Harmonic Series in Music
What it is
One note is never alone. When you play a single note, you hear the main tone plus many softer, higher tones hidden inside it. These hidden tones are called harmonics.
Like light and a rainbow
White light looks like one colour, but a prism shows that it holds a whole rainbow. A note works the same way: it sounds like one tone, but it holds a whole family of tones.
The simple rule
Each harmonic is the main tone multiplied: 2 times, 3 times, 4 times, and so on. Play a low A at 108 Hz, and you also hear:
- 1× · 108 Hz: the main note (A)
- 2× · 216 Hz: A again, higher
- 3× · 324 Hz: a new note (E)
- 4× · 432 Hz: A again, higher
- 5× · 540 Hz: a new note (C♯)
- 6× · 648 Hz: E again, higher
- 7× · 756 Hz: a new note (G)
- 8× · 864 Hz: A again, even higher
Together they form a natural chord, hidden inside every single note.
See it on a string
A string can vibrate as one whole, in 2 halves, in 3 thirds, in 4 quarters, all at the same time. Each way of vibrating is one harmonic. The dots are the still points, where the string does not move. Tap a string to hear it.
Two harmonics side by side make the intervals of music: 2:1 is an octave, 3:2 a fifth, 4:3 a fourth, 5:4 a major third, 6:5 a minor third. The simpler the numbers, the sweeter the sound.
Why a violin and a flute sound different
They can play the same note, but each one makes its harmonics louder or softer. That mix is the colour of the sound.
Where harmony comes from
About 2,500 years ago, Pythagoras found that the most beautiful notes come from simple parts of a string: half, two thirds, three quarters. These are the same numbers as the first harmonics. That is why some notes sound so good together.
One voice, two notes
Some singers, like Tuvan throat singers and Tibetan monks, use their mouth to make one harmonic louder. You hear one person singing two notes at once.
How Inner Dive uses it
Every sound in Inner Dive is built from harmonics and tuned to A4 = 432 Hz. In this tuning, every harmonic of 432 Hz returns to the number 9.