![]() As humans, we can only hear sound vibrations between 20 Hz and 20,000 Hz, but that’s enough to contain all of the different sounds in the most common music forms. For this reason, if analyzing music with a frequency chart – known as a frequency spectrum – it’s possible to identify which instruments contribute most to different frequency ranges. And when you scale this up to a full band or orchestra, we see that thousands of different frequencies are being created at any single moment, and if these frequencies are controlled and organised by skilled and knowledgeable musicians, the resultant sounds can create incredible and fascinating experiences for us to hear. If you hit three, five or eight piano notes at the same time, then you are generating perhaps hundreds of frequencies all at once. A single piano note is made up of different related frequencies all occurring at the same time, many of these being ‘harmonics’ which we’ll describe in more detail in the next section. Every musical note has a fundamental frequency (or pitch), but, in reality, it’s virtually impossible to create a single frequency at any one time. Music is all about the organisation of different sounds and frequencies to make something pleasant, arranged, composed and interesting for our ears. Figure 3.2 shows every note on the piano within 50 – 400 Hz, giving the associated frequency value for each musical note.įrequencies of musical notes What is the frequency of most music? For example, 98 Hz is note G2 on the piano, 110 Hz is A2 on the musical scale, C3 is at 130.8 Hz. So, every note on the piano keyboard has a corresponding frequency. ![]() When a piano string vibrates, it vibrates at a very specific frequency related to its length and tension, and by changing the tension we can choose exactly what frequency each string vibrates at – the same principle applies to all musical instruments, including drums. So, if a drum is tuned to 100 Hz, its drumhead will vibrate up and down 100 times in a single second, similar applies to guitar strings and glockenspiel bars. Conveniently, some frequencies and frequency relationships are much more ‘musical’ than others, which provides a basis for music as we know it, and the tuning of musical instruments. So vibrating objects – such as musical instruments – cause sound vibrations that our ears can easily interpret. The measurement unit for vibration frequency is known as Hertz or Hz. Sound is itself another type of vibration, caused as air molecules vibrate and collide, and pass on energy. What are musical frequencies and why frequencies are important for musicians?įrequency is a measure of vibration or oscillation, related to how quickly an object or a signal moves backwards and forwards between two positions. We also take a look at the concepts of the ‘equal temperament’ scale and see how audio frequencies combine in songs and performances to give our ears a rich and organised sound experience that we refer to as ‘music’. We cover all aspects of musical frequencies relating to notes on the piano keyboard and the intervals between notes. Explain what each of the terms (\(A, \cos, π, f, t, \phi\)) represent in the motion of a mass on a spring.In this article we unpick the key concepts relating to musical frequencies, and link these to the tuning of musical instruments and the creation of music, focusing particularly on drums and drumheads too. The mathematical description of SHM is given by \(y(t)=A\cos (2\pi ft+\phi )\).What kind of saxophone reed would more easily play low frequency notes, a thick, heavy reed or a thin, light reed (assuming the stiffness is the same)? Explain your thinking.What kind of clarinet reed would more easily play low frequency notes, a stiff reed or a soft reed (assuming the mass is the same)? Explain your thinking.Which has the larger period, a small mass hanging from a spring or a large mass hanging from the same spring?.Which has the larger frequency, a stiff spring or a soft spring?. ![]() Which has the larger period, a stiff spring or a soft spring?. ![]() What is the difference between a linear force and a non-linear force?.What is Hooke’s law and why is it important?.What conditions are required for simple harmonic motion to occur?. ![]()
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