Sometime between 569bc and 475bc, a famous philosopher called Pythagoras, also known as the “father of harmony,” discovered the foundations of musical tuning by listening to the sounds of four blacksmith's hammers, which produced consonance and dissonance when they were struck simultaneously.
Pythagoras experimented with the tones produced when plucking strings of different lengths. He found that some specific ratios of string lengths created pleasing combinations (“harmonies”) and others did not. Based on his careful observations, Pythagoras identified the physics of intervals, or distances between notes, that form the primary harmonic system which is still used today in western music.
Using this concept, he developed the Pythagorean tuning system in which all frequency ratios of all intervals are based on the ratio 3:2 aka, the “pure” perfect fifth. This ratio was selected because it is one of the most consonant and easiest to tune by ear and suited his lyre which he often played at hospices to aid wellness in sick people.
The most prominent interval that Pythagoras observed highlights the universality of his findings. The ratio of 2:1 is known as the octave (8 tones apart within a musical scale).
In modern music that we know today, the frequency band for musicians to play together globally was standardised and in 1953, it was declared that middle “A” note on the piano be forevermore tuned to exactly 440hz. This note is the same frequency as your open ‘A’ string on your ukulele. For a purer tone, some musicians still use 432Hz.
It is a well-known fact that many physicists and mathematicians are also musicians due to the inherent properties of physics and mathematics within music. I’ll leave you with a few quotes to ponder from some of the world’s greatest minds:
“The theory of relativity occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition. My new discovery was the result of musical perception” (Einstein)
“I would give the children music, physics and philosophy, but the most important is music, for in the patterns of the arts are the keys to all learning”. (Plato)
“If one should desire to know whether a kingdom is well governed, if its morals are good or bad, the quality of its music will furnish the answer.” (Confucius)
Pythagoras experimented with the tones produced when plucking strings of different lengths. He found that some specific ratios of string lengths created pleasing combinations (“harmonies”) and others did not. Based on his careful observations, Pythagoras identified the physics of intervals, or distances between notes, that form the primary harmonic system which is still used today in western music.
Using this concept, he developed the Pythagorean tuning system in which all frequency ratios of all intervals are based on the ratio 3:2 aka, the “pure” perfect fifth. This ratio was selected because it is one of the most consonant and easiest to tune by ear and suited his lyre which he often played at hospices to aid wellness in sick people.
The most prominent interval that Pythagoras observed highlights the universality of his findings. The ratio of 2:1 is known as the octave (8 tones apart within a musical scale).
In modern music that we know today, the frequency band for musicians to play together globally was standardised and in 1953, it was declared that middle “A” note on the piano be forevermore tuned to exactly 440hz. This note is the same frequency as your open ‘A’ string on your ukulele. For a purer tone, some musicians still use 432Hz.
It is a well-known fact that many physicists and mathematicians are also musicians due to the inherent properties of physics and mathematics within music. I’ll leave you with a few quotes to ponder from some of the world’s greatest minds:
“The theory of relativity occurred to me by intuition, and music was the driving force behind that intuition. My new discovery was the result of musical perception” (Einstein)
“I would give the children music, physics and philosophy, but the most important is music, for in the patterns of the arts are the keys to all learning”. (Plato)
“If one should desire to know whether a kingdom is well governed, if its morals are good or bad, the quality of its music will furnish the answer.” (Confucius)