Music and Standing Waves (Part 1) Transverse Standing Waves in Strings

Part 1 of 2

In this video I discuss how standing waves can be used to explain the sound produced by a guitar or any stringed instrument. Animations are used to explain the different types of standing waves present in a vibrating guitar string, and a guitar is used to show that many different standing waves are present in a vibrating guitar string all at the same time!

Part 2: Music and Standing Waves (Part 2) Longitudinal Standing Waves in Air

[hackerhaddi]

this is exactly what i needed, thank you

[danielleza]

This is such a beautiful video, well done sir!

[catsnowlake]

This video helped me SO MUCH! Thank you!!!

[bobluthier]

yep, then i go and try to explain to people about natural frequency and how existance as we know it, is basically just music, then theyre like "oh, hes just drunk again"...then im all

like "you wanna fight!?"

all seriousness though, thank you for the video. guitars (lol, other instrument too...i guess), music and sound (frequency) are so freakin cool.

also, if anyone here likes guitar music, i say to you, tory slusher

[GanderTV-poof]

Great video!! Thanks, Teach! Nice-sounding Takamine, by the way....

[sparshshah]

At 2:48, he puts the velocity of the wave as 109m/s and in a current experiment which I am conducting using string length and frequency to calculate v, I am getting a similar value of 109m/s but I thought the value of speed of sound in air was about 343m/s at 20 degrees celsius. For context, in my experiment, I am varying string length and measuring frequency to isolate for v. The harmonic number is 1. Is it that v refers to the wave speed and not the speed of sound in air?

[cjburian]

Awesome explanation. I already know about harmonics generally, like in electronic circuits but never before did I make the connection to guitar strings. This is the first time that I "get" harmonics of guitar playing. Thanks! Question: When you tap the 4th harmonic node and damp the first 3, does the energy of those first 3 waves transfer into your fingertip, or does it stay in the string and make the 4th harmonic louder?

[sanjeevn]

so sir, when we pluck the string it will be having all standing waves possible, but as the fundamental standing wave will be louder than all other standing waves we will only hear fundamental frequency... but if we want to hear second harmonic or other we have to press the string at particular lengths so that it will eliminate its predecessor harmonics.
I hope I got it right. if wrong please correct me...

[cesar]

Great video, but would be better using a spectrogram to actually see the harmonics instead verbal idea.

[andrewschultz]

When you pluck over the sound hole, shouldn't the second harmonic frequency (or one of the higher harmonics) be the loudest? You are plucking very near to the antinode of the second harmonic, that is, the wave with two antinodes. I believe this is suported by data if you perform an FFT of the guitar's sound. I'm genuinely curious, not trying to take anything away from this great video.

Additional evidence comes from plucking a guitar string over the midpoint of the string as opposed to over the sound hole. I would think this would tend to excite the fundamental frequency and not the higher harmonics. When you pluck a string at its midpoint, it makes a much more "vanilla, " plain sound consistent with vibrations of the fundamental frequency.

[dharshandm]

Hey... But still how does plucking it a single time make up fundamentals without interference

[ashsubbiah]

How do standing waves make the speicifc sound though?