When you are appreciating the splendid music made by the guitarists,have you ever thought of how does this instrument work to produce sound?
Apparently,a typical guitar consists of the head, the fretboard,the neck,the body,which act as major parts.When you pluck a guitar string,there comes a vibration called a standing wave.Then the vibration translates through the neck and bridge to the guitar's body,where there is a hole made of thin and flexible wood.With the wood vibrates,jostling the surrounding air molecules together and apart,hence making the sound waves.They eventually propagate to your ears after being translated into electrical impulses and your brain would interpret it to sound.
So here is another puzzle,what determines the pitch of sound?It depends on the frequency of the compressions.Some points called anti-nodes on the string oscillate back and forth thus produce vibrations,causing a lot of compressions close together,making a high-pitched sound while a slow one produces a low-pitched sound.
Furthermore,Four things affect the frequency of a vibrating string,the length,the tension,the density and the thickness.Thicker strings vibrate more slowly,producing lower notes.Generally,typical guitar strings are all the same length and have similar tension,but vary in thickness and density.
