Fourth Grade, Music Science Experiments (Page 4)

Ding, Dong, Ding, Dong: Morning Bells Are Ringing

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

For centuries, beautiful bell towers, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, have been the center of village life, announcing the time of day, the joy of weddings, and the sorrow of funerals. They were also used to call villagers to action in times of danger. Have you ever wondered, though, why people put the bells in towers? The bells are so heavy, why haul them all the way up to the top of tall towers? Why not just ring them on the ground? Putting bells up high does make for a dramatic visual… Read more

Do String Players Have Longer Left Fingers?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Physical activity is needed for maintaining normal bone strength and mass. Can physical stress on finger bones during development lead to an increase in finger length? Check out this project to see how violin players are an example of a "natural experiment" that you can use to answer this question. Read more

Does Virtual Practice Make Perfect?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

You've probably heard the phrase, "practice makes perfect" more times than you care to remember, but is it actually true when you use a music game as your practice for real-life singing, strumming, or drumming? You can design a science fair project to discover the answer! First, you'll need to think about how to measure how well someone is playing or singing a song in real life. Using the test you design, measure several musicians' ability to play or sing a few different songs. Then have your… Read more

Guitar Jingle: Discovering the Locations of Harmonics

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Did you know that your guitar has a secret? Yes, that's right—hidden along each string are special places where you can play harmonics and make your guitar sound like a bell! In this music science fair project, you'll find out where the main harmonics are located on a guitar, and then see how those locations are related to the length of the strings. So get out your guitar—it's time to ring in a science fair project! Read more

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 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

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

Fourth Grade, Music Science Experiments (45 results)

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