Music and math have been always connected through a variety of means. Numbers, patterns, and scales have a fundamental connection to how music has evolved. It all began in Ancient Greece with a man called Pythagoras.

Pythagoras was a pretty famous philosopher who lived in the 5th century BCE. In reference to music, he made a pretty startling discovery which directly impacted the growth of the tonal system that we still use today in western music. He figured out that if you stretch a string to certain length you get a frequency of vibration. If you change that by a certain ratio you get another pitch.  Below is an estimation of those ratios based on a major scale from Pythagoras.

Many of these intervallic relationships have stood to be largely true with some minor variation as we can measure things with more accuracy. Not bad for a bunch of people who did not have the technological advances we have today.

You’ll be able to see this connection to math and music come to life as we team up with our neighbors the RSM Winchester for a Math and Music Treasure Hunt! This Saturday March 10th, we will be opening our doors on 50 Cross Street in Winchester from 3:30-5:30. Join us for games, prizes and fun!