• Title: Mathematics and Music
• Author(s) David Wright
• Publisher: American Mathematical Society (August 25, 2009)
• Paperback: 161 pages
• eBook: PDF (176 pages, 1.2 MB)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821848739
• ISBN-13: 978-0821848739
• Share This:  

Book Description

Many people intuitively sense that there is a connection between mathematics and music. If nothing else, both involve counting. There is, of course, much more to the association. David Wright's book is an investigation of the interrelationships between mathematics and music, reviewing the needed background concepts in each subject as they are encountered. Along the way, readers will augment their understanding of both mathematics and music. The text explores the common foundations of the two subjects, which are developed side by side.

Musical and mathematical notions are brought together, such as scales and modular arithmetic, intervals and logarithms, tone and trigonometry, and timbre and harmonic analysis. When possible, discussions of musical and mathematical notions are directly interwoven. Occasionally the discourse dwells for a while on one subject and not the other, but eventually the connection is established, making this an integrative treatment of the two subjects.

The book is a text for a freshman level college course suitable for musically inclined or mathematically inclined students, with the intent of breaking down any apprehension that either group might have for the other subject.

Exercises are given at the end of each chapter. The mathematical prerequisites are a high-school level familiarity with algebra, trigonometry, functions, and graphs. Musically, the student should have had some exposure to musical staffs, standard clefs, and key signatures, though all of these are explained in the text.

• David Wright, Professor of Mathematics and Chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

• Amazon

• Computer, Digital, and Mathematical Music
• General and Miscellaneous Mathematics
• Digital Signal Processing (DSP), Sound and Imaging Processing
• Computer and Video Game Development and Programming
• Geometry and Topology
• Algebra, Abstract Algebra, and Linear Algebra

• Mathematics and Music (David Wright)
• Professor David Wright Analyzes Music with Mathematics

• Music: A Mathematical Offering (David J. Benson)

  This book provides a wealth of information to understand, at varying levels of technicality, the interplay between two ancient disciplines. A must-have book if you want to know about the music of the spheres or digital music and much in between.

• How Music and Mathematics Relate (David Kung)

  Understanding the connections between music and mathematics helps you appreciate both, even if you have no special ability in either field - from knowing the math behind tuning an instrument to understanding the features that define your favorite pieces.

• Group Theory Applications to Mathematical Music Theory

  The success of Group Theory is impressive and extraordinary. Its influence is strongly felt in almost all scientific and artistic disciplines (in Music, in particular) and in Mathematics itself. It provides answers to questions about the mathematics of music.

• Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT): with Audio Applications

  Detailed derivation of the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and its associated mathematics, including elementary audio signal processing applications and MATLAB programming examples.

• The Haskell School of Music - From Signals to Symphonies

  It explores the fundamentals of computer music and functional programming through the Haskell, inclues algorithmic music composition, such as stochastic generation, musical grammars, self-similarity, and real-time interactive systems, etc.