Science Buddies: Don't You Fret! Standing Waves on a Guitar

In this project, you will investigate the physics of standing waves on guitar strings. You will learn about the different modes (i.e., patterns) of vibration that can be produced on a string, and you will figure out how to produce the various modes by lightly touching the string at just the right place as you pick it. This technique is called playing harmonics on the string. Though we chose a guitar for this project, the experiment can also be done using any stringed instrument.