Monochord (Sound Bed)
220.00 Hz
Nearest note: A3 in standard tuning
A monochord is a single string stretched over a sound box, with a movable bridge.
How well is this supported?
Part of a musical, cultural or practitioner tradition. Included because people use it, not because it has been tested.
This entry gives a typical pitch for an instrument. Real instruments vary.
The button plays a plain tone. Start with the volume low. Phone and laptop speakers play low notes quietly; headphones or a speaker help.
About this number
A monochord is a single string stretched over a sound box, with a movable bridge. It shows how the length of a string sets its pitch. It is traditionally attributed to Pythagoras; it is first attested c. 300 BCE. Modern sound beds have many strings tuned to the same note, which makes a dense cloud of overtones when they are played together. Some practitioners use sound beds in sound therapy sessions. The 220 Hz here is an example: a monochord can be tuned to any note.
History
Traditionally attributed to Pythagoras. First attested around 300 BCE, in The Division of the Monochord, a text attributed to Euclid.
Facts
- Frequency
- 220.00 Hz
- Wavelength in air (20 °C)
- 1.56 m
- Nearest note
- A3 in standard tuning
- Kind of statement
- Instrument
- Filed under
- Instruments & gongs
Sources
- History of the monochord
The instrument’s first appearance in writing, and the legend that Pythagoras invented it.
David Creese, The Monochord in Ancient Greek Harmonic Science (Cambridge University Press, 2010).
View source: History of the monochord
More about the pitch
The same note in every octave
Each step doubles or halves the frequency. Tap one to hear it.
Entries close in pitch
Within 35 cents of this tone, in any octave. A cent is one hundredth of the step between two neighboring piano keys. Being close in pitch does not mean two things are connected.