Music and mathematics

A spectrogram of a violin waveform, with linear frequency on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis.
The bright lines show how the spectral components change over time. The intensity coloring is logarithmic
(black is 120 dBFS).

Music theorists sometimes use mathematics to understand music, and although music has
no axiomatic foundation in modern mathematics, mathematics is "the basis of sound" and
sound itself "in its musical aspects... exhibits a remarkable array of number properties", simply
because nature itself "is amazingly mathematical".[1] Though ancient Chinese, Egyptians and
Mesopotamians are known to have studied the mathematical principles of
sound,[2] the Pythagoreans (in particular Philolaus and Archytas[3]) of ancient Greece were the
first researchers known to have investigated the expression of musical scales in terms of
numerical ratios,[4]particularly the ratios of small integers. Their central doctrine was that "all
nature consists of harmony arising out of numbers".[5]
From the time of Plato, harmony was considered a fundamental branch of physics, now known
as musical acoustics. Early Indian andChinese theorists show similar approaches: all sought to
show that the mathematical laws of harmonics and rhythms were fundamental not only to our
understanding of the world but to human well-being.[6] Confucius, like Pythagoras, regarded the
small numbers 1,2,3,4 as the source of all perfection.[7]
The attempt to structure and communicate new ways of composing and hearing music has led
to musical applications of set theory,abstract algebra and number theory. Some composers
have incorporated the golden ratio and Fibonacci numbers into their work.[8][9]

Time, rhythm and meter

Without the boundaries of rhythmic structure a fundamental equal and regular arrangement
of pulse repetition, accent, phrase and duration music would not be possible.[10]In Old English
the word "rhyme", derived to "rhythm", became associated and confused with rim
"number"[11] and modern musical use of terms like meter and measure also reflects the
historical importance of music, along with astronomy, in the development of counting,
arithmetic and the exact measurement of time and periodicity that is fundamental to physics.
The word "rhyme" was not derived from "rhythm"[contradiction] (see Oxford and Collins dictionaries)
but from old English "rime". The spelling of "rime" was later affected by the spelling of "rhythm",
although the two are totally different.

Musical form
Musical form is the plan by which a short piece of music is extended. The term "plan" is also
used in architecture, to which musical form is often compared. Like the architect, the composer

must take into account the function for which the work is intended and the means available,
practicing economy and making use of repetition and order.[12] The common types of form
known as binary and ternary ("twofold" and "threefold") once again demonstrate the
importance of small integral values to the intelligibility and appeal of music.

Frequency and harmony

Chladni figures produced by sound vibrations in fine powder on a square plate. (Ernst Chladni, Acoustics,
1802)

A musical scale is a discrete set of pitches used in making or describing music. The most
important scale in the Western tradition is thediatonic scale but many others have been used
and proposed in various historical eras and parts of the world. Each pitch corresponds to a
particular frequency, expressed in hertz (Hz), sometimes referred to as cycles per second
(c.p.s.). A scale has an interval of repetition, normally the octave. The octave of any pitch
refers to a frequency exactly twice that of the given pitch. Succeeding superoctaves are pitches
found at frequencies four, eight, sixteen times, and so on, of the fundamental frequency.
Pitches at frequencies of half, a quarter, an eighth and so on of the fundamental are called
suboctaves. There is no case in musical harmony where, if a given pitch be considered
accordant, that its octaves are considered otherwise. Therefore any note and its octaves will
generally be found similarly named in musical systems (e.g. all will be called doh or A or Sa,
as the case may be). When expressed as a frequency bandwidth an octave A2A3 spans from
110 Hz to 220 Hz (span=110 Hz). The next octave will span from 220 Hz to 440 Hz
(span=220 Hz). The third octave spans from 440 Hz to 880 Hz (span=440 Hz) and so on. Each
successive octave spans twice the frequency range of the previous octave.
Because we are often interested in the relations or ratios between the pitches (known
as intervals) rather than the precise pitches themselves in describing a scale, it is usual to refer
to all the scale pitches in terms of their ratio from a particular pitch, which is given the value of
one (often written 1/1), generally a note which functions as the tonic of the scale. For interval
size comparison cents are often used.

The exponential nature of octaves when measured on a linear frequency scale.

This diagram presents octaves as they appear in the sense of musical intervals, equally spaced.

