High-pitched sounds above 5 kHz offer few harmonics, so pitch perception degrades sharply.
Evidence
Given that the upper frequency limit of human hearing is at best 20 kHz for youngsters, with a more practical upper limit being 16 kHz for those over 20 years of age, a sound with an f0 greater than 5 kHz is only going to provide the hearing system with two harmonics (f0 and 2 f0) for analysis. In practice, it has been established that human pitch perception for sounds whose f0 is greater than 5 kHz is rather poor, with many musicians finding it difficult to judge accurately musical intervals in this frequency range. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 908
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to my interest in why small interval errors creep in at the very top of instruments like piccolo; also links to earlier reading on how few harmonics survive in the hearing range. — connects to: Raising fundamental frequency worsens pitch perception by reducing harmonic resolvability — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4613; Human pitch sense spans 0 to roughly 5000 Hz, distinct from partial perception; Higher F0 reduces pitch resolvability because harmonics interact less within a filter.
Broader Connections
- Raising fundamental frequency worsens pitch perception by reducing harmonic resolvability
#expands(0.82) — Dijk, Pim van, Physiology, Psychoacoustics and…, 4613 - Human pitch sense spans 0 to roughly 5000 Hz, distinct from partial perception
#qualifies(0.80) - Higher F0 reduces pitch resolvability because harmonics interact less within a filter.
#expands(0.80)