Do you think having a good understanding of math helps with music?

ranjit

I was wondering about this today. I feel like it made understanding rhythmic subdivisions and music theory much simpler.

Animisha

ranjit

I am so much better at math than at rhythm! So whenever I encounter a difficult rhythm, instead of listening and trying to get a feeling for it, I calculate and count.
For instance, a triplet that is played above two 8th notes, I count to six, and play the triplet on 1, 3 and 5, and the 8th notes on 1 and 4. This is just a simple example, it is not unusual that I count to 12 or 24.

But music theory... I don't know. I find that it is rather much rote learning - not that connected to math.

lilypad

I always viewed math homework as tedious and repetitive and view music theory workbooks the same way. I've discovered that for learning music and especially memorizing reliably, the more music theory I know, the better.

It does seem to me that there are a heck of a lot of pianists that are or were engineers.

rogerch

I am MUCH better at math than I am at piano! I don't know what it's like not to be good at math so I don't know if it helps my piano playing. What I do know is that people who are really good at piano have something that I don't have, and that it's probably not math although it's possible that they are way better than I am at math as well.

thepianoplayer416

In my younger days I did ok in basic math. When it comes to more complicated math like Algebra & Calculus I was terrible. I've never made the association someone who is good in math is automatically good in music. People tend to associate math with science. Not everybody who are good in math have an interest in music.

Personally I have good understanding of music concepts (theory) but when it comes to playing techniques took me years to master.

Bellyman

There might be some overlap. Analytical thinking may have a role. I don't think that good musicians are necessarily good at math or mathematicians are necessarily good at music.

It would be interesting to know more about what went on in the head of Bill Evans who I particularly appreciate in that his chord progressions often went to places that weren't expected. Was it advanced boredom? Or was it mathematical? Hard to know.

PianogrlNW

A study conducted in 2011 by a Boston College team of researchers concluded that mathematicians are not more likely to be more musical than people with non-quantitative backgrounds.

https://dlib.bc.edu/islandora/object/bc-ir:100756/datastream/PDF/view#:~:text=The%20mathematics%20group%20did%20not,did%20the%20literature%2F%20language%20scholars.

I have heard anecdotally from piano teachers that kids good in math may be more likely to grasp note patterns so that they learn faster, and that music theory may come more easily to them. But, from my quick internet search, no study has proven that they are more musical.