1. 16.5 Musical notes Musical notes versus noise Why is the sound produced by a tuning fork or a mouth organ enjoyable? Why is the sound produced by machinery unpleasant to hear?

2. 16.5 Musical notes Waveform of a sound produced by a tuning fork Waveform of a sound produced by a mouth organ  The sounds have regular waveforms.  They are called musical notes.

3. 16.5 Musical notes Waveform of a sound produced by machinery  The sound has irregular waveform.  It is called noise.

4. 16.5 Musical notes How do we describe musical notes? and quality pitch, loudness

5. 16.5 Musical notes Pitch  The pitch of a sound is related to its frequency. The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch of the sound. e.g. frequency of high C = 512 Hz frequency of middle C = 256 Hz ∴ The high C has a higher pitch than the middle C.

6. 16.5 Musical notes  Frequencies of the 8 notes in the musical scale: NoteFrequency / Hz C (doh)256 D (ray)288 E (me)320 F (fah)340 G (soh)384 A (lah)427 B (te)480 C’ (doh’)512

7. 16.5 Musical notes This note has a longer period. ∴ It has a lower frequency and hence a lower pitch. This note has a shorter period. ∴ It has a higher frequency and hence a higher pitch.

8. 16.5 Musical notes Loudness  The loudness of a sound is related to its amplitude. For two notes of the same frequency, the one with larger amplitude is louder.

9. 16.5 Musical notes A louder sound is produced Turn up the volume control of a hi-fi The power delivered to the speaker is increased

10. 16.5 Musical notes Quality  The quality of a sound depends on its waveform. an oboea French horn  Different musical instruments sound different when they are playing the same note. ∵ different qualities Simulation: Pitch, loudness and quality

11. 16.5 Musical notes That’s the end of Section 16.5 Key Ideas Previous Page Section 16.6 Exit