Why do higher musical notes sound physically “higher”?

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We use the term “higher” to describe notes of smaller wavelengths, and this term seems strangely fitting in a way that I don’t quite understand. For example, when a band is playing heavy bass notes and then a singer comes in with treble notes, it seems like the vocal notes are actually physically *higher* (like, in the room or in my ears) than the bass notes.

Is this a real thing? Or am I just imagining it? Or is it just subconscious association with the words “high” and “low” which we use to describe these notes? Or maybe I’m just noticing that speakers and venues usually put the woofers on the bottom and the tweeters on the top?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Their frequency is higher – literally, the number of cycles per second is higher for a higher note. We’re used to referring to number relationships as higher or lower than others.

Also, in sheet music, higher pitched notes are higher on the staff (the lines notes are placed on).

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