Get a new perspective on two of the greatest achievements of human culture in the 12 dazzling lectures of How Music and Mathematics Relate, taught by award-winning mathematician and musician David Kung of St. Mary's College of Maryland. Understanding the connections between music and mathematics helps you appreciate both, even if you have no special ability in either field. By exploring the mathematics of music, you learn why non-Western music sounds so different, gain insight into the technology of modern sound reproduction, and start to hear the world around you in exciting new ways. No expertise in either music or higher-level mathematics is required to appreciate this astonishing alliance between art and science.
How Music and Mathematics Relate
Gain new perspective on two of the greatest achievements of human culture-music and math-and the unexpected and fascinating connections that bind the two together.
Rated 2 out of
5
by
RJD in Syracuse from
A Wonderful Journey!
With a background in mathematics and being a musician, David Kung's presentation of how music and mathematics relate resonated with me deeply at the technical, artistic and emotional levels. A truly wonderful journey and time well spent!
Date published: 2024-07-19
Rated 5 out of
5
by
BillGio from
LOVED These Lectures,
These lectures are excellent. I have been studying music for a number of years. The material presented in these lectures helped expand my understanding of music. Also, as a music enthusiast, they assisted me in developing a better understanding of the music to which I listen.
If you are interested in music, especially if you are a music lover, I strongly recommend that you watch these lectures. They are fascinating! Well done, Dr. Kung. Well done.
Date published: 2024-07-01
Rated 5 out of
5
by
DonMDPhD from
Wonderful!
Every now and then I join Mr. Peabody and Sherman in the Wayback Machine (and if you get the reference, you're an old codger like me) and choose a course that was produced some years in the past. In this case, 2013 when we were taught by "professors" rather than by "experts," the professor was on his/her feet and could move around the carpet. No talking heads, no insipid camera angles, no attempt to entertain but rather to educate. Forgive me, that's a sore subject with me and from what I gather, with many of the TTC/TGC Old Guard.
I have been involved with music all my life, as a listener and as a performer. In school I was a fair math student but never gave the connection between it and music a second thought. When I found Dr. Kung's course, I was intrigued and decided to give it a go.
The amount of information presented in 12 expanded lectures (about 9-10 hours) was extraordinary. While the math presented may, as other reviewers have stated, be a bit off-putting at times, even if you don't "get it," just let Prof. Kung take you through it; the music will be back--I promise--and it will be time well-spent.
While I thoroughly enjoyed each and every lecture, the last two stood out. "The Digital Delivery of Music" answered questions this self-confessed techo-nerd has wondered about for years in a way I could understand. The final lecture, "Math, Music and the Mind" neatly wrapped everything up in a concise, yet inspiring, way. And Dr. Kung playing through the closing credits was a blessing compared to the usual "elevator music."
This course was just the refreshing departure from today's production standards I was looking for. If you have even the slightest inclination towards this course, follow your "better angel" and give it a try. Persevere to the end and you'll be amply rewarded.
Date published: 2024-02-20
Rated 5 out of
5
by
zeus67 from
Music and Math
I have listened to Lecture 1 in part and am pleasantly surprised by his description of how the Fourier series is used in music. I now understand the simplicity of the connection, an insight which I never had before.
Date published: 2024-01-10
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Lloyd from
Music & Math
I finished! I finished! I'm amazed that I made it all the way through this course. I am one of those students who had a terrible experience with math and physics in middle school. Poor instruction, humiliation by the teacher ... lots of us struggled in those classes. But I love music and was curious about the connection with math. Dr. Kung is an outstanding communicator. His explanations were clear and understandable. Although I was unable to follow very much of the math, Dr. Kung enabled me to see the connection between music and math. I'm very glad I stuck it through to the end. Pretty cool violinist too. Thank you.
Date published: 2023-11-15
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Jonty Stanley from
Brilliant Course
I'm only 3 lectures in but I love the way the professor teaches and simplifies things. His visualizations along with the insights provide an amazing picture of how the math behind music works. Would absolutely recommend this course to all musicians.
Date published: 2023-09-10
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Elsa from
A truly great course from The Great Courses
Wonderful course about the relationship between math and music.
Each and every one of the lectures contributes to the discussion of the topic and builds on the previous ones—as Mathematicians do when doing Mathematics (I have an M.Sc. in Mathematics). I can´t think of anything he can add or remove from the course to make it better.
The Great Courses could not have chosen a better professor to teach this course—someone who is both a Mathematician and a Musician (and very knowledgeable about the history and key players of both). I loved that Professor Kung plays his violin to exemplify the points he makes.
Date published: 2023-04-22
Rated 5 out of
5
by
DeepInThought from
Unbelievable Lectures
I am only in Lecture 4. This guy is amazing. His background in both math and music are exceptional and so interresting. Most musicians really don't have a clue what is really behind their music until listening to these lectures.
