430 Hz: a period tuning pitch

A4 = 430 Hz is used by some period-instrument ensembles, alongside 415. Before standardisation pitch varied from city to city, and modern historical performance picks a convention rather than recovering one true old pitch.

Which note 430 Hz is at other reference pitches

“In tune” depends on what A4 is tuned to, so the same frequency is a slightly different distance from the nearest note in each tuning.

An octave of notes at A4 = 430 Hz

Middle C to the C above, tuned to this reference, beside the same notes at the 440 standard.

Octaves of 430 Hz

Doubling a frequency raises it an octave and halving lowers it one, so these all have the same note name and the same offset from it.

• 53.75 Hz · A1
• 107.50 Hz · A2
• 215.00 Hz · A3
• 860.00 Hz · A5
• 1720.0 Hz · A6
• 3440.0 Hz · A7

Harmonics of 430 Hz

A real instrument playing 430 Hz also sounds whole-number multiples of it. The first eight, and the notes they fall nearest:

Period and wavelength

One cycle of 430 Hz lasts 2.326 milliseconds; in air at 20 °C, where sound travels at about 343 metres a second, one wavelength is 79.8 centimetres.

Convert another frequency

Or hold 430 Hz as a steady tone, sweep from it, or beat it against a second tone in the tone generator. The note frequency chart lists every note from C0 to B8.

Frequently asked questions

Related frequencies

• 415 Hz — baroque pitch
• 432 Hz — an alternative tuning pitch
• 435 Hz — the French diapason of 1859