Sympathetic vibration makes one string hum faintly when a nearby string sounds the same note.

The longer version

When one string sounds, energy leaks through the bridge and the air into any nearby string tuned to the same rate. Small pushes arriving in step with that string's own swing accumulate, so it begins to move on its own without being touched.

The effect is strongest at unison, octave and fifth, where the natural rates line up. Players sometimes use it deliberately to fill out a chord, and it explains why an untouched string can keep a hall ringing for a moment after a passage ends. Resonance always needs repeated pushes timed to the natural rate; mistuned strings stay quiet.

Where this entry sits

Sound and Music gathers facts about how vibrations move through air and water, how ears turn them into meaning, and how instruments and notation shape what listeners hear. Expect echoes, pitch, volume, acoustics, and the odd silence in between. The full list sits on the Sound and Music page, where every entry is listed in order.

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More From Sound and Music

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The material of an instrument affects its tone even when two instruments play identical notes.

Concert halls are shaped to scatter reflections so music sounds full rather than muddy.

Curved ceilings and angled panels in auditoriums are used to direct sound toward the audience.

Acoustic foam reduces reflections by trapping sound energy in small open pockets of air.

Noise cancelling headphones reduce background sound by producing an inverted copy of the incoming wave.

Music notation writes pitch on a vertical staff and rhythm through the shapes of note heads.

A time signature tells a musician how many beats fit inside each written measure.

Silence in written music is marked by rests that tell players exactly how long to wait.

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