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Digital Inquiry - Music & Sound

Last updated over 1 year ago
6 questions

Sound Waves


Just what are we making when we make music? Although you can’t see them, sound waves travel through the air from a guitar to your ears.

A guitarist moves their fingers up and down the neck of the guitar to make the string shorter or longer. When a guitar string is strummed, it vibrates. This vibration moves the air in waves. These waves have amplitude (height) and wavelength (length). How fast or slow the string vibrates changes the waves. The amplitude and wavelength change to match the sound.

When the waves reach your ear, they travel inside to the inner ear where structures vibrate according to amplitude and wavelength. Your brain has learned to interpret the signal sent from ear to brain as music.
1

How does sound move from an object to our ears?

VIDEO: SOUND

Click the link to watch the 4-minute video and learn how sound is made and used.


Sound is energy, a special kind of energy. It moves in waves and fills our ears. But how does sound move and fill our ears. Find out more about the science of sound.
1

What is the amplitude and frequency of a sound wave?

1

How do we use sounds that we cannot hear?

TEXT: HOW ARE SOUNDS CREATED?

As you read the text, think about sounds you hear every day and sounds you make. Click the link to read the text.
1

How does sound energy on Earth compare to sound energy in space?

TEXT: MAKING MUSIC


Click the link to read about musical instruments and how they make different sounds.
1

How do people use instruments to make different sounds?

VIDEO: MUSIC & SOUND

1

How can we use materials, like cardboard, metal, glass, and plastic, to make sounds and produce music of our own?