Pythagoras was

important to
both
mathematicians
and musicians.
Pythagoras
Greek, 6th century B.C.E.

Monday, March 26, 12

 2:1 = octave Pythagoras figured
out that certain
musical intervals are
related to each other
by simple whole

3:2 = fifth
number ratios.

4:3 = fourth

simple, whole number ratios

Monday, March 26, 12
 music of the spheres
“celestial bodies
move in proportions
equivalent to pure
musical intervals”
It was tempting to
think that
everything in the
universe could be
summed up neatly.
This view persisted
for centuries.

Monday, March 26, 12

 physical ratios Let’s look at
physical ratios, such
as string length on
a cello. A string is
695 mm measured in mm’s.

Monday, March 26, 12

 695 = 347.5 695 = 231.66
2 3

1/2 the string &

1/3 the string
Those numbers are
getting awkward.

Monday, March 26, 12

 we measure with
touch and sound
Luckily, when we
play, we don’t use
those kinds of
measurements, we
go by what we hear
and feel.

Monday, March 26, 12

 string (or pipe) length
By playing the note
that occurs at 1/2
the string length,
we find that
Pythagoras was
right.
L = one pitch
1
2 L = one octave higher

Monday, March 26, 12

 “flutes” of
different lengths
I made a set of
“flutes” from PVC
pipe. They don’t
2:1
sound great, but
they illustrate the
Pythagorean ratios.

Monday, March 26, 12

 flute = 27” long

Aaron’s flute is 27”

long, so his piccolo,
which plays an
octave higher, should
be 13.5” long. It isn’t.
Can you guess why?
piccolo = 12.5” long

Monday, March 26, 12

 flute = cylinder

The t wo

cone
instruments aren’t
quite the same
shape on the inside,
which affects their
pitch/length ratio.

piccolo
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 measure of pitch
= frequency
vibrations per second
Each pitch has its
own frequency,
which is the number
or Hertz
of times it vibrates
per second, named
after Heinrich Hertz.

Monday, March 26, 12

 One example of a
A440
vibrates
tuning fork. If you
strike it and look at
it closely, you can
see that it looks
blurry--it’s
vibrating very fast.
440 times
per second

440Hz

Monday, March 26, 12

 frequency ratios:

if X = one pitch
2 X = one octave higher

X 2X

Monday, March 26, 12

 string (or pipe) length
and

frequency
are

inversely proportional

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 2:1 = octave
Pythagoras used 2X frequency
these t wo ratios to
find all the notes
within one octave.

3:2 = fifth
He was very clever.

1.5 X frequency

Monday, March 26, 12

 1. From the starting 2. It’s easy to find an
note of C, he found G, octave lower than D,
a fifth higher. Then just divide its
he found a fifth frequency in half.
above G, which was D, From D he went up to
but it was outside A, then up to E,
the octave. which again had to
drop down an octave.
Repeat....

a fifth
a fifth
an octave
C D E G A C D E
3. Now you’re
ready for a math
problem.

Monday, March 26, 12

 math problem: calculator allowed
first note’s frequency X 1.5 = 2nd note (fifth)
2nd note X 1.5 = 3rd note (fifth)
3rd note ÷ 2 = octave lower
that frequency X 1.5 = 4th note, etc
do this 12 times (“circle of 5ths”)
last is NOT an exact 2:1 ratio to first
hence, all pianos are slightly “out of tune”

Monday, March 26, 12

 the complicated
world of “tuning”
12th root of 2
(1.0594630943593...)
Most pianos are tuned
using “frequency X 12th
root of 2” (a truly magical
number!) to find the next
semi-tone, so the octave
comes out even. This is
called “equal tempered”
tuning.

Monday, March 26, 12