- String tension: When violinists tune their instruments using tuning pegs, they are adjusting string tension: tighter for a higher frequency and higher pitch, looser for a lower frequency and lower pitch. To help beginner violinists remember this, my teacher has this fun saying: “Lefty loosey, righty tighty!”
- String mass: Thicker strings have more mass, so thicker strings have lower pitches. Because of this, the thinner strings are easier to snap! A snapped string is inevitable (I’ve had about three snap), but it’s one of the violinist’s worst performing nightmares!
- String length: Have you ever wondered how so many different notes can be played on just four strings? By holding a string down against the fingerboard, the black piece of wood, a player shortens the string length, making a higher pitch
- Mode of vibration: When a player doesn’t press down completely on a string, this is called a harmonic. The string produces waves which are a fraction of the length normally produced by that string length.
The Sound of the Violin
Maia Poon
Have you ever wondered how so many different pitches can be created on an instrument with just four strings? Or how people make such cool sound effects on the violin?
I have played the violin for twelve years as part of my school orchestra, taking lessons, and performing. But after all this time, I have yet to learn about how the different parts of the instrument work together to create sound. So I have decided to learn about the physics behind the violin for my blog post!
The Bow
A sound on the violin is made when the bow, a wooden stick with horse hair attached to it, is drawn across a string. I remember finding out about the horse hair for the first time as a kid, and asking, “Is it real?” I had to make sure that I hadn’t harmed any horses so that I could continue playing guilt-free! The bow’s motion causes the string to vibrate, making a sound wave. The bow controls the length of the sound by continuing the vibration. It can also produce a louder or softer sound, depending on the bow length and weight the player applies.
To determine what pitch (the highness or lowness of a sound) the sound wave will make, the fundamental frequency formula is used.
Breaking down the formula: The fundamental frequency (f1) is the musical pitch of the note, measured in hertz (Hz), the unit of frequency. It is equal to the velocity of the wave on the string (v wave on string) or the speed of the string’s vibration (in metres per second), divided by two times the string length (in metres).
The Strings
By substituting the expression for wave velocity into the formula, the science behind the strings becomes a bit more clear:
From the formula, we can see that the pitch of a vibrating string depends on three things:
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