Bridging the Gap: From String to SoundEmmaline BushmanAward: Top 100
School: minnetonka high school This diminutive piece of wood, known as the bridge, is key to this viola's ability to produce sound. Much as a bridge allows vehicles and people to travel from one side to the other, a string instrument's bridge allows vibrations to travel from the strings to the body of the instrument. When a bow is drawn across the strings, it causes them to vibrate rapidly back and forth. However, because the strings are so thin, their movement moves very little air and therefore creates very little sound. In order to create waves large enough to be audible to the human ear, the vibrations must be transferred to a larger surface that can move more air. This is where the bridge comes into play. The bridge itself is not firmly attached to the front plate, or soundboard, of the instrument; it is held in place only by the downward force of the strings. This freedom allows it to rock back and forth against the soundboard, alternating between its two "feet, " with the vibration of the strings. This rocking motion pushes and pulls against the surface of the soundboard, allowing its large surface to move a large volume of air and create waves of sound that can be heard as a single pitch. This tiny, intricately carved slice of wood bridges the gap between the strings and the soundboard, and between silence and sound. 
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