The science of music

There’s a rich and complex connection between science and music, from its mathematical structure to the physical way instruments create sound. Science even underlies our varying emotional responses to music in cultures worldwide.

Sound is created by the vibration of air particles and moves as a wave incredibly fast – the speed of sound is about 343 metres per second. The movement of the air particles begins at the source of the sound, for example the vibration of a singer’s vocal chords, the air blown through a musical instrument, or the vibration of a speaker. When the acoustic wave reaches a person’s eardrum, the vibrations are converted to electrical signals. These travel through the body’s nervous system and into the brain, which processes the signals, turning them into what we hear as music.

The oscillation or frequency of the sound wave (how frequently the wave repeats itself, measured in Hertz) controls the pitch of the sound, creating low notes and high notes the brain automatically processes. When different notes are played or sung the air vibrates at a specific frequency. This is very important in musical instrument development; two pianos, when playing the same note, must create a sound wave at the same frequency so the notes sound the same. Now imagine a full orchestra, with string instruments, brass, and woodwind. To play the same note and create a harmonious sound, the instruments need to control the frequency of their individual sound waves to play together.

Mathematical music

Musical composition has a deep connection with mathematics, and you don’t have to be musical or a mathematical genius to identify with this. Music is broken into certain elements: the pitch of the notes, rhythm, and tempo. The rhythm is the beat or pulse of the music, essentially the repeated arrangement of notes and silences. The tempo is how quickly the notes or beat of the music repeats. The combination of these, and the sheer variety of ways in which they can combine, creates music in its many forms around the world.

“The composition of music has a deep connection with mathematics, and you don’t have to be musical or a mathematical genius to identify with this.”

Emotional connection

Considering how deeply the building blocks of music are rooted in mathematical and scientific concepts, almost every person in the world enjoys music and experiences an emotional connection to it. There has been much research into the neuroscience and psychology of music, looking at what happens within a musician’s brain as they create music and the reaction in a listener’s brain. It is incredibly complex, with different parts of a musician’s brain activating as they create music, and the reaction in the listener varies from person to person depending on their culture and musical taste.

The combination of the different building blocks of music and the relationships between the pitch and length of musical notes is used by composers to create and inspire emotion. In Western music, major scales are normally associated with happiness, while minor scales typically evoke feelings of sadness and melancholy. Our emotional responses to these musical patterns are personal but can also be cultural – where music can play a variety of different roles. Listening to your favourite music releases dopamine, a chemical that is part of the brain’s reward system and makes us feel good. Playing or listening to music has been shown to help reduce anxiety and improve mood and memory. So, whether you’re eagerly awaiting the latest music releases or embracing the practice of a new piece, there’s science at the heart of the art.

Ruth Kirk is a science writer based in the UK.

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