![]() In other words, the shorter the string, the higher the pitch. A string that is cut in half will play an octave higher. From this, he concluded that a vibrating string is proportional to and can be controlled by its length. It was Pythagoras – ancient Greek philosopher and namesake for the Pythagorean Theorem we all learn in math – who recognized that different sounds are created by varying weights and vibrations. 570 BCE) and Fibonacci (born 1170) and there are further examples of the math and music connection. But go way back to the days of Pythagoras (born ca. The Beatles and Pachelbel are relatively modern examples. The popularity of hip-hop can also be at least partially ascribed to the rhythmic beats and looping breaks that connect with our intrinsic mathematical need for patterns and rhythm. That’s why you hear it at every other wedding. As much as you may want to credit George Harrison’s 12-string guitar, that wasn’t it alone.Īnd Pachelbel’s Canon in D has a repetitive structure that appeals to the masses. One professor utilized a mathematical tool called a “Fourier Transform” to solve the mystery. It’s unforgettable.Īnyhow, people have, for DECADES, been trying to figure out which instruments and notes make up that chord. If you’ve heard it, you know exactly what we’re talking about. In fact, research shows that certain pieces of music are popular most likely because of their mathematical structure.įor example, there’s a crazy opening chord to A Hard Day’s Night by the Beatles. But a fascination with the math and music connection has been the source of research in many areas of mathematics. Interesting Research on the Math and Music Connection In a nutshell, musicians have to continually incorporate fractions, decimals, and percentages in order to understand rhythm in much the same way mathematicians do to solve any part-whole problem. Musicians must have an understanding of fractions so that they know how long to hold a note in a musical piece. A whole note has one note per measure, a half note has two notes per measure, a quarter note has four notes per measure, and so on. In music, fractions indicate the length of a note. The bottom number indicates which note gets a count, and the top number indicates how many times this note appears in each measure. It’s written as two integers one on the bottom, one on the top. Musicians must also be able to read the time signature to determine the rhythm of a piece. They’re actually mathematical divisions of time. Each measure is divided into equal portions called beats and each embodies equal amounts of time. The symbols are a representation of some piece of information.Īlso, music is divided into sections known as measures or bars. But you read musical pieces in the same way you read math symbols. Not one of those two- or three-step story problems. Reading music is like reading a math problem. Mathematics involves seeking patterns that can explain and predict the unknown. Music uses similar strategies. This is one of the reasons that an arts academy high school uses music to teach math. In fact, if you pause to consider it for a moment, numbers and math are essential to describing and teaching music. If you love music but are convinced that you hate math, you may not believe there’s a math and music connection.īut there is.
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