![]() ![]() When sounded, each fundamental pitch produces a predictable set of harmonics. The pressure waves which result from the strings you strike, cause the one you are holding to vibrate as well. You will hear multiple pitches sounding all from the same string. With that key still held, strike higher octaves of the same note with a strong attack. By doing this you are lifting the pad that mutes that string, allowing it to vibrate freely. To hear it for yourself, sit at the piano, and press a key very gently so it doesn’t make a sound and hold it. Since the piano is made up of many strings, tuned to different frequencies, pressing one key will cause other notes within it’s harmonic series to sound as well. If you have access to an acoustic piano, there’s a really simple exercise you can do to hear these overtones for yourself. ![]() We call the originating frequency the “fundamental tone” and each of the secondary tones are called “overtones,” or “harmonics.” Hear it for Yourself For example, a string vibrating at 440hz will also produce a secondary vibration at double it’s frequency, 880hz, as well as others at higher multiples (3x, 4x and so on). When played in nature, a single tone played by an instrument will produce several additional pitches which are related to it mathematically. A Single Pitch Will Also Produce Overtone Pitches This shortens the string, changing it’s tension, which raises the pitch. A guitar player can change the pitch of the string while playing, by pressing the string against the fretboard. A guitar has six strings, each tuned to different pitches by tightening each string individually. This is exactly how a string instrument like a guitar works. ![]() The higher the strings tension, the faster the waves that it produces, which creates a higher pitch. When plucked, that string vibrates creating a wave pattern. Picture a string pulled tight between two points. Modern day standard tuning is based on a standard of A = 440hz, which is to say the note with a frequency of 440 cycles per second would create an “A” pitch. Sound waves are measured by their frequency - the number of cycles each sound wave makes over time. But, understanding these fundamental ideas really helped me explore my playing and expand my appreciation of music. This may sound like nerdy scientific mumbo-jumbo, and you may wonder why you should care about the inner workings of sound when you could just focus on which keys to press on your instrument. After all, unorganized sounds are just meaningless noise, whereas music is created through creative organization and compilation of sound.Īs we will learn, the overtone series sets the stage for all the major components of modern music, from pitches, to chords, scales and even determines why a trumpet sounds different from a guitar. The set of resulting pitches form the basis for everything we do as jazz musicians.įundamentally, all western music, including jazz, is rooted in the overtone series. The overtone series is a natural phenomenon in which a single pitch produces multiple additional harmonic pitches through mathematical divisions. Faster waves produce higher pitches, while slower waves produce lower pitches. Those waves produce changes of pressure in the air, and our ears interpret those pressures as different pitches. In its most basic sense sound is made up of waves. ![]()
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