Common name

Example
name

Multiple
Ratio
Cents
of fundamental within octave within octave

Hz

A 2,
Fundamental

1x

1/1 = 1x

2/1 = 2x

1200

2/2 = 1x

3/2 = 1.5x

702

4/2 = 2x

1200

4/4 = 1x

5x

5/4 = 1.25x

386

6x

6/4 = 1.5x

702

7x

7/4 = 1.75x

969

8x

8/4 = 2x

1200

110

A3
Octave

2x
220

E4
Perfect Fifth

3x
330

A4
Octave

4x
440

C5
Major Third
550

E5
Perfect Fifth
660

G5
Harmonic seventh
770

Octave

A5

880
8/8 = 1x

Tuning systems
5-limit tuning, the most common form of just intonation, is a system of tuning using tones
that are regular number harmonics of a single fundamental frequency. This was one of the
scales Johannes Kepler presented in his Harmonices Mundi (1619) in connection with
planetary motion. The same scale was given in transposed form by Scottish mathematician
and musical theorist, Alexander Malcolm, in 1721 in his 'Treatise of Musick: Speculative,
Practical and Historical',[13] and by theorist Jose Wuerschmidt in the 20th century. A form of
it is used in the music of northern India. American composer Terry Riley also made use of
the inverted form of it in his "Harp of New Albion". Just intonation gives superior results
when there is little or no chord progression: voices and other instruments gravitate to just
intonation whenever possible. However, as it gives two different whole tone intervals (9:8
and 10:9) because a fixed tuned instrument, such as a piano, cannot change key.[14] To
calculate the frequency of a note in a scale given in terms of ratios, the frequency ratio is
multiplied by the tonic frequency. For instance, with a tonic of A4 (A natural above middle
C), the frequency is 440 Hz, and a justly tuned fifth above it (E5) is simply 440(3:2) =
660 Hz.

The first 16 harmonics, their names and frequencies, showing the exponential nature of the octave and
the simple fractional nature of non-octave harmonics.

The first 16 harmonics, with frequencies and log frequencies.

Semitone Ratio

Interval

Natural Half Step

1:1

unison

16:15 minor semitone 512

16:15

9:8

major second

540

135:128

6:5

minor third

576

16:15

5:4

major third

600

25:24

4:3

perfect fourth

640

16:15

45:32 diatonic tritone 675

135:128

3:2

perfect fifth

720

16:15

8:5

minor sixth

768

16:15

5:3

major sixth

800

25:24

10

9:5

minor seventh

864

27:25

11

15:8 major seventh

900

25:24

12

2:1

960

16:15

octave

480

Pythagorean tuning is tuning based only on the perfect consonances, the (perfect) octave,
perfect fifth, and perfect fourth. Thus the major third is considered not a third but a ditone,
literally "two tones", and is (9:8)2 = 81:64, rather than the independent and harmonic just
5:4 = 80:64 directly below. A whole tone is a secondary interval, being derived from two
perfect fifths, (3:2)2 = 9:8.
The just major third, 5:4 and minor third, 6:5, are a syntonic comma, 81:80, apart from their
Pythagorean equivalents 81:64 and 32:27 respectively. According to Carl Dahlhaus(1990,

