What music would you like to make?
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Frequency of vibrations
Vibrating objects makes sound. When any musical instrument is making a sound part of it will be vibrating. The faster the vibration the higher the sound is. The speed of vibration is called the frequency and it is measure in hertz (Hz for short). 1Hz is equal to 1 complete vibration per second.
The musical note middle C is 256 Hz, or 256 vibrations per second. The musical note one octave above middle C has double the frequency, 512 Hz.
Stretched rubber bands vibrating at these sorts of frequencies produce musical notes. You won't be able to see the individual vibrations as the band will be vibrating too quickly - it will just look blurred. Thick rubber bands will vibrate more slowly than thin ones and so produce lower notes. The more tightly stretched a rubber band is the more rapidly it vibrates producing higher notes. The shorter a rubber band is the more rapidly it vibrates producing higher notes. By choosing bands of different thickness, putting them under different tension and being able to adjust the vibrating length the children in your class will be able to get a set of frequencies corresponding to a musical scale.