THE CURIOUS CONCERT PITCH CONFLICT

Conflicting points of view have arisen between supporters of the international standard, 440 Hertz concert pitch, used by almost every musician and orchestra in the world, and proponents of 432 Hertz concert pitch, used by a few thousand musicians and a handful of ensembles. In addition to 440 Hertz and 432 Hertz proponents, another group of musicians would like the concert pitch to rise to 444 Hertz. This article highlights some of the key facts and offers a balanced view of the arguments, both for and against the various concert pitches and includes sections on: the rise of music in ancient times, three inventions that helped identify musical pitch, a brief history of concert pitch and the alleged Nazi conspiracy concerning concert pitch. The question of whether concert pitch is arbitrary or if there is a concert pitch that is natural is discussed in part 2 of the article.