Introduction
‘Sound is a form of energy produced by the vibrations of objects and carried by longitudinal mechanical waves.’ In a longitudinal wave, the air particles vibrate back and forth in a direction which is parallel to the direction of energy transport. The particles are temporarily displaced rightward and then always move back to their original position which means there is no net displacement of the air molecules. To measure the speed of the wave, the equation v=f λ where v is the speed of the wave in s-1, λ is the wavelength and f is the frequency of the wave in Hz.
History of the Guitar
The history of a guitar can be traced back over 4000 years but the principles behind how it works has been in use for much longer. The instrument is an expansion of the idea that sound can be made using a series of strings tied over a large hollow body. The earliest stringed instruments known are bowl harps and tanburs with the oldest preserved guitar-like instrument dating back 3500 years.
How sound is produced by a guitar
A guitar produces sound when its strings vibrate, causing surrounding air molecules to vibrate. The frequency of both vibrations is equal, this motion creates a pressure wave which travels outward from its source. This wave consists of compressions, which are regions of high pressure where the air molecules are compressed into a small region of space and rarefractions which are regions of low pressure where the air molecules are spread apart. This alternating pattern of compressions and rarefractions is known as a sound wave.
Resonance
‘Resonance is the effect that occurs when a body vibrates at its natural frequency.’ This can occur when a body is touching or in close proximity to another vibrating object ...
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...odes. A standing wave pattern consists of an alternating sequence of both.
Comparison
In comparison to the guitar and piano the violin is more pronounced and has a larger range. The amplification is much louder which can be seen in the waveforms. The piano is clearer to the guitar and is a lot simpler whereas the guitar and violin have many more overtones. The wavelength varies between instruments because of the frequencies produced by each which is a result of the differences between the tension, linear density and length of the string. This changes the pitch and amplitude also.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the guitar is a unique and complex instrument with the physics behind in being like no other. Although the principles of it are similar to other instruments, it produces a distinctive sound which is due to the three factors that determine frequency.
The Helmholtz resonance of a guitar is due to the air at the sound hole oscillating, driven by the springiness of the air inside the body. This is analysed quantitatively in Helmholtz Resonance.
Aptly named the Rock & Roll Generation, the 1950's saw the birth and rise to prominence of rock-n-roll and rockabilly (an early style of rock-n-roll). However, this musical revolution would never have been possible without the invention of the electric guitar by Les Paul in 1952 (1). The solid-body electric guitar produced a distinct sound unlike any other instrument during that time; as a result, it was this unique sound that rock-n-roll music developed its entire foundation upon. Today, Les Paul’s guitar (now owned by the popular guitar company Gibson) remains one of the most famous electric guitars not just in the America, but also in the world, along with the Fender Stratocaster and Telecaster. With the advent of the electric guitar, Carl Perkins was a pioneer in the establishment of rock music, and his particular ...
Music is an important part of people’s lives. Each culture has developed various instruments over the centuries. These instruments were developed to create an enjoyable sound by themselves and to accompany nature’s instrument, the human voice. As time has progressed, different genres of music have passed through their primes; classical music during the Renaissance, jazz in the early 20th Century, and hard rock and pop in its current prime. In each style of music there are always names associated with their time and sometimes even their instrument. With Bach and Mozart from the Classical Age to Elvis Presley during the classic Rock ‘n Roll Age, each period holds its own outstanding individuals of their time. The recent time period and its popular instruments is no exception. As the Twentieth-Century progressed, so did the popularity of a now commonly recognizable instrument - the guitar. It seems to be an unspoken agreement between composures and consumers of the present that the guitar is almost a required instrument for any song to be popular. This makes the guitar a huge “player” in music so, who have been the biggest “players” of the guitar? There have been diverse guitar players throughout recent history, each with their own style and music genre, but there are a choice few that probably hold the most influence overall on the guitar in: playing style, sound, and music genre. Although there have been many, five guitarists seem to stand above the rest, if only by a little. These five guitarists are: Charlie Christian, Les Paul, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Eddie Van Halen. These five guitarists have been the most influential in the guitar’s playing style and evolution than any other guitarists of history.
Through out history, music has played a big role. It has let people communicate and others release their creative minds. Throughout the life of music, instruments have made it happen. The guitar has become one of the most popular of all instruments. In fact, almost every band heard on the radio has a lead guitar accompanying the vocals. Thanks to the greats like B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix, Andres Segovia, and Eric Clapton the guitar has been made the lead instrument in much of music. With contributions from each one of these legendary players, the guitar is used in a variety of styles; heavy metal to classical.
