absolute properties of notes

I'll try.

Think of a guitar string like a skipping rope. If there is a person at either end, spinning the rope, that's the same as playing the open string.

What happens, zhough, if you have someone holding the rope in the middle? Whilst the rope may be spinning at the same speed, you now have two "waves" instead of one (each side of the person in the middle) - you have double the frequency of the waves. This is called the first harmonic.

You can do exactly the same with two people, each a third of the way along the rope. Again, the rope is spinning at a constant speed, but you now have three waves, where you had two (when there was just one person in the middle) - so you've tripled the frequency of the waves. This is the second harmonic.

You can carry on and add as many people onto the skipping rope as you like, the result will just be a further increase in frequency and another hamonic.

The other thing that you'll notice, is that, as you add people to the skippping rope, the height of each of the waves decreases.The same occurs with sound - the higher the frequency, the lower the amplitude.

The only problem with sound, is that all the different harmonics are sounding at once (a whole playground full of skipping ropes, each with a different number of people holding the rope). This is what gives a tone it's character - the number of harmonics you hear, in addition to the primary pitch.

When you play a 12th fret harmonic, you are touching the string at the node of the first harmonic, i.e. in the middle of the string's length, and damping out the other harmonics, which do not have a node at the centre of the string. As the amplitude of the other harmonics is so much lower than the first, you hear "just" that harmonic.

I hope that helps (and that I've not boobed anywhere)

If a composer wants to indicate that the notes should be played relative to a different C, they use the notation "8va--------" above the section to indicate that. Now who knows what "8va" actually means in technical terms?

Ottava, Italian for octave. 8vb means ottava bassa: play it an octave lower.
When you play a 12th fret harmonic, you are touching the string at the node of the first harmonic, i.e. in the middle of the string's length, and damping out the other harmonics, which do not have a node at the centre of the string.

*Warning: grammer Nazi!*

The comma at the beginning of the bold text (emphasis mine) should not be there. It implies that only that harmonic has a node at the center of the string, so only it will sound. What he meant was that any harmonics without nodes near the center will be muted. There are many harmonics with nodes there. I'm not trying to nitpick, but I thought I should clarify.

Whew! I had a lot of trouble getting that typed without errors. I realized that my second sentence didn't mean anything. Then I noticed that even with that correction, it still didn't mean anything. Then I noticed I had misused a comma of my own! I guess I shouldn't try to comment without removing the log from my own eye first. Or at least getting some sleep.

EDIT: Aaah! I'm in typographic hell! Now my second sentence means the wrong thing! Listen to what I mean, not what I say, all right? It should be fixed now.

Just think, you can all say you witnessed my progression into madness. :(

Sorry, Paul, but I don't agree.

First of all:
*Warning: grammer Nazi!*

That should be grammar. :lol:

I am guilty of the crime of complicating sentences.

Wow, that really made things a lot clearer. Only one question remains, then.
That table was very helpful, but where is this "middle C" located in it
(you said it was a standard, but not where you find it :wink: )?

middle C is called C5 in Helgi's table at 261.1Hz

OK, then the last puzzle piece is in place too. :) Thanks again to everyone!

Sorry, Paul, but I don't agree.

First of all:
*Warning: grammer Nazi!*

That should be grammar. :lol:

I am guilty of the crime of complicating sentences.

And I thought I finally had it right. I don't guess anyone but me pays that much attention to commas, but I actually comminicate mostly through commas.

Good explanation of Harmonics. I learned about that in "radio" school and figuring harmonics mathmaticly. The important thing is it's the harmonics that make it music. A pure tone as produced by an audio fequency signal generator is NOT musical! It's not noise either but just a rather harsh sound.

If those who are old enough to remember the old Emergency Broadcast Network test signal before it went digital remember that rather high pitch "squeal" that they sent out. That was a one k herz pure tone broadcast at a 0dbm level. That is the signal that a technician will inject into most any radio, microwave, or any other sound reproduction device to alighn equipment. Not a very pleasing sound.

It's those harmonics that make a guitar a guitar, a piano a piano or anything else a musical instrument.