Math and Music
HOW IS MATH USED IN MUSIC?
Math can be used in music in many different ways. Music theorists often use mathematics to understand music, and although music is evidently abstract in modern mathematics, mathematics is “the basis of sound” and sound itself “in its musical aspects exhibits a remarkable array of number properties.” The average person lacking in great knowledge of math and musical theories would not categorize mathematics with music. In actuality, math and music are related, and we use this to describe and teach and learn music without even knowing it. This research paper will be proving the relationship between math and music, and how one is used to assist the other.
Music is read in ways very similar to how math symbols are read. "Music," wrote the great 17th-century German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz, "is the sensation of counting without being aware you were counting." Musical pieces are divided into sections called measures, or bars. Each measure contains an equal amount of time. These measures are further divided into equal portions called beats. These are all “mathematical divisions of time”. Furthermore, fractions are used in music to indicate the lengths of notes. The time signature is usually written as two integers, one above the other. In other words, these are fractions. The time signature indicates the rhythm of the piece. The number on the bottom, or the (denominator), tells the musician of the note with a single beat count. The top number, or the (numerator), tells the musician of the number of notes in each measure. Numbers are vital in musical pieces.
But there is more to the mathematical and musical relationship than counting, and beats, and time signatures. As the French baroque composer Rameau declared in 1722: "I must confess that only with the aid of mathematics did my ideas become clear.” When we realize and further discover the mathematical foundations in music, we are able to gain much more in-depth knowledge
Math can be used in music in many different ways. Music theorists often use mathematics to understand music, and although music is evidently abstract in modern mathematics, mathematics is “the basis of sound” and sound itself “in its musical aspects exhibits a remarkable array of number properties.” The average person lacking in great knowledge of math and musical theories would not categorize mathematics with music. In actuality, math and music are related, and we use this to describe and teach and learn music without even knowing it. This research paper will be proving the relationship between math and music, and how one is used to assist the other.
Music is read in ways very similar to how math symbols are read. "Music," wrote the great 17th-century German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz, "is the sensation of counting without being aware you were counting." Musical pieces are divided into sections called measures, or bars. Each measure contains an equal amount of time. These measures are further divided into equal portions called beats. These are all “mathematical divisions of time”. Furthermore, fractions are used in music to indicate the lengths of notes. The time signature is usually written as two integers, one above the other. In other words, these are fractions. The time signature indicates the rhythm of the piece. The number on the bottom, or the (denominator), tells the musician of the note with a single beat count. The top number, or the (numerator), tells the musician of the number of notes in each measure. Numbers are vital in musical pieces.
But there is more to the mathematical and musical relationship than counting, and beats, and time signatures. As the French baroque composer Rameau declared in 1722: "I must confess that only with the aid of mathematics did my ideas become clear.” When we realize and further discover the mathematical foundations in music, we are able to gain much more in-depth knowledge