Whether you sing just for the fun of it or you dream of performing professionally, you can count on meeting up frequently with three terms: pitch, note, and tone. These three terms are often used incorrectly or interchangeably, but you should know the true relationship between them, which may make your journey through the world of singing less confusing.

• Pitch is the high or low frequency of a sound. When you sing, you create pitch, because your vocal cords vibrate at a certain speed. For example, a foghorn emits a low frequency or pitch, and the sound your smoke detector emits when you press the test button is a high frequency or pitch. In singing, when you vocal cords vibrate at a faster speed, you sing a higher pitch than when they vibrate slower. The A just above Middle C vibrates at 440 cycles per second, which means that your vocal cords open and close 440 times per second.
• Notes are musical symbols that indicate the location of a pitch.
• Tone is the color or timbre of pitch and can be described by many different words, such as warm, dark, brilliant, ringing, rich, lush, shrill, or strident.

Based on these definitions, it makes more sense to say that one is pitch deaf rather than tone deaf. You may also hear singers say that they're afraid to sing high notes when they should say that they're afraid to sing high pitches. Although knowing the exact definition of these terms is good, it's doubtful that anyone will correct you if you mix up the words.