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The Gaps and Bridges Between Math and Music

Music has existed since long before recorded history and has been been essential part of

human history. It is something that appeals to everyone, no matter their life background or their

knowledge of music. Even if they do not know any theory or how to play an instrument, music

still communicates a message that the listener desires. In fact, my father used to say to me when I

was a child, “Without music, humanity would go mad.” Why?

Well, some people would say that it provides us with comfort, and feelings, etc.

However, when I was four years old my parents played Beethoven and Mozart for me before I

fell asleep every night, and there was that appeal of comfort and emotion that attracted me to

music, but there was also something else. As a child, I fell in love with music, not just because of

the emotion and color that it is designed to communicate, but also because of the design itself. I

fell in love with the melodic patterns and the way that every single instrumental part in a

composition fitted together to complete the epic sound that the composer intended. This same

love for patterns is also what built up my interest in math as a child. Whenever I looked at a

mathematical equation in school, I would always think of music in my head. The reason why I

did that is because solving the equation gave me the same satisfaction that I would get from

listening to a song. However, music is not all mathematical, because there many examples of

songs that break the rules of standard music theory, so one might say the theory does not add up.

Realizing this, I asked my myself this question: How is music related to mathematics and how is

it not?

The most fundamental and essential mathematical connection to music is rhythm. Every

single song composed in history has an underlying rhythm that defines that song. That, by

definition, is a pattern. “A rhythm can be described as a pattern of repeated drum beats. Suppose
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Corey repeatedly plays a rhythm on his snare drum that is 3 beats in duration and Alyssa

repeatedly plays one on her bass drum that is 4 beats in duration. They start playing their

rhythms at the same point in time using the same tempo. A listener would hear a repeated pattern

formed from their combined rhythms as well” (Naiman). This shows the mathematical

connection to music that rhythm presents. How two different drum beats can, when played

together, provide a repeating pattern that lays down the foundation for a melody to be played

over it. The melody of a song can be very dynamic and chaotic. However, a static rhythm helps

keep order to the song. Rhythm is essential for a song, because it organizes a song. “Time is

more than just counting beats and bars. Time can dictate the feel and flow of a piece. Music is

divided into bars, or measures, for reading convenience and for musical purposes. Most music

adheres to a meter, which affects the phrasing of the melody” (Schonbrun 19). Rhythm organizes

a composition by dividing it into measures and those measures are defined by a time signature. A

time signature dictates how many notes are in a measure and what type of notes they are. The

time signature is defined by a fraction: the number of notes in the measure as the numerator and

the type of notes as the denominator. Fractions are a basic principle of mathematics and here it is

being used in music. However, time and rhythm is not the only mathematical application to

music.

Another way that mathematics contributes to music is pitch. Sound travels through waves

and different pitches have different wave frequencies. “The pitch, or note played, corresponds to

the frequency of the wave. High notes have high frequencies, so the pressure varies quickly. Low

notes have low frequencies. Frequency is measured in Hertz (Hz), which is the number of waves

per second” (Petersen). Mathematics has a lot to do with how these sound waves are measured.

However, that is just sound. How this concept relates to music has to do with harmony. Harmony
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is the concept of simultaneously playing two or more notes to produce an enhanced musical

sound. When dealing with sound waves there is a pattern. “Intervals that make a beautiful

sounding chord tend to have sound waves that reverberate in similar patterns. Let’s look at a

middle A major interval, which is A (440 Hz) and E (659.25 Hz). If examining each sound wave,

with A on the bottom and E on the top, it will become clear that the frequency of E is

approximately 3/2 larger than that of A” (“Online Master of Music in Music Education”). Each

interval has a certain ratio associated with the frequencies of the sound waves produced from it.

This produces a mathematical pattern between each interval. The simpler the fraction ratio of the

frequencies of the two notes of an interval, the more similar the two notes sound. For example,

the simplest frequency ratio is between octaves. The ratio between the note frequencies of an

octave is 2 to 1, which is simpler than 3 to 2, the ratio of a fifth. Also, when two intervals are

added together, their frequency ratios are multiplied together. For example, “Take a note

frequency f. If you go up by a fourth, you get a note frequency of 4/3 f. Now go up by a sixth

from that note. Your new frequency will be 5/3 x 4/3 f = 20/9 f. Having risen by a fourth and

then a sixth, you end up 5 + 9 = 14 semitones than you began” (Harkleroad 21). This pattern

determines what kind of harmony exists between two notes, which is another essential aspect to

music. Harmony not only enhances the melody of a song, but it also builds chords which back up

the melody in most songs. Harmony overall determines what kind of emotional sound a song

has, all a result of mathematics.

