据说，当亚历山大·贝尔还在十几岁时，电话的最早火花就来了。他注意到，如果他在露天钢琴附近唱着一张音符，那串音符会振动，好像在向他唱歌一样。他唱了一个A；绳子震动。通过电线连接声音的想法诞生了。
(It is said that the earliest spark for the telephone came when Alexander Bell was still in his teens. He noticed how, if he sang a certain note near an open piano, the string of that note would vibrate, as if singing back to him. He sang an A; the A string shook. The idea of connecting voices through a wire was born.)