Compare the sounds produced by a symphony with those produced by a high school orchestra, the notes produced by hitting a tympani with those produced by hitting a trash can lid, and the sounds produced by Al Green with those produced by Yoko Ono. Even though the pitch of a note (determined by the "frequency" of the sound wave) is the same in different instances, the quality of the sound can vary quite a bit. Musicians refer to the quality of a note as the "timbre" of the note. In this article the author describes several activities that investigate what contributes to the timbre of music using a Slinky, 10 feet of latex tubing, and a stringed instrument.