PLAY YOUR EARS: The Partial and Overtone Series | ||||
| When a musician touches a piano key, a hammer inside the instrument flies up and hits one of the piano's strings. The piano produces sound when this string vibrates after being struck. The longer the vibrating string, the lower the sound produced. The tone produced by the vibration of a string's full length is called the fundamental or the first partial.
When a single piano note is struck by a hammer, the fundamental tone sounds with many other tones, producing a rich blend called the Partial and Overtone series. | 
However, strings don't just vibrate at their full length, they vibrate at:
| | ||
| half their length, the 2nd octave |
| one third their length, an octave + 1/5th | 
|
| one fourth their length, the 2nd octave |
| one fifth their length | 
|
| and so on. Each new vibration produces a different pitch. And each new pitch is higher than the fundamental pitch because it is created by a shorter length of vibrating string. |
Activity | ||
| What you will need: 3 rubber bands and a friend | 
| |
| How to play: | 
| |
Try using different size rubber bands. Do you hear higher and lower sounds? | 
| |
