Hey Friend,
Hop into a time machine with me for a sec…
We’re going back to ancient Greece, where some really, REALLY smart dudes in stylish togas were coming up with some mind-blowing stuff.
Without going into a dizzying spin down a rabbit hole, these eggheads were discovering things you’d think were impossible given the fact the had no modern technology.
For instance, how did old Pythagoras come up with the notion that specific pitches in a scale could be mathematically measured?
How'd they figure out that sound behaved like ripples on the water - that it’s a wave moving through air - despite the fact they had no microphones or metering tools, let alone electricity!
That you can measure that sound wave?
Heck, we’ve got all this technological capability today. The idea that these guys were figuring it all out using sticks and stones just floors me.
That sound wave is called frequency, but you’ve also heard it called Hertz (no, not the car rental agency!).
Without getting into all the math and physics involved, we guitar players have a very easy visual to help understand how a sound comes about.
Our guitar strings demonstrate the sound wave in action.
When you pluck a string, it produces a sound.
That sound is the wave of air created by the vibration of the string. Think of your guitar string as a little wind creator…
I know you’re thinking… “if sound is just a wave moving through the air, how do we get all the variations of sound?”
How come all these sound waves don’t just become a huge mess o’ noise?
Well, there are a lot of factors, but first things first…
Let’s get back to that guitar string.
As it’s vibrating and beating the air to create these little sound waves, the note that’s created (the pitch) is the result of how many times that string vibrates back and forth within a second’s time.
That number gives us the frequency, or hertz.
The looser the string, the slower it is to move back and forth. There’s not as much tension on the string, it’s more relaxed, more chill.
So it takes its time moving from center to left, left back through center to right, and right back to center. Over and over again until it eventually comes back to a resting point.
The more you tighten a string up, the higher the pitch goes. Think of that uptight neighbor yelling at the neighborhood kids to “get off my lawn!”
Higher stress, higher pitch… You get the picture.
Your guitar gives you another perfect example: the sixth and first string tunings.
String six is an E note, low pitch, looser tuning than the first string E note. The sound difference is immediately apparent.
BTW, pitch doesn’t have anything to do with the thickness of the string (although that is one of the other factors contributing to what the note sounds like).
Take that "little smackerel” of info and you now understand why twisting the pegs at the end of the guitar neck changes how the strings sound. It’s physics, yo!
You’re welcome.
Here’s something else for you to noodle…
You know how “they” say a single flap of a butterfly’s wing could create a typhoon on the other side of the world (Butterfly Effect)?
If that were true, imagine what we’re doing every time we strum our guitars?! Or Pete Townshend does a windmill!
Just another clever example of Hollywood taking an intriguing idea and twisting it to fit a plot line.
Ain’t the imagination grand?!
Peace~
Dave
P.S. What do you think? Am I boring the shiitake mushrooms out of you, or are you fascinated?
Hit me with any questions or comments by replying...
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