Before you can understand the physics of playing the guitar, you must first know the brief history of it. The guitars’ history can be traced back to over 4,000 years ago. This ancient instrument has many theories on how it came to be. The theory with the most evidence states that the guitar was a development from a Greek 4-stringed instrument, and then altered by the Romans to be called the cithara. Soon after, this cithara was then brought to Portugal and Spain where it was changed yet again to an instrument named the Oud. After this, it was combined with the vihuela. Throughout time, insignificant alterations where made to the vihuela. It was not until the end of the 1800’s that a man named Antonio Torres Jurado created what we known as the guitar. To start, he increased the size of the body and neck. He raised the neck and improved the fingerboard with ebony or rosewood. He replaced the tuning pegs with more efficient machine tuners. As a result, he made the guitar louder, more efficient, and he overall improved the sound (History of the Acoustic Guitar) (Guy).
The guitar is a musical instrument that is played by the plucking or strumming of its strings. According to the records, this instrument was invented in Spain in the 15th century. The guitar’s appearance has changed since then. The body of the guitar was narrower than what it is now. Guitars were considered “lutes” at the time. In which lutes formed to be vihuelas then later became guitars. When the guitar was first invented, it only had four-strings so it was called a four-course guitar. However, it has a variety course of strings now. The guitar is one of the instruments that has a major role in music, today. The genres of music that
Ultrasound is sound waves that have a frequency above human audible. (Ultrasound Physics and Instrument 111). With a shorter wavelength than audible sound, these waves can be directed into a narrow beam that is used in imaging soft tissues. As with audible sound waves, ultrasound waves must have a medium in which to travel and are subject to interference. In addition, much like light rays, they can be reflected, refracted, and focused.
As said above, both light and sound waves have to do with interference. In sound, interference affects both the loudness and amplitude. When two waves’ crests overlap, the amplitude increases. The same is true with the troughs of the waves, which decrease the amplitude.
The vibration of the strings of a guitar causes the sound wave, but is not actually what you are hearing. The amplification of the sound wave is what is actually heard. The differences in the tension of the stings and the mass of the strings affect the pitch of the sound produced. The ends of each string are nodes, or where the wave does not travel from its initial position. The note you hear from the string is actually the first harmonic of the wave; other harmonics created when plucking a string form the undertones and overtones of a note. The waves on a guitar string are transverse waves, meaning they travel perpendicular to the original position. The waves are also standing waves, because they remain in the same position.
The electric guitar has greatly impacted how music was played in the past, the present, or the future. Players can be creative and achieve a great sound from the wide variety of guitars, pickups, pedals, or amps. Whatever type of music you enjoy, everyone should appreciate the importance of the electric guitar.
After years, instruments started looking more and more like the guitar. The first instrument that started to look like the guitar was around in the 1200s-1300s. It was found in Mediterranean Europe. Sources refer to this as this as the guitarra latina. Two of the earliest forms after the guitarra latina are the lute and the vihuela. The lute is a small instrument that is shaped somewhat like a pair. It had twelve strings and a very short neck. The vihuela is shaped more like a guitar. It is larger and also has twelve strings (Chapman).
Sound waves take the form of compressional waves and are caused by vibrations. Sound waves are distinguished by their speed, pitch, loudness and quality (timbre) (Lapp, 2003). There are a few parts of sound waves that we should be familiar with to better be able to understand the physics of music. The crest is the highest point of a wave, while the trough is the lowest. The wavelength of a wave is the distance between two adjacent parts of a wave, like from crest to crest, or from trough to trough....
Sound is essentially a wave produced by a vibrating source. This compression and rarefaction of matter will transfer to the surrounding particles, for instance air molecules. Rhythmic variations in air pressure are therefore created which are detected by the ear and perceived as sound. The frequency of a sound wave is the number of these oscillations that passes through a given point each second. It is the compression of the medium particles that actually constitute a sound wave, and which classifies it as longitudinal. As opposed to transverse waves (eg. light waves), in which case the particles move perpendicular to the direction of the wave movement, the medium particles are moving in the same or opposite direction as the wave (Russell, D. A., 1998).
The Physics Classroom. "Frequency and Period of a Wave." Physic Classroom. The Physics Classroom, 1996. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. .