Music Science Projects (Page 2)

How to Make a Piano Sing

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The renowned pianist Vladimir Horowitz once said, "The most important thing is to transform the piano from a percussive instrument into a singing instrument." In this project, you will learn how you can make piano strings sing using sympathetic vibrations. Find out which notes make another one sing the longest by measuring their sound intensities using a smartphone equipped with a sensor app. Read more

Singing Wine Glasses

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The American holiday of Thanksgiving is a favorite of many. Friends and family getting together, a big feast, fancy china and glassware on the table. Who can resist the temptation to make the wine glasses sing? Find out more about how this works with this project! Read more

Music for Martians: Build and Play a Theremin Instrument

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Here is a riddle for you: name an instrument that you play with your hands but never actually touch. Have you guessed the answer? It is a theremin! This unusual instrument makes sound without anyone touching it. How does a theremin work? It has an antenna that can detect the player's hand nearby, and as they move their hand around the theremin, the sound it makes changes based on the hand's position. In this music science project, you will get to use your own mini theremin to investigate how… 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

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

Does How You Hold Your Guitar Affect the Sound?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What do a guitar, a piano, a harp and a violin have in common? Turns out a couple of things, including a soundboard. All stringed instruments use a soundboard to amplify (greatly increase) the volume of the sound coming from vibrations of the strings. The soundboard is positioned so that it gathers the sound vibrations coming from the strings and then retransmits them at an even greater volume when it begins to vibrate. Soundboards are common in the world of musical instruments, but they can… 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

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

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

Movie Music

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever seen a great movie and then rushed out and bought its soundtrack? Did the soundtrack bring back the thrill of an action chase? Or the sadness one of the movie's characters felt? Music is a big part of the movie experience. It intensifies the emotions in scenes so that you do not just jump when that hairy spider comes around the corner, you scream! In this music science fair project, you will find out if happy, sad, scary, and action scenes in movies use music with the same… Read more

Music Science Projects (36 results)

Explore Our Science Videos