About Ross Smith Expertise Over 15 years of guitar playing, teaching, building, and modifying; have worked as a touring musician, studio session guitarist, engineer, guitar tech, and guitar teacher. Registered member of ASCAP. Registered member of Freelancers Union. I have a working knowledge of music theory and styles, and a taste for all types of music and instruments. If you have a favorite guitar player or style, chances are I share it!
If you have a question I can't answer, I'll rely on experienced and knowledgeable people I know to get the correct information for you, and I hope I can help inspire your playing style and tone. Promotional photo by Sebastian Castillo at Castillo Photography, San Diego, CA.
Experience Over 15 years of guitar playing, teaching, building, and modifying; have worked as a touring musician, studio session guitarist, engineer, guitar tech, and guitar teacher.
Education/Credentials I have a college degree path but it isn't music oriented. I have a working knowledge of music theory and styles, and a taste for all types of music and instruments. If you have a favorite guitar player or style, chances are I share it!!!
Question this is for a project i'm doing for science. how does each note on a guitar work? and also what does it do? and thanks in advance for answering this for me if you do answer it!
Answer Hi, Alyssa! The strings on a guitar vibrate in an elliptical pattern when plucked with a finger or pick, and cause a note to sound. The rate of that vibration is what produces the note you hear. Now, what determines the pitch of a note is the speed and length of the waves produced by that vibration. A shorter wave and faster rate causes a high pitch, and a longer wave with slower rate causes a lower pitch.
The neck is sectioned off into different notes. These are played by depressing a string onto a small bar set into the wood of the neck, called a "fret." When a string is pressed against a fret up on the neck, it causes the length of the string that vibrates to be shorter, making a note sound higher. If a string is pressed on a lower fret, it makes that same string vibrate over a longer length, making the note sound lower. A string played without touching any frets at all is said to be sounding "open."
Now, this is a rather simplified version, as many other factors influence the actual sound of a guitar. Different woods, metals, and sizes also shape the way the guitar sounds - this is just a basic explanation of how the strings produce notes.
