Pythagoras, King of Pop
February 8, 2013
The Beatles… U2… Michael Jackson… Pythagoras… Pythagoras? Sure this name is ever present in high school geometry and trigonometry courses, but it usually does not get mentioned along with the greats of modern music. I am not saying he should necessarily, but Pythagoras deserves much more credit than he receives. Let me tell you why.[continue reading]
This is an interesting post. In a recent blog I described the preparation of a composition based on the Fibonacci series, and my search for the melodic, rhythmic and harmonic resource available to me within its constraints. I, too, am interested in maths, although it was never my strongest point. I’m currently struggling through a monumental work by Roger Penrose, in which mathematical expressions are sometimes given their geometric form. There’s no doubt that musical forms based upon mathematically derived proportions have an immediate aesthetic appeal, even to those who are unaware of the derivation. Thanks again, John Morton.
John, thanks for the interest. There are all sort of interesting mathematical concepts in music theory. Mathematical music theorists have carried this study to new heights, way beyond my scope of expertise.
As for Penrose, I have not looked through his work, but I have heard a little about it. He work with patterns sounds intriguing. I’ll be interested in hearing about your findings.
John
Roger’s book is entitled ‘Roads To Reality’. It’s a scientific tour de force. Roger is Professor of mathematical physics at Oxford University. Joseph Schillinger also wrote on this subject both in his study of the mathematical basis of the arts and in his theory of musical composition. His books may be out of print but they should crop up in a library somewhere. Joseph gets a bad press sometimes but he doesn’t deserve it in my opinion. If you read them my advice is to extract what you need and give a wide berth to the naive positivism of the era.