Mathematics and Music

Monika Apsite

ED 205 06

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Historical Definition Melody Harmony Rhythm Media

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Creative Process Demonstration Conclusions Resources Author’s Bio Concept Map

Historical

The ancient Greeks considered mathematics one of the four branches of Mathematics.

One suggestion is that music leads to short term spatial reasoning performance.

This is an interview with musician Anthony Braxton, who discusses the correlation between chess, math, and music.

Interview with Anthony Braxton

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Music definition

Music, simply defined, is an ordered pattern of sounds.

It can be analyzed three ways, by melody, harmony, and rhythm.

Each of these structures has its own types of patterns.

Every musical culture has these three aspects in different degrees.

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Melody

Melody: patterns with successive tones, is what is recognized.

The organization of melody can be related to a formula, of how there is a call and answer, or how it resolves.

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Harmony

Harmony: The vertical dimension of music, simultaneously sounded notes.

Pythagoras investigated the ratio frequency of notes, his findings involve the overtones series, and why things vibrate, and how vibrations pass on.

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Rhythm

Rhythm: the timing aspect of music, of long and short

Most like fractions, a measure containes a certain number of beats.

Each beat can then be divided again, into smaller segments. But, each measure will always add up to the same number of beats.

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The Media

The media of music and mathematics is both the organized realm and the eccentric.

Music is frequency waves as math is paper and pencil.

Yet music is regarded as eccentric, as math involves the heights of abstraction.

Both are systems of symbols referring only to themselves.

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Creative Process

Creation in math and music begins with new ideas, once they are worked with, they become logical.

The Musician uses his craft to make sense of what he wants to communicate

The Mathematician starts with any two consistent points, and can work out different consequences from there.

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Demonstration

Music is based on succession, requires memory of previous melody, harmony, and rhythm.

Math is about what is placed in a certain order. Each proposition follows from preceding axioms.

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Conclusions Though many people tie math and music together,

there may never be any real evidence for it. Most of this information is theory, ideas, thoughts, and

interviews. The one way to know this information is to try it. Mathematicians somehow can identify with music,

whether it is relaxing so that they can focus on other things, or that it does reach an inner part of the brain.

Musicians also can understand music if they understand math principles.

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Resources

Boettcher, Wendy; Hahn, Sabrina; Shaw, Gordon. “Mathematics and Music: A Search for Insight into Higher Brain Function”. Leonardo Music Journal, Vol 4. (1994).

Cohen, Joel. “Some Relationshipe between Music and Mathematics”. Music Educator’s Journal, Vol 48, No. 1 (1961).

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Author’s Bio My name is Monika Apsite. I attend Grand Valley State

University where I am working on a music education major and a mathematics minor. My major instrument is the violin, though I like to play piano, viola, guitar, and sing also.

I love to be outside. My hobbies including hiking, walking, biking, swimming, or sightseeing. I love to travel.

My travels have taken me to Cape Town, South Africa, and also to Europe several times- including a semester studied abroad in Vienna, Austria.

Email me at mailto:msapsite@yahoo.com

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Concept Map

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