Tone, Tuning, Timbre – What’s the Difference?

At first glance, these three concepts might seem interchangeable. To add further confusion, they all begin with the same letter!

Here’s a quick overview of how I explain these three concepts to my students:

• Tone. This is your musical voice. Out of these three concepts, tone is the most general and describes how you sound on your instrument. (i.e. good tone, bad tone, fuzzy tone). Here are 50 adjectives I shared which can describe clarinet tone. Although tone can be described to some extent, it is an abstract quality of music-making and cannot be definitively measured.
• Tuning. Tuning is synonymous with pitch and describes how flat or sharp you are compared to a set reference. Many countries, such as the United States, tune to A=440Hz, whereas others, such as most countries in Europe, tune to A=442Hz. (These are generalized tuning standards, and each country and individual ensemble can use different tuning.) Tuning can mean your overall tuning tendencies (if you typically play flat or sharp), and it can also refer to individual notes. In addition to being in tune with yourself, tuning is also important for musicians playing together. Unlike tone, tuning can be measured using a tuner. (Read my complete guide to clarinet tuning here.)
• Timbre. Timbre is the sound quality of an instrument, especially among the different registers. It can be easy to confuse tone and timbre, but think of it like this – the clarinet’s lowest register (chalumeau) tends to have a wider, more spread timbre than the clarinet’s highest register (altissimo), which is bright and focused. A goal of every clarinetist should be to try and equalize the timbre of each register to create a homogenous sound.

I hope this quick overview helps you to distinguish between tone, tuning, and timbre! Leave a comment below with any input or descriptions you use!