LSOP Live: The Music Show, February 5, 2021
Talking about music gives us a chance to talk about forces, frequency, energy, vibrations, and states of matter. It’s a rich topic, and one we had a lot of fun exploring. How many ways can you play Hot Cross Buns? We play it on glasses, bottles, sewer pipes, electrical conduit, and, of course, actual hot cross buns. We also play the meow piano and the raspberry organ. We learn a lot of science along the way, and give you a dozen things you can try at home or in the classroom.
Video Shorts
What’s different about this violin? It is full of sand! When held in an upright position, the sand prevents the body of the violin from vibrating, which significantly dims the sound that the instrument can make.
With different lengths of pipes, we can make different pitches. Lower pitches correspond with a longer pipe, and higher pitches with a shorter pipe. Watch Brian play Minuet in G using just eight plastic pipes.
This electric keyboard can change the pitch of our sample word. By simply changing the pitch of the word “meow,” we can make music out of a spoken word. Here, Brenna and Emma combine their piano skills to make some silly sounding songs.
Using coding skills and some cool technology (called BBC micro:bit), Brenna was able to play the song Hot Cross Buns on actual buns! Each bun is connected to a micro:bit that plays a specific note. For more information on micro:bits visit https://microbit.org/