Mathematics provides a lot of foundation for music to grow off of. In order to compose

music, one must understand not only art, but math. One person who understands this concept

well is David Drummond. Mr. Drummond is a conductor who has worked with English National

Opera and Scottish Opera and was director of music and opera at University College London. He
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gladly invited me into his home in order to interview him for my research. As I entered Mr.

Drummond’s home, I saw bookcases full of music theory books and many different types of

compositions. Then, as I sat down with Mr. Drummond, there was silence as we were

surrounded by many different musical instruments, including two grand pianos, two cellos, a

viola, violin, and two acoustic guitars. By simply observing his house, one could see how much

music has been a part of this man’s life.

When I asked him about the mathematical connections to music, Mr. Drummond stated,

“My choir had a lot of young professionals in it and would tend to be filled with medicine

students and people who did jobs involving maths and I think it’s the three Ms: maths, medicine,

and music. They seem to go together. I think it has something to do with the way the brain works

and also the fact that music is a mathematically divisible medium. That we have to use maths

everytime we use music is because it happens in a period of time that is divisible. Also, there is

certainly a mathematical pattern in the harmonic series.” I found it interesting that many of Mr.

Drummond’s choir students studied medicine and math because, it reminded me of myself and

how my love for patterns and numbers attracted me to both mathematics and music. He also

acknowledged how time is divided into measures in music and other mathematical patterns in

music. It is because of this that, like Mr. Drummond said, one must know mathematics in order

to know music. Mathematics is the foundation of music when comes to both rhythm and pitch.

However, there is still much about music that is left to the human imagination.

Music is not only sound and time, it is an art. What makes music an art is how different

combinations of pitch and rhythm are interpreted by the human mind. One prominent example is

the difference between the major scale and the minor scale. “Certain pieces of music can convey

mood and feeling based on the key and type of scale in which they’re written. Major scales have
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a bright and cheery sound. Since music is all about contrast, the minor scale and it’s darker

sound are needed in juxtaposition to the major scale” (Schonbrun 65). Because of the changing

of a few notes, the major scale and the minor scale offer two opposite sounds. We, as humans,

interpret the major scale as happy and the minor scale as sad. This allows composers to choose

what kind of emotion their pieces communicate, which how music is art. Another aspect of

music that is not mathematical, but creative, is chord movements. “The dominant seventh chord

does have a very strong feeling of wanting to lead to another chord. In fact it leads to another

chord a fourth up, e.g., C7 to F or G7 to C, in such splendid and unequivocal style that experts on

harmony have dubbed this chordal movement a Perfect Cadence” (Stewart 38). The perfect

cadence is a semi-mathematical concept since, it uses a constant pattern of a V7 to I chord

resolution. However, this concept is not derived from any mathematical principles. This is

derived from an artistic choice. A V7 chord, to the human mind, sounds like it needs to resolve

to the I chord. This is just one type of chord movement however; there are many more types of

chord movements that each have a unique artistic sound. These different types of scales and

chord resolutions show the artistic concepts of music, in contrast to the mathematical concepts.

Music uses many mathematical concepts as a foundation, but there are also several

artistic concepts involved as well. In order to look more into this, I contacted Sally Anderson.

Mrs. Anderson is the choir director at Foothill Middle School, has been an accompanying pianist

since she was 12, and has studied music pedagogy and education at the university level. When I

asked her about how what parts of music are not mathematic, in other words artistic, she had this

to say, “It’s when we break free from the strictly mathematical constructs of music that we

experience expression. Variations in tempo, dynamics, inflection, are what make performances

unique and memorable. Subtleties of tone and texture cannot always be measured or codified.
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Math provides the foundation, but if it doesn’t go beyond that, it is merely sound, not music.” I

found this interesting, as she said that variations in tone and tempo can be what makes a

composition unique. These variations add on to the artistic concepts of music because it is how

humans communicate. When a person talks faster or slower or louder or quieter, each has a

different emotional meaning. These emotional messages can be adopted into music by changing

the volume, tempo, tone if there are voices in the composition. This allows music to sound like

human communication in the way it is played or sung.

