Pitch and Frequency of Sound

Objectives:

• Students will be able to define the term pitch.

• Students will be able to define the term frequency.

• Students will be able to describe how pitch and frequency are created.

• Students will be able to describe how frequency is measured.

Suggested Grades:

5th Grade - 6th Grade - 7th Grade

Lesson Procedure:

Print the reading comprehension worksheet passage and questions (see below).

Students should read the passage silently, then answer the questions. Teachers may also use the text as part of a classroom lesson plan.

Lesson Excerpt:

When you hear a sound, what do you notice about it? Some sounds are loud, some are soft. Some sounds are very pleasing to the ear, some are harsh and unpleasant. Some sounds are very high-pitched, while others are very deep and low. What causes these different qualities of sound?

The pitch of a sound is a measure of how high or low the sound is. The pitch of a sound depends on the length and thickness of the object that is vibrating. It also depends on how fast the object is vibrating. The easiest way to observe this is by comparing the pitch of different strings on a guitar. Thicker strings have lower pitches. Thinner strings have higher pitches. The sound of an individual string can be made even higher by shortening the length of the string. A guitar player does this by pressing a part of the string against the neck of the guitar to shorten it. Guitar strings can also be tightened or loosened to change their pitch.

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