What does concert pitch mean in music?

The instrument

Concert pitch

Also: A440, tuning standard

Concert pitch is the agreed tuning reference for an ensemble, standardly the A above middle C at 440 Hz, though many orchestras tune to 442 Hz.

A440 was adopted as an international standard in 1939 and remains the default for solo practice, tuners, and most recordings. In practice, many European orchestras tune to 442 or 443 Hz for a brighter sound, and historically informed ensembles playing baroque repertoire commonly use 415 Hz, roughly a half step lower.

For a string player the practical consequence is that the tuning reference must match the room. Practising at 440 and arriving at a rehearsal tuned to 442 puts every open string slightly flat against the ensemble. Arco's tuner supports 440, 442, and 415 for this reason.

The term also distinguishes sounding pitch from written pitch for transposing instruments, a written C on a B flat clarinet sounds a B flat at concert pitch.

Intonation: Intonation is accuracy of pitch, on a fretless string instrument, the ongoing skill of placing each finger so the note is in tune with the harmony around it.
Cents: A cent is a unit of pitch measurement equal to one hundredth of an equal-tempered half step, used by tuners to show how far a note is from true.
Transposing instrument: A transposing instrument is one whose written notes sound at a different pitch than notated, such as the double bass, which sounds an octave below what is written.
Open string: An open string is a string played with no left-hand finger stopping it, sounding the pitch the string is tuned to.

Every term in this glossary is taught in context somewhere in Arco's curricula, on the staff, on the keyboard, and on your own fingerboard at the same time.

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