What is "wolf tone"

A wolf tone, or simply a "wolf", is produced when a played note matches the natural resonating frequency of the body of a musical instrument, producing a sustaining sympathetic artificial overtone that amplifies and expands the frequencies of the original note, frequently accompanied by an oscillating beating (due to the uneven frequencies between the natural note and artificial overtone) which may be likened to the howling of the animal. A similar phenomenon is the beating produced by a wolf interval, which is usually the interval between E and G of the various non-circulating temperaments.

Wolf tone suggests:

• A wolf tone, a spurious sound which can affect instruments of the violin family
• Theobald Wolfe Tone, an Irish republican
• The Wolfe Tones, an Irish band named after both the above
• the Wolf interval found in non-circulating musical temperaments