Music and mathematics 1

Music and mathematics

Music theorists often use mathematics to understand
music. Indeed, 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
of ancient Greece are the first researchers known to
have investigated the expression of musical scales in A spectrogram of a violin waveform, with linear frequency on the
terms of numerical ratios,[3] particularly the ratios of vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis. The bright lines show
how the spectral components change over time. The intensity
small integers. Their central doctrine was that "all
coloring is logarithmic (black is −120 dBFS).
nature consists of harmony arising out of number".[4]

From the time of Plato, harmony was considered a fundamental branch of physics, now known as musical acoustics.
Early Indian and Chinese 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.[5]
Confucius, like Pythagoras, regarded the small numbers 1,2,3,4 as the source of all perfection.[6]
To this day mathematics has more to do with acoustic than with composition, and the use of mathematics in
composition is historically limited to the simplest operations of counting and measuring. 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.[7] [8]

Time, rhythm and meter

Without the boundaries of rhythmic structure – a fundamental equal and regular arrangement of pulse repetitivity,
accent, phrase and duration – music would be impossible.[9] In Old English the word "rhyme", derived from
"rhythm", became associated and confused with rim - "number"[10] - and modern musical use of terms like metre
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.

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, practising economy and making use of repetition and order.[11]
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.
Music and mathematics 2

Frequency and harmony

A musical scale is a discrete set of pitches used in making or
describing music. The most important scale in the Western
tradition is the diatonic 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
Chladni figures produced by sound vibrations in fine powder
expressed as a frequency bandwidth an octave A-A spans on a square plate. (Ernst Chladni, Acoustics, 1802)
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 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 This diagrams presents octaves as they appear in the
linear frequency scale. sense of musical intervals, equally spaced.

Common name Example Multiple Ratio Cents

name of fundamental within octave within octave

Hz

Fundamental A2, 1x 1/1 = 1x 0

110

Octave A3 2x 2/1 = 2x 1200

220 2/2 = 1x 0

Perfect Fifth E3 3x 3/2 = 1.5x 702

330

Octave A4 4x 4/2 = 2x 1200

440 4/4 = 1x 0
Music and mathematics 3

Major Third C4♯ 5x 5/4 = 1.25x 386

550

Perfect Fifth E4 6x 6/4 = 1.5x 702

660

Harmonic seventh G4 7x 7/4 = 1.75x 969

770

Octave A5 8x 8/4 = 2x 1200

880 8/8 = 1x 0

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
Harmonice Mundi (1619) in connection with planetary motion. The same scale was given in transposed form by
Alexander Malcolm in 1721 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) a keyboard instrument so tuned cannot change key.[12] 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 The first 16 harmonics, with frequencies and log
non-octave harmonics. frequencies.

Note Ratio Interval

0 1:1 unison

1 16:15 major semitone

2 9:8 major second

3 6:5 minor third

4 5:4 major third

5 4:3 perfect fourth

6 45:32 diatonic tritone

7 3:2 perfect fifth

8 8:5 minor sixth

9 5:3 major sixth

10 9:5 minor seventh

11 15:8 major seventh

Music and mathematics 4

12 2:1 octave

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 81:64 = (9:8)², rather
than the independent and harmonic just 5:4, 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 of well 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 (half step) 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 an equal tempering so that the frets align evenly across the strings. In the European music
tradition, equal tempering was used for lute and guitar music far earlier than for other instruments.
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 sixteenth 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 Arabic music.
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.)]

Note Frequency (Hz) Frequency Log Log frequency

Distance frequency Distance from
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

C2 130.81 7.34 7.031 0.0833

C2# 138.59 7.78 7.115 0.0833

D2 146.83 8.24 7.198 0.0833

D2# 155.56 8.73 7.281 0.0833

E2 164.81 9.25 7.365 0.0833

F2 174.61 9.80 7.448 0.0833

F2# 185.00 10.39 7.531 0.0833

Music and mathematics 5

G2 196.00 11.00 7.615 0.0833

G2# 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 some of the concepts from mathematical set theory 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 as
transposition 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, many theorists have used abstract algebra to analyze music. For
example, the notes in an equal temperament octave form an abelian group with 12 elements. It is possible to describe
just intonation in terms of a free abelian group.[13]
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, though the result has been controversial.
The chromatic scale has a free and transitive action of , 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 number theory

Modern interpretation of just intonation is fully based on fundamental theorem of arithmetic.