Date published: 2022-12-17
Overview
About
Dr. David Kung is Professor of Mathematics at St. Mary's College of Maryland. He earned his B.A. in Mathematics and Physics and his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Professor Kung's musical education began at an early age with violin lessons. As he progressed, he studied with one of the pioneers of the Suzuki method and attended the prestigious Interlochen music camp. While completing his undergraduate and graduate degrees in mathematics, he performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. Professor Kung's academic work focuses on mathematics education. Deeply concerned with providing equal opportunities for all math students, he has led efforts to establish Emerging Scholars Programs at institutions across the country. His numerous teaching awards include the Homer L. Dodge Award for Excellence in Teaching by Junior Faculty, given by St. Mary's College, and the John M. Smith Teaching Award, given by the Maryland-District of Columbia-Virginia Section of the Mathematical Association of America. Professor Kung's innovative classes, including Mathematics for Social Justice and Math, Music, and the Mind, have helped establish St. Mary's as one of the preeminent liberal arts programs in mathematics. In addition to his academic pursuits, Professor Kung continues to be an active musician, playing chamber music with students and serving as the concertmaster of his community orchestra.
Trailer
01: Overtones-Symphony in a Single Note
Start the course with a short violin passage from Bach, played by Professor Kung. Then analyze the harmonic series behind a single note, which involves a mixture of different frequencies, called overtones or harmonics. Learn about the physics of stringed and wind instruments, and study the sounds produced by a range of instruments, including the violin, flute, clarinet, timpani, and a fascinating ...
50 min
02: Timbre-Why Each Instrument Sounds Different
After hearing the opening measures of Bach's "Air on the G String," investigate why this piece is conventionally played on a single string of the violin. The reason has to do with timbre, which determines why a flute sounds different from a violin and why a melody played on the G string sounds not just lower, but altered. The study of timbre introduces you to a mathematical idea called the Fourier...
46 min
03: Pitch and Auditory Illusions
The fundamental frequency of a male voice is too low to be reproduced by the speaker of a cell phone. So why don't all callers sound like women? Learn that the answer involves the way your brain fills in missing information, convincing you that you hear sounds that aren't really there. Explore examples of auditory illusions that will leave you wondering if you can ever believe your ears again....
48 min
04: How Scales Are Constructed
Professor Kung contrasts a passage from Vivaldi with a Chinese folk tune. Why is one so easily distinguishable from the other? Probe the diverse mathematics of musical scales, which explains the characteristic sound of different musical traditions. Learn how a five-note scale is constructed versus a more complex seven-note scale. What are the relative advantages of each? As a bonus, discover why n...
48 min
05: How Scale Tunings and Composition Coevolved
Compare passages from Bach's "Chaconne" and a very modern piece, noting how the compositional styles of Western music have evolved alongside small differences in scale tunings. Then explore the mathematics of tuning, focusing on how the exact pitches in a scale are calculated and why there are 12 notes per octave in Western music. Investigate the alternatives, including a scale with 41 notes per o...
46 min
06: Dissonance and Piano Tuning
Dissonance is a discordant sound produced by two or more notes sounding displeasing or rough. The "roughness" is quantifiable as a series of beats-a "wawawa" noise caused by interfering sound waves. Learn how to predict this phenomenon using basic trigonometry. Consider several examples, then discover how to use beats to tune a piano. End with a mathematical coda, proving the beat equation using b...
50 min
07: Rhythm-From Numbers to Patterns
All compositions depend on rhythm and the way beats are grouped under what are called time signatures. Begin with a duo for clapping hands. Next, probe the effect produced by a distinctive change in the grouping of beats called a hemiola. Also investigate polyrhythms, the simultaneous juxtaposition of different rhythms. Listen to examples from composers including Handel, Tchaikovsky, and Chopin. C...
45 min
08: Transformations and Symmetry
Bach and other composers played with the structure of music in ways similar to what would later be called mathematical group theory. Explore techniques for transforming a melody by inversion, reversal, transposition, augmentation, and diminution. End with a table canon credited to Mozart, in which the sheet music is read by one musician right-side up and by the other upside down. Professor Kung is...
50 min
09: Self-Reference from Bach to Godel
Music and mathematics are filled with self-reference, from Bach's habit of embedding his own name in musical phrases, to Kurt Gödel's demonstration that mathematics cannot prove its own consistency. Embark on a journey through increasingly complex levels of self-reference, discovering that music and mathematics are like a house of mirrors, reflecting ideas between them. For example, the table...
43 min
10: Composing with Math-Classical to Avant-Garde
Sometimes composers create their works using mathematics. Mozart did this with a waltz, whose sequence of measures was determined by the roll of dice-with 759 trillion resulting combinations. Learn how Arnold Schoenberg used mathematics in the 20th century to design an alternative to tonal music-atonal music-and how a Schoenberg-like system of encoding notes has more recently made melodies searcha...
45 min
11: The Digital Delivery of Music
What is the technology behind today's recorded music? Delve into the mathematics of digital sampling, audio compression, and error correction-techniques that allow thousands of hours of music to fit onto a portable media player at a sound quality that is astonishingly good. Investigate the difference between analog and digital sound, and explore the technology that allows Professor Kung's untraine...
46 min
12: Math, Music, and the Mind
Conclude with an eight-part finale, in which you range widely through the territory that connects mathematics, music, and the mind. Among the questions you address: What happens in the brain of an infant exposed to music? Why do child prodigies often excel in the areas of math, music, or chess? And how do creativity, abstraction, and beauty unite music and mathematics, despite being on opposite en...
48 min
