Like A Horse and Carriage (math & music)

 Personally, I've always believed in a cognitive linkage between math and music, in part because of the number of individuals I've encountered who were either math majors and music minors, or vice-versa, music majors with math minors... and there are other reasons as well. Apparently, though, some folks doubt the connection, which this study now seems to back up:

https://phys.org/news/2020-11-strong-links-music-math.html

Vitally Linked, Music and Math

 Have always found the linkage between math and music interesting, especially since encountering so many individuals over time who were music majors with math minors, or, vice-versa. Anyway, noticed newish book during trip to bookstore this morning that looked interesting (but haven't read, so just supposing), "Music, Math, and Mind: the physics and neuroscience of music" by David Sulzer:

http://cup.columbia.edu/book/music-math-and-mind/9780231193795

https://tinyurl.com/yz2zxcuc

The Shared Beauty of Math and Music

 Another post, like the previous one, linking mathematics and art (in this instance music), this time courtesy of the Simons Foundation:

https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2021/04/27/finding-beauty-at-the-piano-and-elegance-in-mathematics/

The Math Behind Beethoven

But first, let me re-try a question for Mac users I posted on Twitter and only got a couple of responses to:
Does anyone have a favorite, freely-downloadable anti-virus/malware program (there are several) for Macs (actually for an older MacBook Pro still on Lion OS X)? How about Mac "tune-up"/cleanup software... favorites?.

...and now to the main feature:

H/T to "3 Quarks Daily" blog which passed along this 4-min. YouTube video on music and math (watch it for the math, or for the Beethoven!):

Good Vibrations...

An interesting piece last week in the Washington Post, about the connection between mathematics and the music that makes us feel good:
http://tinyurl.com/pgjkyrt

Fast tempo, major chords, and positive lyrics are among the elements that tend to associate with music that is mood-uplifting.

The article includes a list of the Top 10 feel-good inducing songs (below), based on a formula neuroscience researchers have worked out (wouldn't quite jive with my own Top 10 list, but so be it):

1. Don’t Stop Me Now  (Queen)
2. Dancing Queen  (Abba)
3. Good Vibrations  (The Beach Boys)
4. Uptown Girl  (Billie Joel)
5. Eye of the Tiger  (Survivor)
6. I’m a Believer  (The Monkeys)
7. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun  (Cyndi Lauper)
8. Livin’ on a Prayer  (Jon Bon Jovi)
9. I Will Survive  (Gloria Gaynor)
10. Walking on Sunshine  (Katrina & The Waves)

In a related note, NPR's RadioLab re-ran an episode this week, with less math, but relating music to language:
https://www.wnyc.org/radio/#/ondemand/542333

...and just to end on a feel-good note ;-):

Math People; Music People... Passion

via WikimediaCommons

Music major, teacher, and recording artist Marcus Miller downplays the sometimes vaunted connection between mathematical and musical abilities while admitting that he himself is someone who "feels" both math and music. At one point he writes, "For me, the deepest, most enshrined, and magical place of intersection between math and music is passion — the cross streets of enthusiasm and curiosity."
See what else he has to say about the math/music junction:
https://medium.com/bright/how-i-use-music-to-inspire-math-students-c2ce7a5d8b14

Another worthwhile read, is this older Marcus du Sautoy piece (via Plus Magazine) on "The Music of the Primes":
https://plus.maths.org/content/music-primes

And then there is this fun Evelyn Lamb piece from last year on tuning pianos (or, sadly, failing to):
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/the-saddest-thing-i-know-about-the-integers/ 

Möbius Music

For the musically-inclined, the genius of Bach and Vi Hart in a single post!... ;-)

A hat tip to Steven Strogatz for leading me to this wonderful animation illustrating Bach's oft-cited Crab Canon played as a möbius strip:


[taken from here: http://strangepaths.com/canon-1-a-2/2009/01/18/en/ ]

This in turn reminded me of one of Vi Hart's early renditions with a manual music box playing a möbius strip:


[from here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iMI_uOM_fY ]

Calling All Mathematical Musicians… or Musical Mathematicians

First, just a couple of recent links to the notion of mathematics as the study of (or 'science of') "patterns" -- there's plenty more on the Web about this simple notion, but here are a couple of starting points:

http://mathpalette.com/2012/02/mathematics-the-science-of-patterns/#.T0pXARsQezs.twitter

http://devlinsangle.blogspot.com/2012/01/patterns-what-patterns.html

The second piece is once again from Keith Devlin and toward the end of it he throws in some discussion of mathematics and music, an association I always find interesting.

I've known a number of individuals who were very skilled at both math and music (playing and/or writing music)… indeed, I've known several folks who were double majors in college, math and music. Often these two interests, one more-or-less from the humanities, and one more-or-less from the sciences, are perceived as opposites involving different mental realms, yet clearly there is an underlying thread that unites them.

Having no great musical talent myself, I am especially impressed with (envious of!) those who do, especially when they simultaneously exhibit the knack for mathematics -- those are the folks I'd like to hear from: Can you explain in your own words how math and music are associated in your minds; how the two intersect for you (assuming they do)? Which interest or talent did you experience first, and how quickly after one did the other follow? Do the two interests carry approximately equal weight for you, or is one more dominant than the other, or does one in some sense 'play off' the other? Are the two creative processes very similar in your mind or do they differ significantly?

Meanwhile, here are a few (of many) webpages that address the mathematics-music connection:

http://www.woodpecker.com/writing/essays/math+music.html

http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1869

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_and_mathematics

"Patterns & Beauty: The Mathematics of Music"

Nice 6-minute video on the mathematics of music:

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/11978-patterns-and-beauty-the-mathematics-of-music-video.htm

(...if you search "mathematics" on this site, "HowStuffWorks," there are 270 more offerings!)

The Relationship of Math and Music

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_and_mathematics