p. 187), "the dependent third conforms to the Pythagorean, the independent third to the
harmonic tuning of intervals."
Western common practice music usually cannot be played in just intonation but requires a
systematically tempered scale. The tempering can involve either the irregularities ofwell
temperament or be constructed as a regular temperament, either some form of equal
temperament or some other regular meantone, but in all cases will involve the fundamental
features of meantone temperament. For example, the root of chord ii, if tuned to a fifth
above the dominant, would be a major whole tone (9:8) above the tonic. If tuned a just
minor third (6:5) below a just subdominant degree of 4:3, however, the interval from the
tonic would equal a minor whole tone (10:9). Meantone temperament reduces the
difference between 9:8 and 10:9. Their ratio, (9:8)/(10:9) = 81:80, is treated as a unison.
The interval 81:80, called the syntonic comma or comma of Didymus, is the key comma of
meantone temperament.
In equal temperament, the octave is divided into twelve equal parts, each semitone (halfstep) is an interval of the twelfth root of two so that twelve of these equal half steps add up
to exactly an octave. With fretted instruments it is very useful to use equal temperament so
that the frets align evenly across the strings. In the European music tradition, equal
temperament was used for lute and guitar music far earlier than for other instruments, such
as musical keyboards. Because of this historical force, twelve-tone equal temperament is
now the dominant intonation system in the Western, and much of the non-Western, world.
Equally tempered scales have been used and instruments built using various other
numbers of equal intervals. The 19 equal temperament, first proposed and used
by Guillaume Costeley in the 16th century, uses 19 equally spaced tones, offering better
major thirds and far better minor thirds than normal 12-semitone equal temperament at the
cost of a flatter fifth. The overall effect is one of greater consonance. 24 equal
temperament, with 24 equally spaced tones, is widespread in the pedagogy
and notation of Arabic music. However, in theory and practice, the intonation of Arabic
music conforms to rational ratios, as opposed to the irrational ratios of equally tempered
systems. While any analog to the equally tempered quarter tone is entirely absent from
Arabic intonation systems, analogs to a three-quarter tone, or neutral second, frequently
occur. These neutral seconds, however, vary slightly in their ratios dependent on maqam,
as well as geography. Indeed, Arabic music historian Habib Hassan Touma has written
that "the breadth of deviation of this musical step is a crucial ingredient in the peculiar
flavor of Arabian music. To temper the scale by dividing the octave into twenty-four
quarter-tones of equal size would be to surrender one of the most characteristic elements
of this musical culture."[15]
The following graph reveals how accurately various equal-tempered scales approximate
three important harmonic identities: the major third (5th harmonic), the perfect fifth (3rd
harmonic), and the "harmonic seventh" (7th harmonic). [Note: the numbers above the bars
designate the equal-tempered scale (i.e., "12" designates the 12-tone equal-tempered
scale, etc.)]
Frequency
Log frequency
Log frequency
Note Frequency (Hz) Distance from
Distance from
log2 f
previous note
previous note

A2

110.00

N/A

6.781

N/A

A2

116.54

6.54

6.864

0.0833 (or 1/12)

B2

123.47

6.93

6.948

0.0833

C3

130.81

7.34

7.031

0.0833

C3

138.59

7.78

7.115

0.0833

D3

146.83

8.24

7.198

0.0833

D3

155.56

8.73

7.281

0.0833

E3

164.81

9.25

7.365

0.0833

F3

174.61

9.80

7.448

0.0833

F3

185.00

10.39

7.531

0.0833

G3

196.00

11.00

7.615

0.0833

G3

207.65

11.65

7.698

0.0833

A3

220.00

12.35

7.781

0.0833

Below are Ogg Vorbis files demonstrating the difference between just intonation and
equal temperament. You may need to play the samples several times before you can
pick the difference.

Two sine waves played consecutively this sample has half-step at 550 Hz (C in
the just intonation scale), followed by a half-step at 554.37 Hz (C in the equal
temperament scale).

Same two notes, set against an A440 pedal this sample consists of a "dyad".
The lower note is a constant A (440 Hz in either scale), the upper note is a C in
the equal-tempered scale for the first 1", and a C in the just intonation scale for
the last 1". Phase differences make it easier to pick the transition than in the
previous sample.

Connections to set theory

Musical set theory uses the language of mathematical set theory in an elementary way
to organize musical objects and describe their relationships. To analyze the structure
of a piece of (typically atonal) music using musical set theory, one usually starts with a
set of tones, which could form motives or chords. By applying simple operations such
astransposition and inversion, one can discover deep structures in the music.
Operations such as transposition and inversion are called isometries because they
preserve the intervals between tones in a set.

Connections to abstract algebra

Expanding on the methods of musical set theory, some theorists have used abstract
algebra to analyze music. For example, the pitch classes in an equally tempered
octave form an abelian group with 12 elements. It is possible to describe just
intonation in terms of a free abelian group.,[16][17]
Transformational theory is a branch of music theory developed by David Lewin. The
theory allows for great generality because it emphasizes transformations between
musical objects, rather than the musical objects themselves.
Theorists have also proposed musical applications of more sophisticated algebraic
concepts. Mathematician Guerino Mazzola has applied topos theory to music,[citation
needed]
though the result has been controversial.[citation needed]. The theory of regular
temperaments has been extensively developed with a wide range of sophisticated
mathematics, for example by associating each regular temperament with a rational
point on a Grassmannian.
The chromatic scale has a free and transitive action of the cyclic group
, with
the action being defined via transposition of notes. So the chromatic scale can be
thought of as a torsor for the group

Connections to analysis
Real and complex analysis have also been made use of, for instance by applying the
theory of the Riemann zeta function to the study of equal divisions of the octave.
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