1. The guitar has been a key instrument in rock & roll since the beginning. When your favorite guitarist strums away at their instrument, how do the strings make a sound for us to hear?
The Guitar

2. What You Will Need Paper Cup Kite String or Yarn (cut to 2ft)
Paperclip
Pencil
Water
What You Will Need

3. Experiment
Poke a hole in the bottom of the cup with a pencil. It should be just large enough to thread the piece of string through.
Experiment Step 1

4. Thread the string through the hole from the bottom.
Experiment
Thread the string through the hole from the bottom.
Experiment Step 2

5. Experiment
On the end of the string coming out of the top of the cup, tie the string to the paper clip. Pull the string through the cup so the paperclip is pressed against the inside bottom of the cup.
Experiment Step 3

6. Dip your string into the water to make it fairly wet.
Experiment
Dip your string into the water to make it fairly wet.
Experiment Step 4

7. Experiment
Hold the cup up right in one hand so the string hangs below. Pinch the string between your thumb and forefinger. Squeeze tightly and slide your thumb and forefinger down the string quickly.
Experiment Step 5

8. Try different Techniques
Experiment
As always in music, it may take some practice and experimentation to get it right. Try using different pressures and speed when pulling the string. Keep trying until you hear a sound singing from the cup.
Try different Techniques

9. What’s Going On
Sound is created by vibrations in the molecules of an object. When your finger “slips and grips” the string, you create vibrations in the string.
These vibrations travel through the molecules of the string up to the cup in your hand. The cup’s molecules then start to vibrate as well.
The cup is surrounded by and filled with air. As the molecules of the cup vibrate, they also transfer that vibration to the air molecules, which then transfer the vibrations to your ears.
What’s Going On

10. Acoustic guitars work in a very similar way.
What’s Going On
Acoustic guitars work in a very similar way.
Acoustic Guitar

11. Guitar Video Demonstration
What’s Going On
When a guitarist strikes the strings of the guitar, they vibrate. That energy transfers from the molecules of the string into the molecules making up the body of the guitar.
Guitar Video Demonstration
Slow motion video of a vibrating guitar string
(no audio)

12. What’s Going On
Since an acoustic guitar is hollow, the air molecules that fill the inside of the guitar begin to vibrate as well. The air molecules transmit their energy out through the sound hole and toward our ears.
Hollow Guitar