beep

Play a beep

$ beep

$ beep -r [repetitions]

$ beep -f [frequency] -l [duration]

$ beep -f [frequency] -l [duration] -n -f [frequency] -l [duration]

$ beep -f 262 -n -f 294 -n -f 330 -n -f 349 -n -f 392 -n -f 440 -n -f 494 -n -f 523

beep [options]

beep uses the PC speaker to produce tones of specified frequency and duration. It can play simple melodies, alert sounds, or serve as an audio notification in scripts.
Multiple tones can be sequenced using the -n (new) option to separate distinct beeps. This allows creating simple musical sequences or multi-tone alerts.

-f frequency

Frequency in Hertz (default: 440 Hz, concert A)

Duration in milliseconds (default: 200 ms)

Number of repetitions

Delay between repetitions in milliseconds

Start a new beep (use for sequences)

Delay between new beeps in milliseconds

Requires access to the PC speaker device (/dev/input/by-path/platform-pcspkr-event-spkr or similar). May require root privileges or appropriate group membership. Not all systems have a functional PC speaker.

beep was created by Johnathan Nightingale and has been a staple of Linux audio notifications since the early 2000s. It provides a lightweight way to produce sounds without requiring audio subsystems.

speaker-test(1), aplay(1), play(1)