The Physics of Music
Scripts developed in collaboration with Mark Kazakevich
71 videos, 9 hours and 52 minutes. Recorded from 2017-2021.
Coming soon: A fully interactive online textbook - to be available to the public in summer 2026
Part I Oscillations and Waves
Chapter 1. Oscillations
- Introduction (2 minutes)
- Position-Time Graphs (10 minutes)
- Simple Harmonic Motion (10 minutes)
- Amplitude, Period, and Frequency (11 minutes)
- Changing the Amplitude and Frequency (5 minutes)
- Oscillations That Lose Energy (6 minutes)
- Resonance (7 minutes)
- Summary (3 minutes)
Chapter 2. Traveling Waves
- Waves On a String (7 minutes)
- Particles in Waves (8 minutes)
- Wave Reflections (6 minutes)
- Wave Speed (4 minutes)
- Sine Waves (7 minutes)
Chapter 3. Standing Waves
- Introduction (3 minutes)
- Combining Waves and Interference (8 minutes)
- How To Make a Standing Wave (7 minutes)
- Harmonics and Resonance (7 minutes)
- Summary (2 minutes)
Part II Sound Waves
Chapter 4. Longitudinal Waves and Air Pressure
- Longitudinal Waves (5 minutes)
- Air Pressure (5 minutes)
- Changes in Air Pressure (11 minutes)
- Air Pressure Waves (12 minutes)
- Air Pressure Standing Waves (4 minutes)
- Addendum: What About the Music? (2 minutes)
Chapter 5. Sound
- What is Sound? (6 minutes)
- Sound Sources (9 minutes)
- How Sound Waves Propagate (7 minutes)
- Sound Waves in the Environment (10 minutes)
- Sound Intensity (8 minutes)
- Volume and the Decibel System (12 minutes)
- Summary (2 minutes)
Part III Musical Sound
Chapter 6. Pure Tones
- What is a Musical Sound? (3 minutes)
- Organized Sound (2 minutes)
- Pitched Sound (7 minutes)
- Pure Tones (9 minutes)
- Combining Pure Tones of the Same Frequency (8 minutes)
- Beats (10 minutes)
Chapter 7. Analyzing Sound and Complex Tones
- The Human Ear (11 minutes)
- Fourier's Theorem (5 minutes)
- Perspectives On Sound (2 minutes)
- Complex Tones (8 minutes)
- Fundamentals, Overtones, and Harmonics (9 minutes)
- Analyzing Sound (12 minutes)
- Unpitched Sounds (12 minutes)
Chapter 8. Playing Music
- Musical Scales (13 minutes)
- Harmony (14 minutes)
- Playing Musical Notes (8 minutes)
- Rhythm (13 minutes) - featuring Mark Kazakevich
- Musical Sound Part Summary (6 minutes)
Part IV Musical Instruments
Chapter 9. Wind Instruments
- Energy Transfer Model for Acoustic Instruments (11 minutes)
- Wind Instruments (10 minutes)
- Primary Oscillators of Wind Instruments (8 minutes)
- Standing Waves in Wind Instruments (14 minutes)
- Playing Notes on Wind Instruments (6 minutes)
Chapter 10. Strings, Percussion and Human Voice
- String Instruments (12 minutes)
- Playing Notes on String Instruments (10 minutes)
- Percussion Instruments - Part 1 (7 minutes)
- Percussion Instruments - Part 2 (13 minutes)
- The Human Voice (9 minutes)
- Analyzing Human Voice (10 minutes)
Part V Acoustics and Electronic Music
Chapter 11. Acoustics and Psychoacoustics
- Reflection, Absorption, and Reverberation (14 minutes)
- Changing the Acoustic Environment (12 minutes)
- Architectural Design and Concert Halls (12 minutes)
- Psychoacoustics: Loudness (10 minutes)
- Psychoacoustics: Missing Fundamental (7 minutes)
- Psychoacoustics: Binaural Beats (5 minutes)
Chapter 12. Electronic Sound and Digital Music
- Microphones and Speakers (12 minutes)
- Amplifiers (15 minutes)
- Electric Guitars (13 minutes)
- Phonographs (14 minutes)
- Digital Music (10 minutes)