The
fundamental frequency, often referred to as simply as the
fundamental, is defined as the lowest
frequency of a
periodic waveform. In music, the fundamental is the musical
pitch of a note that is perceived as the lowest partial present. In terms of a superposition of
sinusoids (e.g.
Fourier series), the fundamental frequency is the lowest frequency sinusoidal in the sum. In some contexts, the fundamental is usually abbreviated as
f0 (or
FF), indicating the lowest frequency
counting from zero. In other contexts, it is more common to abbreviate it as
f1, the first
harmonic. (The second harmonic is then f
2 = 2·f
1, etc. In this context, the zeroth harmonic would be 0 Hz.)