Beats occur when two sounds of slightly different frequencies are combined. This causes the amplitude of the resulting sound to rise and fall periodically as the wave crests and troughs of each sound interfere constructively and destructively. The frequency of this amplitude modulation is equal to the difference between the original frequencies. This produces a modulation effect where the sound seems to regularly increase and decrease in volume. Beats allow the perception of both the average frequency of the two sounds and the frequency difference between them.