Elementary School, Music Science Experiments (Page 4)

Helmholtz Resonance and Musical Instruments

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Helmholtz resonance, or air cavity resonance, refers to the resonance of air in a container with a small opening, like a plastic bottle or the devices shown in Figure 1. The resonant frequency of the air depends on the volume of the air in the container and the geometry of the opening (its length and cross-sectional area). The Helmholtz frequency is not the same as the natural frequency of an air column in a cylinder, where the opening is the same size and shape as the rest of the cylinder. … Read more

How to Make a Guitar Sing

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This is a great project for a musician who is interested in the physics of stringed instruments. If you've ever played an acoustic guitar, you may have noticed that picking a single string can make one or more of the other (unpicked) strings vibrate. When this happens, it's called sympathetic vibration. What intervals lead to the strongest sympathetic vibrations? Find out for yourself with this project. Read more

How Tweet It Is: Bird Songs in Classical Music

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you enjoy singing contests like American Idol? Well, male songbirds have their own version of a singing competition that has been going on for thousands of years, and classical musical composers have been taking notes! In this music science fair project, you'll investigate the different instruments composers have used to imitate or create impressions of bird songs and bird calls. Read more

Is It a Country Ballad? Listen to the Beat!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever noticed that hip-hop songs have a fast tempo, while country ballads are usually slow? Do you think there is a correlation between the number of beats per minute (bpm) in a song and the type of music? You can explore whether different genres of music have different bpm ranges by measuring the bpm in several different songs from a number of different genres. Bpm can be measured using free music software, like the one listed below in the Bibliography, or by counting all the beats you… Read more

Make Your Own Electric Guitar Pickup

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you like playing electric guitar, this could be a cool project for you. Have you ever wondered how an electric guitar works? In this project you'll wind one or more of your own electric guitar pickups and test them out in an inexpensive electric guitar. How will the sound change with the number of turns you use in the coil? Or with the strength of the magnets you use? Read more

MP3 Squeeze: How Much Compression is Too Much?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you love to listen to your MP3 player while you're exercising, or listen to songs on the Internet? The relatively recent development of MP3 technology has made it possible to take a stack of CD's and store them on a device no bigger than a deck of cards. How does the MP3 format squeeze all those CD's down so well, and can it go too far? Try this music science fair project to find out! Read more

Pick This Project!

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Here's a fun science project for anyone who plays an electric guitar. You'll learn about the physics of vibrating strings, and find out why the tone of your guitar changes when you switch between the different pickups. Read more

Pitch Perception

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do violin students have better relative pitch than piano students? Since the violin requires the player to choose the correct location to stop the string in order to sound the proper note, you might think that violin players would, as a result of practice, have better ear training than piano students. On the other hand, you could argue the opposite viewpoint, since piano students would have the benefit of hearing correct intervals (assuming that the piano is in tune). Which hypothesis do you… Read more

Pluck Out & Pick New String Materials for Your Guitar

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Walk into any music store and you'll find a dizzying array of string choices for your classical guitar, including rectified nylon, clear nylon, carbon fluoride, bronze wound, phosphor bronze wound, silver-plated copper wire, Polytetra-flouro-ethylene (PTFE), each in a range of tensions from low to high. There is no single best brand or best material. All have their advantages and disadvantages. A set of strings that sounds "sparkling" on one guitar might sound dull on another, primarily because… Read more

Ring on the Resonance!

STEM Activity

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Have you ever been on a swing set and suddenly noticed that the person on the swing next to you seems to be swinging almost exactly in time with you? You go up and down at either the same time, or exactly opposite each other. This might seem random – but it’s actually physics! Like many things in nature, swing sets have a ‘resonant frequency’, which means that they have a ‘favorite’ frequency (or speed) of movement. The swing set will naturally want to swing… Read more

Elementary School, Music Science Experiments (45 results)

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