Music to My Ears
Easy
Have you ever wondered if you can tell the difference between musical notes? Some people can't, and it's not because they don't know music. It's because of something called tone deafness. But recent research has found that our left ears and right ears process sound differently. Let's find out if your left ear is better at recognizing musical notes than your right ear!
Hypothesis
The hypothesis is that the participants will be able to recognize the notes better when using only the left ear.
Method & Materials
You will need to select ten non-musically-trained participants, a CD player, a CD containing recordings of random musical notes, a musical keyboard, organ, or piano, a pair of earphones, one sheet of small white labels, one black marker, and five pairs of earplugs.
You will need to have the participants wear earplugs in their right ears, play 10 randomly selected musical notes recorded on the CD and allow participants to listen to the audio using their left ears only. After each note is played, ask the participants to select the key on the musical keyboard that corresponds to the musical note that was just played.
Results
The results showed that the participants were able to recognize more musical notes when they listened to the CD using only their left ears. It was also noted that three participants were able to recognize less than five musical notes when listening with both ears, indicating that they might be tone deaf.
Why do this project?
This science project is interesting because it shows how our left and right ears process sound differently. It also helps us to understand how tone deafness works and how it can be identified.
Also Consider
Variations to consider include comparing the ability to recognize musical tones among male and female participants and participants of different age groups. The experiment can also be repeated to compare if the left ear is still more sensitive to musical notes if the participants are left-handed.
Full project details
You can find additional information and details for this science fair project here. Have fun exploring!Share this Science Project:
Related Science Fair Project Ideas
Does playing video games make your blood pressure go up? Find out in this fun experiment!
Easy
Do you want to know if your height affects how far you can walk in one step? Find out in this fun experiment!
Easy
Share this Science Project: