How to Test Your Hearing Frequency

Distinguishing musical tones and online testing can yield estimates of how well you detect varying audio frequencies. For the best evaluation, however, you need a device called an audiometer.

Definition

• Long waves make low pitches whereas shorter ones create higher tones.

  "Frequency" refers to wave length. The longer the sound waves, the lower their frequency, notes the book "Psychology, 6th Ed.," by David Myers. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz).

Range

• Oral communication depends on hearing sounds within a certain range of frequencies.

  The human ear can detect frequencies from 20 to 20,000 Hz, notes HyperPhysics, an online resource for physics teachers. With 88 keys, the piano ranges from 27.5 to 4,186 Hz, observes HyperPhysics. Can you hear the lowest key as well as the highest?

Discrimination

• Listening to any two adjacent piano keys, see if you can tell which is higher. Measured in Hz, the higher key will always have a frequency approximately 1.059 times that of the lower, states PhysLink, an online source of physics information.

Online Testing

• If your computer has speakers, you can test your own hearing.

  Using your computer speakers, test your hearing online. Chamber music composer Don Rath, Jr. offers a test ranging from 20 to 20,000 Hz.

Audiometer

• For the most thorough, trustworthy test, consider visiting an audiologist. Audiologists use an electronic instrument (audiometer) to determine the precise volume at which you can detect any frequency.