442 Hz: the orchestral tuning pitch

Many continental European orchestras tune A4 to 442 Hz, a little above the 440 standard, because a slightly higher pitch sounds brighter in a hall. Oboists tuning an orchestra and pianos prepared for those orchestras are set to it.

If you play with an ensemble at 442 your tuner has to be set to 442 as well; otherwise every note reads a few cents sharp when it is in fact right.

• Open the tuner at A = 442 Hz

Which note 442 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 = 442 Hz

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

Octaves of 442 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.

• 55.25 Hz · A1
• 110.50 Hz · A2
• 221.00 Hz · A3
• 884.00 Hz · A5
• 1768.0 Hz · A6
• 3536.0 Hz · A7

Harmonics of 442 Hz

A real instrument playing 442 Hz also sounds whole-number multiples of it. The first eight, and the notes they fall nearest:

Period and wavelength

One cycle of 442 Hz lasts 2.262 milliseconds; in air at 20 °C, where sound travels at about 343 metres a second, one wavelength is 77.6 centimetres.

Convert another frequency

Or hold 442 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

• 440 Hz — the standard tuning pitch
• 443 Hz — a bright orchestral tuning pitch
• 444 Hz — a bright tuning pitch
• 415 Hz — baroque pitch