Listen to common breath sounds and explore what produces them. Compare the sound, its timing and where it is heard.
How to use this guide: Press the play triangle beside a sound. Use headphones at a comfortable volume. Pause the current recording before selecting another.
Normal breath sounds and their locations
Vesicular
Most lung fields
What you hear: Soft, low-pitched rustling, more prominent during inspiration.
Why it happens: Breath sounds transmitted through aerated lung are softened and filtered before reaching the chest wall.
Bronchovesicular
Near major bronchi
What you hear: Medium-pitched sounds during both inspiration and expiration.
Why it happens: Listening closer to larger airways gives a less muffled sound than over peripheral lung.
Bronchial
Central airways
What you hear: Harsh, hollow, tubular breathing with a prominent expiratory component.
Why it happens: Larger airway sounds are transmitted clearly. Over peripheral lung, this can indicate consolidation transmitting sound more efficiently.
Tracheal
Over the trachea
What you hear: Loud, harsh airflow during inspiration and expiration.
Why it happens: You are listening directly over a large airway, with little lung tissue filtering the sound.
Additional respiratory sounds
Rhonchi
Low-pitched
What you hear: Continuous snoring, rattling or gurgling, which may change after coughing.
Why it happens: Secretions and narrowing in larger airways disturb airflow and produce vibration.
Wheeze
Musical or whistling
What you hear: Continuous musical or whistling sounds, often louder on expiration.
Why it happens: Narrowed airways vibrate as air passes through them, as can occur in asthma or COPD.
Fine crackles
Short, high-pitched
What you hear: Brief, delicate pops, often during late inspiration.
Why it happens: Sudden reopening of small airways produces short bursts of sound. These can occur with fibrosis or pulmonary oedema.
Coarse crackles
Longer, lower-pitched
What you hear: Louder, longer popping or bubbling sounds.
Why it happens: Airway reopening and secretions contribute. These can occur in bronchiectasis, pneumonia or pulmonary oedema.
Stridor
Upper airway
What you hear: Harsh, high-pitched noisy breathing, usually inspiratory and loudest over the neck.
Why it happens: Upper airway narrowing causes turbulent airflow. Stridor can indicate life-threatening airway obstruction and needs urgent assessment.
Pleural friction rub
Grating or creaking
What you hear: Localised rough scraping, often in both phases of breathing.
Why it happens: Inflamed pleural surfaces rub together as the lungs move. Breathing may also be painful.
Listen to the patient as well as the sound. Interpret findings alongside symptoms, observations and the wider assessment. Sound labels alone do not establish a diagnosis. Markedly reduced air entry in a distressed patient is concerning even without a wheeze.
Recording sources:Mometrix and PreHospitalHub. These recordings are hosted externally. Availability is controlled by the providers.
