You are here

Solution to Exercises in Chapter 3

22 July, 2019 - 10:18
Available under Creative Commons-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/2ad74b7b-a72f-42a9-a31b-7e75542e54bd@3.74

Solution to Exercise 3.1:

  1. The part of the string that can vibrate is shorter. The finger becomes the new "end" of the string.
  2. The new sound wave is shorter, so its frequency is higher.
  3. It sounds higher; it has a higher pitch.
: media/image121.png
Figure 3.14 String
When a finger holds the string down tightly, the finger becomes the new end of the vibrating part of the string. The vibrating part of the string is shorter, and the whole set of sound waves it makes is shorter. 

Solution to Exercise 3.2:

There are many, but here are some of the most familiar:

  • Chimes
  • All xylophone-type instruments, such as marimba, vibraphone, and glockenspiel
  • Handbells and other tuned bells
  • Steel pan drums

Solution to Exercise 3.3:

Although trained musicians will generally agree that a particular sound is reedy, thin, or full, there are no hard-and-fast, right-or-wrong answers to this exercise.

Solution to Exercise 3.4:

  1. The eighth harmonic
  2. The fifth and tenth harmonics; the sixth and twelfth harmonics; the seventh and fourteenth harmonics; and the eighth and sixteenth harmonics
  3. The note that is one octave higher than a harmonic is also a harmonic, and its number in the harmonic series is twice (2 X) the number of the first note.
  4. The eighth, sixteenth, and thirty-second harmonics will also be A's.