1. What is sound, really?
Sound is just wiggling air. Something vibrates (a guitar string, a speaker), it pushes the air, the air pushes your eardrum, and your brain says “I heard something.” Think of dropping a stone in a pond — the ripples spreading out are like sound traveling to your ears.
Two things describe any sound:
- How fast it wiggles → how high or low it sounds. Fast wiggle = high squeaky sound. Slow
wiggle = low rumbly sound.
Real name: frequency, measured in Hertz (Hz) = wiggles per second. The “highness/lowness” is the pitch.
- How big the wiggle is → how loud it is. Big wiggle = loud. Tiny wiggle = quiet.
Real name: amplitude (loudness/volume).
That’s the whole foundation. Everything else in these lessons is just clever ways to shape these two things — how fast, and how big.
Next → 2. Notes & octaves