The Role of Mathematics in Music
Mathematics is known to us as that one, annoying subject in school that everyone dreads. Music is something everyone loves, no one gets sick of listening to music. People get excited for music. Though they are complete opposites in liking, mathematics is one of the most important parts of making great, fun, enjoyable music. Mathematics is what makes music become music.
Mathematics is found all around in music, for example with different types of notes. When someone plays piano, and they read music off of a sheet, the notes are given numerical names. Some examples of numerical named notes are quarter notes, half notes, and whole notes. These numbers are represented by mathematical fractions. In this case, our fractions are ¼, ½, and 1 (1/1). Sure it isn’t your normal addition or subtraction math, but the numbers are what make it math. More than just the name of the notes, but how long the notes are played. Depending on the numerical note, a certain note is played for a certain amount of time. Mathematics seems confusing in the classroom, but it’s essential in music.
When listening to songs with chorus and beats, you’re listening to nothing but straight up mathematics. When music is created, math decides the amount of time a certain note or beat is played per minute. There could be several different parts of a beat that happen every second or minute that you listen. When each of those sounds are also determined by math, patterns are created, making the beat repetitive. Back to the chorus part, that ties into the beats and sounds. It matches up because when a certain part of a beat plays, the singer joins in and sings their lyrics. The lyrics' appearances are decided by math because the note they join in on the song is given an appearance based on the math and the separation of different sounds spaced out into seconds or minutes. Based on the beats per minute and the general tempo, all decided by math, the speed at which the singer sings is affected. To put it into mathematical terms, beats per minute is x, the independent variable, and the speed at which the singer sings is y, the dependent variable. Math determines how music is played, making it more useful than others think.
Along with how often notes play, mathematics is used in music with the general distancing of the notes. This was discovered by Pythagoras, who was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and creator of the Pythagorean Theorem. Pythagoras had reportedly run many experiments related to music tones and utilizing the strings’ vibration. He discovered some ratios of string length yielded pleasing and unpleasing sounds. But most importantly, he identified the physics of intervals, which in music terms would be the distance between each note. This forms the harmonic system that we use today. So when using certain ratios, tones, and intervals, all being mathematical related, we get pleasing music that is fun to listen to. Mathematics in music can be more technical than just straight up numbers.
Though they are complete opposites in liking, mathematics is one of the most important parts of making great, fun, enjoyable music. Mathematics is what makes music become music.
Sources
https://www.arduino.cc/education/what-math-can-teach-us-about-music