Frequency & Pitch

This lesson is part of the Fundamentals of Sound & Music module.

Objectives

• Student will be able to define the difference between a sinusoidal and complex wave.
• Student will be able to derive a harmonic series given a fundamental pitch.
• Student will be able to identify whether a sound is harmonic or not on a spectrogram, frequency graph, and oscilloscope.
• Students will understand how frequency relates to the aural concept of pitch.
• Students will understand how frequencies of multiple waveforms interact.
• Students will understand the difference between absolute and relative pitch.

Resources

Readings

• Smack My Pitch Up:
  • Pure Tones & Complex Sounds
  • Beats and Harmonics
• Project Studio Handbook:
  • Complex Sounds
  • Phase and Harmonics
• Physclips UNSW: Frequency and Pitch

Listening & Videos

• Hefele, "Overtone Singing Demonstration"

Tools

• Chrome Music Lab: Spectrogram
• Academo Virtual Oscilloscope
• Szynalski Online Tone Generator
• (Software) Audacity
• Teropa Harmonics Explorer

Class Activities

• Discussion and definition of frequency, pitch, amplitude, and waveform diagrams.
• Investigation of variables using waveform diagrams.
• Demonstration of the combination of two sounds (inducing beats), and the visualization of the process as waveform diagrams.
• Demonstration of harmonic combinations and decomposition.
• Use of an oscilloscope and spectrogram to analyze and compare different sounds.
• Demonstration of harmonic series using brass instruments.

Assignments

• Drawing/analyzing waveform diagrams.
• Harmonics worksheet