Beagles have three different sounds or barks that they can make. The first sound is a standard bark, and it sounds just like any other dogs bark. From what I have seen, a Beagle will bark a lot in their first year of life. However once they find there bay, they will use their bay instead of a bark to communicate.
This is true even when they see a stranger. They will rely more on their bay, than their bark to warn or try to scare off the threat. In fact after your Beagle gets a little age on them, you may go days before you hear them use a regular bark.
The second sound is called a bay. It is hard to describe what a bay sounds like, some people refer to it as a doggy yodeling. If you want to hear a Beagle bay for yourself, here is a link to a YouTube video that shows a beagle baying perfectly.
As you can see from the video, the Beagle is using baying to communicate not his regular bark. They will also use a bay when they are hunting, and will use their bay to alert other dogs that they have found or picked up a scent. Once they are on a hot scent, they will almost let out a whimper bay as they race to track down the scent.
The third sound is a howl. A Beagles howl sounds a lot like any other dog. If a howl chain begins in the dead of night, you can expect your Beagle to join in. Some Beagles will learn to howl before they leave the nest, while others will take a bit longer to learn this skill, but it is only a matter of time before they pick up on it.
Even though Beagles have three different barks or sounds they can make. Beagles still make great family pets. For the majority of the day, they are a quite and peaceful dog. It is only when they get riled up that they will make some noise.