When A String of An Instrument Is Played

JosephAn TheDivergentInfiniteSeries:TheHarmonicSeries The Harmonic Series is a concept that was first publicly introduced intothescientificworld by Nicole Oresme.
Oresme, however,isaccreditedwiththemaingloryofrevealingtheexistenceof the harmonic series, but ratherwereJohannBernoulliandJacobBernouilli,whorevampedthetopic intothescientificcommunitythreecenturieslaterinthe1600s. The harmonic serieswashistoricallyusedforarchitecturalpurposesprimarilyintheBaroque period to establish harmonic relationships between the exterior and interior features of floor plans and of elevations (Hersey). In music, the first term, or the fundamental wavelength (Pierce), is considered to produce the pitch the human ear perceives when a note is played by an instrument. However, when a harmoniccapable instrument produces a note, a harmonic series is produced, with smaller partial waves being emitted as well (Pierce). Although the note itself is perceived as the first term ofthe harmonicseries,thewholeharmonicseriesproducedbytheinstrumentcreatesa timbre, or quality of sound unique to an instrument (professional musicians can distinguish between different instruments when the same note is being played by multiple instruments. This is a result of their attuning to the harmonic effects produced by the individual instruments and ultimately, the timbreofeachsound).Timbreisalsoreferredtoasthetoneofthesound(Thompson).
The first term, the fundamental wavelength whenastringofaninstrumentisplayed.
(The fundamental wavelength, and the overtones/harmonics produced when a stringis played)
Examples of instances when harmonic sounds are producedbow pulling on a string, strummingaguitar. Examples of instances when inharmonic sounds are producedplucking a string, piano hammerstrikingapianostring. (Note that the terminharmonicityreferstotheoccurrenceofwhenatoneisproduced,the
partials produced do not strictly adhere to the rules of the harmonic series which are explained below). Aprincipleexampleofadiverginginfiniteseriesdenotedby:
, this summation represents the sum of fractions of constant integer multiplesofoneanother.Asthe terms increase, the numerical value of each termislessthanthetermsprecedingit(a3islessthana2 ora1).Graphically,theseriesisrepresentedbyalogarithmiccurvethatisexponentiallydecreasing.
(Graph by Jim Belk, an assistant professor of mathematics at Bard College)
Note that many students misinterpret the harmonic series as a sequence of terms, not as a summation of terms. For example, students misinterpret as the limit of 1/n as it approaches infinityessentially a sequence. Although the infinite sequence of 1/nconvergesto0, the infinite series of 1/n diverges to infinity. Although we cannot measure if the harmonic series reaches infinity (infinity being an abstract concept), we can accurately hypothesize it does so. One relativelysimplemethodtoevaluatetheharmonicseriesisbyuseofoneofOresmespostulates. OresmesPostulate(pregrouping)
=1/1+1/2+1/3+1/4+1/5+1/6+1/7+1/8+...+...= Oresme postulated that since the summation of 1/1 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 + . . . + ... equalsinfinity.,andthatgroupingtheharmonicseriesbythe2,4,8,16,terms(excludingthefirst two terms), results in each group being greater than 1/2 the harmonic series must diverge to infinity.Thegroupingisillustratedbelow.
OresmesPostulate(postgrouping)
=1/1+1/2+(1/3+1/4)+(1/5+1/6+1/7+1/8)+...+...=(line1) =1/1+1/2+(7/12)+(533/840)+...+...=(line2) If line 2 was extended, it wouldbeevidentthateachgroupingthatisdeviatedfromline1is greater than 1/2. Therefore, since 1/1 + 1/2+1/2+1/2+1/2+1/2+...+...=,line2must alsobetrue,andtheharmonicseriesdivergestoinfinity.
WorksCited Hersey,GeorgeL.,ArchitectureandGeometryintheAgeoftheBaroque,p1112and p3751.

Pierce, John R. (2001). "Consonance and Scales". In Perry R. Cook. Music, Cognition, and Computerized Sound. MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-53190-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=L04W8ADtpQ4C&pg=PA169&dq=musical+t one+harmonic+partial+fundamental+integer.
Thompson,WilliamForde(2008).Music,Thought,andFeeling:Understandingthe PsychologyofMusic.p.46.ISBN9780195377071. http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Psychology/CognitivePsychology/?view=usa&ci=97 80195377071.

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JosephAn TheDivergentInfiniteSeries:TheHarmonicSeries The Harmonic Series is a concept that was first publicly introduced intothescientificworld by Nicole Oresme.

The first term, the fundamental wavelength whenastringofaninstrumentisplayed.

(Graph by Jim Belk, an assistant professor of mathematics at Bard College)

WorksCited Hersey,GeorgeL.,ArchitectureandGeometryintheAgeoftheBaroque,p1112and p3751.

Thompson,WilliamForde(2008).Music,Thought,andFeeling:Understandingthe PsychologyofMusic.p.46.ISBN9780195377071. http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Psychology/CognitivePsychology/?view=usa&ci=97 80195377071.

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