The golden ratio and Fibonacci numbers

It is believed that some composers wrote their music using the golden ratio and the Fibonacci numbers to assist
them.[14] However, regarding the listener, the degree to which the application of the golden ratio in music is salient,
whether consciously or unconsciously, as well as the overall musical effect of its implementation, if any, is
unknown.
James Tenney reconceived his piece "For Ann (Rising)", which consists of up to twelve computer-generated tones
that glissando upwards (see Shepard tone), as having each tone start so each is the golden ratio (in between an
equal-tempered minor and major sixth) below the previous tone, so that the combination tones produced by all
consecutive tones are a lower or higher pitch already, or soon to be, produced.
Music and mathematics 6

Ernő Lendvai analyzes Béla Bartók's works as being based on two opposing systems: those of the golden ratio and
the acoustic scale. In Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, the xylophone progression at the
beginning of the 3rd movement occurs at the intervals 1:2:3:5:8:5:3:2:1. French composer Erik Satie used the golden
ratio in several of his pieces, including Sonneries de la Rose Croix. His use of the ratio gave his music an
otherworldly symmetry.
The golden ratio is also apparent in the organization of the sections in the music of Debussy's Image, "Reflections in
Water", in which the sequence of keys is marked out by the intervals 34, 21, 13, and 8 (a descending Fibonacci
sequence), and the main climax sits at the φ position.
This Binary Universe, an experimental album by Brian Transeau (popularly known as the electronic artist BT),
includes a track titled 1.618 in homage to the golden ratio. The track features musical versions of the ratio and the
accompanying video displays various animated versions of the golden mean.

References
[1] Reginald Smith Brindle, The New Music, Oxford University Press, 1987, pp 42-3
[2] Reginald Smith Brindle, The New Music, Oxford University Press, 1987, p 42
[3] Plato, (Trans. Desmond Lee) The Republic, Harmondsworth Penguin 1974, page 340, note.
[4] Sir James Jeans, Science and Music, Dover 1968, p. 154.
[5] Alain Danielou, Introduction to the Study of Musical Scales, Mushiram Manoharlal 1999, Chapter 1 passim.
[6] Sir James Jeans, Science and Music, Dover 1968, p. 155.
[7] Reginald Smith Brindle, The New Music, Oxford University Press, 1987, Chapter 6 passim
[8] "Eric - Math and Music: Harmonious Connections" (http:/ / www. eric. ed. gov/ ERICWebPortal/ recordDetail?accno=ED388615). .
[9] Arnold Whittall, in The Oxford Companion to Music, OUP, 2002, Article: Rhythm
[10] Chambers' Twentieth Century Dictionary, 1977, p. 1100
[11] Imogen Holst, The ABC of Music, Oxford 1963, p.100
[12] Jeremy Montagu, in The Oxford Companion to Music, OUP 2002, Article: just intonation.
[13] "Algebra of Tonal Functions." (http:/ / sonantometry. blogspot. com/ 2007_05_01_archive. html). .
[14] Fibonacci Numbers and The Golden Section in Art, Architecture and Music (http:/ / www. mcs. surrey. ac. uk/ Personal/ R. Knott/
Fibonacci/ fibInArt. html#music)

External links
• Database of all the possible 2048 musical scales in 12 note equal temperament and other alternatives in meantone
tunings (http://www.harmonics.com/scales)
• Music and Math by Thomas E. Fiore (http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~fiore/1/musictotal.pdf)
• Twelve-Tone Musical Scale. (http://thinkzone.wlonk.com/Music/12Tone.htm)
• Sonantometry or music as math discipline. (http://sonantometry.blogspot.com)
• Music: A Mathematical Offering by Dave Benson (http://www.maths.abdn.ac.uk/~bensondj/html/music.
pdf).
• Nicolaus Mercator use of Ratio Theory in Music (http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/?pa=content&
sa=viewDocument&nodeId=1313&bodyId=1470) at Convergence (http://mathdl.maa.org/convergence/1/)
• Finding the natural and pentatonic scales through discrete numbers (http://botverse.com/
music-and-mathematics-finding-the-natural-and-the-pentatonic-scales/5)
Article Sources and Contributors 7

Article Sources and Contributors

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