The Relationship of Music and Science

Music is a sound ordered in time. Sounds penetrate our ears every day. A child’s laugh, the bark of a dog, patter of rain, honks of the traffic etc., through them we learn what is going on. For instance, listening to a speech delivered, cries, laughter, argument, we learn what others think and how they feel. Silence also communicates likewise, when we hear no sound in the street, we assume no cars are passing by or there must be a curfew. When a person doesn’t respond to a question or break off in the middle of a conversation or sentence, we quickly notice, and we draw conclusions from the silence. Sounds may be perceived as pleasant and unpleasant. It is a choice of an individual to direct their attention to specific sounds and shutting out the sounds that don’t interest them.

 Sound is produced with something called vibration. The vibrations travel to the ears as sound waves. And it is mathematical, with varying pitch, volume, tempo and rhythm. The science of sound reminds a person to stop, to listen and to feel the vibration of the sound.

Music and science have been traditionally considered as two separate entities. Music as an art form and science viewed as a structured discipline for understanding natural phenomena or a systematic method for understanding the world. Historically, these two fields have been considered to serve different purposes. Music was used as a purpose for emotional and aesthetic experiences, while science for logical and empirical analysis. However, in recent years of studies, it has shown that music is closely linked to science, understanding that music can improve our understanding of various scientific concepts.

Humans have organs that are specially designed to detect and understand sound, from chirping of crickets to the pounding of jackhammers, to classical music streaming all over the signals.

However, not all sound is music. Not many of us take the timeout and think about how sounds move from one place to another and probably not think about why the sound of a hammer does not qualify as music but Louis Armstrong does. It’s not an opinion based-assessment, but there is actually science behind music.

Music and science 

• Sound- Music is sound and sound is created by vibration which travels to the ears as a sound wave.
• Mathematics- Music and mathematics are inseparable. The elements of music are considered to be math, such as  in varying pitches from one interval to the other, volume of a sound, tempo and most importantly, rhythm. The Greek mathematician Pythagoras developed the idea of octave scales and began to look at the science of music at around 600 BCE.  He is one of the earliest music theorists, likely considered to be the father of music theory.
• Physics-  Nathan Chandler in his article ‘10 connections between Physics and Music’ mentions that all music emerges from the principles found in physics and math. Centuries ago, some academics considered the study of music to be a kind of science and regarded it as an important discipline alongside mathematics, geometry and astronomy. He continues to express that, these days, most people agree that music is important, but it may not get the scientific respect that it should. Whether you listen to The Bangles or Boards of Canada, maybe music’s scientific pedigree deserves a closer look. Everything else in the universe is connected. So, too are music and physics. 

A blog article “Physical Classroom” talks about the best example for Music and Physics by studying on a popular musical instrument called Guitar. The blog explains that a typical guitar has six strings. They are all the same length, and all under about the same tension, so why do they put out sounds of different frequency? A guitar string will naturally vibrate at a set number of frequencies. These natural frequencies are known as the harmonics of the guitar string.The natural frequency at which an object vibrates depends upon the tension of the string, the linear density and the length of the string. Each of these natural frequencies of harmonics is associated with a standing wave pattern.

The wavelength of the standing wave for any given frequency  is related to the length of the string. The wavelength of each harmonic frequency can be determined if the guitar string’s length is known. Thus, the length-wavelength relationships and the equation of wave can be combined to perform calculations predicting the length of string required to produce a given natural frequency. Each calculation requires knowing the wave speed in a string. These relationships help solve standing wave problems in musical instruments.

Neuroscience explains the powerful impact of music as a benefit for numerous physical and mental health. Apart from our day-to-day life, music has an excess of applications in clinical work. Listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory. Listening to music benefits to reduce stress and anxiety levels, as well as lower blood pressure and heart rate.

Therefore, Music does not emerge just from a random creative inspiration alone, instead, they involve structure, pattern, repetition and other characteristics that make a recognizable sound to the human ear. Eventually, music is a sort of science which is a fascinating pulsation type of sound that scans through people’s aural perception and into the universe beyond.

Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editorial team includes Chubamenla, Asst. Professor, Dept. of English and Rinsit Sareo, Asst. Manager, IT, Media & Communications.

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