How many times have we told ourselves that math is tough and we will never use math in the real world? Also, how many of us love music, whether it is listening or singing or just enjoying music in general? To many of us, math may seem cold and soulless, while music seems warm and soulful. Believe it or not, math is in fact the heart and soul of music.
Today I want to talk about two of my passions and the relation between them. One of the best athletes to ever play basketball, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, said, “Music rhythms are mathematical patterns. When you hear a song and your body starts moving with it, your body is doing math.” This quote really resonated with me. I happen to love both math and music. My intense passion for math and percussion set me to seek the connection between the two. Although math and music may seem like complete opposites and the connection may not be obvious, they share a very close relationship.
When most kids think math, they will likely reminisce about sitting in a classroom solving problems that they did not want to solve because, for many of us, math is a paradox. And what happens when we think about music? Music tends to bring many emotions out of us. Music definitely has a soul, and I believe that soul is math. The two are related, and math is used extensively to describe and teach music.
Let me give you an example: Einstein used to sit and play music when he was stuck on a mathematical problem. By concentrating on the problem at hand (left brain) while playing the piano or violin (right brain), he was able to strengthen the communication between the two hemispheres of his brain and increase brain power. Recent studies show that the Mozart Effect, as it is known, has very little to do with listening to Mozart and more to do with listening to any music that activates a certain portion of the brain.
My personal experience in combining the two has been beneficial. I find myself drumming with my pencil when I am trying to solve a complicated math problem. Believe me, it really helps. Math and music together engage both the left and the right hemispheres of the brain, and the brain’s capacity is doubled. Even something as simple as listening to soft music on my headphones while doing math helps me increase focus and endurance.
Last year, I auditioned as a percussionist for a competitive music concert called All-West. One of the main requirements is to look at a piece of music for only 30 seconds and then play it to the best of your ability. Quickly using fractions in my head, I was able to stay on beat and calculate the rhythm accurately in the allotted time, and I placed in the top 10 out of more than 100 participants. Math was one of the main reasons I did well in the audition, as it helped me quickly calculate the beats per measure and play the music well. This proved to me how music really revolved around math and that music and math are in fact interwoven.
Mathematics and music share a concern with numbers and patterns of change. In music, these patterns are called rhythm. The golden section — expressed by Fibonacci ratios — is either used to generate rhythmic changes or to develop a melody line. Also, the climax of many songs is often found near the golden ratio, which is equal to 61.8 percent. A scale consists of eight notes, of which the fifth and third notes create the basic foundation of all chords. Geniuses from Mozart to Leonardo da Vinci have used the Fibonacci Sequence.
For most people, mathematics is an unsolvable puzzle characterized by the impression of numbers and calculations taught in school. It is often associated with feelings of rejection and disinterest. So next time when you think of math as boring and tough but music as joyful, please remember that math is one of the main reasons music is enjoyable.
I invite you to look at math as the foundational bridge between music and its pleasurable rhythms. I invite you to let the musician in you reach out to math. I invite you to join me in connecting music to its soul — math!
Krishnav Manga is a 9th grader at Lausanne Collegiate School and is also the co-founder of 901PLEDGE. He won the “Keeper of the Dream” award from the National Civil Rights Museum for the work he has been doing with the refugee resettlement in Memphis and with Mid-South Food Bank. 901PLEDGE was recently honored by Volunteer Memphis as the “Non-Profit Impact Memphis Volunteer Project” for its work to help refugee children through literacy, among other causes. Krishnav is passionate about math and music and a huge fan of the Memphis Grizzlies.