Saturday, 19 October 2019

waves - Physics of guitar strings


Guitarists normally press down hard on the frets and then pluck a string to obtain a note. However, one can also create notes by just touching the string above a particular fret and plucking.


For example, if I just press on a string about two thirds of the way up the guitar (from the bridge), a note of one octave higher in pitch is created than when I press down firmly at the same place. I know that an increase of one octave is the same as doubling the pitch.


How does this happen? What's the physics behind it? I assumed it was something to do with nodes, but I wasn't sure.




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