Music & Mathematics: From Pythagoras to Fractals

This Thanksgiving break, my Algebra 2 teacher, Ms. Jalilvand, assigned me a project about reading a book that shows the relation between math and an art form. I, being a music student, chose to read a book titled, Music and Mathematics: From Pythagoras to Fractals Edited by John Fauvel, Raymond Flood and Robin Wilson, which impressively shows the relation of music and mathematics, as well as the discovery of music through mathematics.  

Chapter 1 - Tuning and temperament: closing the spiral 

Pythagoras discovers the Pythagorean scale with the pitches made from the hammers from a blacksmith forge. This scale is the current scale used in the Western Hemisphere, in this pattern C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. The number for the intervals of this scale is not evenly distributed, for if it was many tones would sound out of tune.  

Chapter 2 - Music cosmology: Kepler and his readers 

The pieces composed by Kepler show his ability to be outdated or be in style centuries later. 

Chapter 3 - The science of musical sound 

The sound of music is quite hard to graph, but humans aurally receive the music in such a way that has yet to be scientifically shown. 

New Works - LaSt PeRiOd

This year I have the most interesting teacher for New Works. His name is Mr. Richards. Last period we talked about lines and there importance in all of the art forms. There was an improvisational skit performed in class to portray the lines--also known as the script--in theatre. Later we (ME-Victor Ragsdale, Amarys Fuentes, Samantha Nealy, Jasmine Easter, Phoenix Abbo, and other musicians) described the use of lines in music, such as being a short excerpt in a piece, or the lines in a clef, and other known line usage in music. We also discussed the use of lines in visual art such as the line importance in perspective, definition, shading, volume, etc.. We simply discussed and incorporated lines to express its vitality in all art forms.