Theory. New York: Longman; London and Toronto: Prentice
Hall International. ISBN 0-02-873160-3. Reprinted 1987, New York: Schirmer Books;
London: Collier Macmillan.
Schuijer, Michiel (2008). Analyzing Atonal Music: Pitch-Class Set Theory and Its Contexts.
Eastman Studies in Music 60. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. ISBN
978-1-58046-270-9.

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