One of the central problems in auditory theory is to reconcile (a) the acute perception of slight changes in pitch displayed by the human listener with (b) the broad tuning of his cochlear analyzing mechanism. This paper attempts to describe and to relate a number of theoretical solutions to that problem. The hypotheses involve mechanisms, both mechanical and neural, for sharpening the analysis inherent in the cochlear transformation from frequency of stimulation to locus of vibration. These mechanisms operate in the domain of place—they are place theories that supplement the classical place theory. In a future paper, we plan to describe and discuss other sharpening mechanisms that operate in the domain of time.