One final way mathematics and music are intertwined with each other is by nature.

Whether one sees it or not, there are many mathematical connections and patterns in the natural

world. Mathematics is all around us. As we discover more and more about our environment and

our surroundings we see that nature can be described mathematically. The beauty of a flower, the

majesty of a tree, even the rocks upon which we walk can exhibit nature's sense of symmetry”

(Abney et al.). Symmetry is one of the most basic, yet fundamental, mathematical concepts in the

universe. Symmetry is everywhere from the pedals of a flower to the stars in the sky. Symmetry

can also be found in music. However, another essential and extremely common mathematical

pattern in nature is repeating rhythm. “In the physical world we see light and dark alternating in a

24 hour rhythm, the progression of the seasons as the earth swings annually in its orbit about the

sun, the precise cycle of new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last quarter as the moon travels

around the earth once each lunar month, the much less precise daily variations in temperature

and humidity, and the year-by-year changes in precipitation which are so irregular that many

people think they should not even be called rhythms or cycles. All of the foregoing are relatively

rapid rhythms, and are therefore easy to see” (Breukelman). These rhythms are inevitable

repeating patterns that happen every day in this world. If it were not for these patterns humans
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would not have a way to count numbers and create units of size and time. These natural patterns

are what create the mathematical foundations for music to rise in the first place. “Math and

music do have much in common. At heart, abstract patterns form the stock-in-trade of both. To

express these patterns, each field has developed its own symbolic language, used the world over

regardless of nationality. And the two areas, although in different ways, combine the intellectual

and the aesthetic in a wonderful blend” (Harkleroad 1). Even though they show it in different

ways, mathematics and music are based off of the same basic patterns and cycles that occur

every day in nature. Without these patterns, neither would exist.

In many ways music is very much related to mathematics, the existence of both of those

concepts are dependent on the continuous cycles and patterns of nature. Nonetheless, in many

ways they are not connected as well. There are many mathematical concepts that explain how

music works like rhythmic patterns and pitch frequencies. However, there are also other concepts

such as different scale and chord types and variations in volume, tempo, and tone that are not

mathematical, but artistic. These mathematical concepts and artistic concepts work together to

create music. The mathematical concepts tell a composer how to write a piece by setting rules

and guides to follow. Then, a composer would adopt the artistic concepts after the mathematical

foundations are set. In conclusion, mathematics is what turns random noises into pitch and

tempo, but it still must embody the human imagination before it becomes music.
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Works Cited

Abney, Angel, et al. “Symmetry in Nature.” Symmetry in Nature, UGA,

jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMT668/EMAT6680.2002.Fall/Nazarewicz/7210_final_2/7210_Pro

ject/. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.

Anderson, Sally. Personal Interview. 26 March, 2019.

Breukelman, John. “Vol 8, No 1 - Rhythms in Nature - The Kansas School Naturalist.”

Emporia State University, www.emporia.edu/ksn/v08n1-november1961/index.html.

Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.

Drummond, David. Personal Interview. 22 March, 2019.

Harkleroad, Leon. The Math Behind the Music. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
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Naiman, Daniel Q. “Mathematics of Music.” Mathematics of Music,

www.ams.jhu.edu/dan-mathofmusic/. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.

“Online Master of Music in Music Education.” The Connection Between Music and

Mathematics, Kent State University, musicedmasters.kent.edu/the-connection-between-

music-and-mathematics/. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.

Petersen, Mark. “Mathematical Harmonies.” Amath Colorado, July 2001,

amath.colorado.edu/pub/matlab/music/MathMusic.pdf.pp. Accessed 22 Apr. 2019.

Schonbrun, Marc. The Everything Essential Music Theory Book: A Guide to the

Fundamentals of Reading, Writing, and Understanding Music. Adams Media, 2017.

Stewart, Dave. The Musician’s Guide to Reading and Writing Music. Backbeat Books,

1999.