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3.2.4Harmonics Frequencies: The Overtones In Music
Now things finally start to get interesting from a musical perspective. That vibrating string, at the same time it divides itself in half, also divides itself into thirds. And quarters. And fifths. And sixths. And so on, and so on, and so on. All at the same time.
In other words, the string vibrates in a complex way. The secondary vibrations happen much too fast for the eye to see.
Each of the string-subdivisions produces a different, soft, high-pitched overtone. The comparatively loud fundamental drowns out all of them. So it seems that you don’t even hear the overtones. But you do. Your brain does process them (coming up in just a moment).
To summarize: a single vibrating string (or other vibrating thing—such as a pair of vocal folds) simultaneously divides itself many times and produces a whole series of soft, high-pitched overtones. Dozens.