How to make an easy monochord( for school)?

Question:please help!!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: please help!!

Hmmm.... how would I make a monochord...

Okay, it's a pain in the butt no matter how I think about it.

Hmmm. Start with a 2x4 cut to a few feet long. Drill a small hook into each end. These will hold the line. Get some fishing line and tie off one end... now the hard part would be to get the line as taught as possible, and stay taught. One option would be to tie it down pretty tight when the hook isn't all the way drilled in, then as it's tightened it rotates, which tightens up the line (I hope that makes sense). Now you have a line, theoretically, that can be plucked for a tone. You have a 2x4 underneath it where you can mark off distances and whatnot. Now for a bridge.... how about a couple of rubber bands? They would tighten down the line instead of raising the string, but I bet it would still work. Just wrap the rubber bands around the 2x4 itself, and unwrap and rewrap when you want to change the bridge length.

That's pretty Frankenstein, and real hack-work, but I think it should function just fine.

I have better ideas, but they're a little more complicated.

The simplest elaboration would be to add a small wooden box at the end of the 2x4, and that's where you put the hook thingey in. Drill a hole or two in the box, and you've got a resonating cavity (louder sound).

By hook, i mean a screw with a loop at the end. You can find them at Home Depot and whatnot, I just can't remember the proper name for whatever they're called...

I hope this at least gave you an idea...

For more elaborate and much cooler looking ways of doing it, see the link below.

Saul