5th Grade Science: Sound Waves and Pitch

Changing the Pitch of Sound

• A guitar is a stringed instrument with strings of different thicknesses that can be tuned by making them looser or tighter.
• Tuning the guitar makes the pitch of the sound produced perfect.
• Pressing the strings down makes them shorter, changing the pitch of the sound.
• The length of the string affects the pitch of the sound produced: shorter strings produce higher pitch, while longer strings produce lower pitch.
• The thickness of the string also affects the pitch: thicker strings produce lower pitch, while thinner strings produce higher pitch.
• The tightness of the string also affects the pitch: tighter strings produce higher pitch, while looser strings produce lower pitch.

Wind Instruments

• Wind instruments produce sound when air is blown down or across the top of hollow pipes, causing the air to vibrate inside the pipe.
• The pitch of the sound produced by a wind instrument can be changed by blocking one or more of the holes, making the column of air inside the pipe shorter or longer.
• The length of the column of air inside the pipe affects the pitch of the sound produced: shorter columns produce higher pitch, while longer columns produce lower pitch.

Key Concepts

• To loosen something means to make it longer or less tight.
• A stringed instrument is played by plucking the strings.
• To tune a musical instrument means to change the note so it sounds true.
• A wind instrument is played by blowing down a tube.
• Changing the pitch of sound can be done by changing the length or tension of the strings in a stringed instrument, or by changing the length of the column of air inside the pipe of a wind instrument.