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The Pythagorean scale is any scale which can be constructed from only pure perfect fifths (3:2) and octaves (2:1). In Greek music it was used to tune tetrachords, which were composed into scales spanning an octave. A distinction can be made between extended Pythagorean tuning and a 12-tone Pythagorean temperament.
Sep 22, 2023 · Pythagorean Theorem In Music. Music and mathematics share a great deal of overlap. From the way that we talk and write about music, to the way we organize it in terms of its vertical (pitch) and horizontal (time) dimensions, to the ratios that result in harmonic intervals.
Aug 13, 2020 · The realization that the ratios \(3:2\) and \(2:1\) (octaves) sound good together led the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras to come up with what is now known as the Pythagorean scale. To construct this scale we start with a note or frequency.
However, Pythagoras’s real goal was to explain the musical scale, not just intervals. To this end, he came up with a very simple process for generating the scale based on intervals, in fact, using just two intervals, the octave and the Perfect Fifth. The method is as follows: we start on any note, in this example we will use D.
Sep 12, 2020 · Pythagoras once said, "There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres." These simple ratios became a foundation for various musical scales and musical chords. For this reason, sometimes Pythagoras is called the father of music theory.
What Pythagoras did was look a physical system (the musical scale), found characteristic frequencies (pitches/notes) and found simple mathematical relationships between the frequencies (ratios of 3/2, for example). This process actually became a fundamental part of physics, and modern physics, in particular.
May 4, 2015 · We humans simply lack the ability to hear this music of the spheres. These mathematical ratios helped to define every system of intonation throughout history. In other words, we tune our modern day instruments using the mathematics that Pythagoras discovered almost 2,500 years ago.
