Transcriber: Gia Hwang
Reviewer: Carol Wang What do the physicist Albert Einstein,
the composer Philip Glass, and the songwriter and lead guitarist
of the band Coldplay, Jonny Buckland, have in common? They all share a love of
and expertise in both math and music. Albert Einstein, an accomplished
violinist and pianist, played music when he struggled with math. Philip Glass wrote an entire opera
entitled Einstein on the Beach, which is based on his love for math. And Johnny Buckland
has a degree in mathematics, and has incorporated math themes
into his song lyrics. Playing the oboe and doing math
are two of my favorite activities. When my course teacher mentioned
that math is the closest subject to music, it caught my attention. I started playing the oboe in fifth grade. Sixth grade was the year that math
started coming more easily for me, and it became my favorite
subject in school. Two years later, as an eighth grader I still love playing the oboe, and math is still my favorite subject. Just this year, I realized that playing the oboe
has been helping me in math class. This fall, I started noticing
the connection between math and music in my everyday life. For example, recently my band teacher
was talking about sound waves and how, depending on how close
the notes are together - the larger or smaller the sound waves are- every sound wave can be written
as a numerical number or equation. Another example was in dance class. My teacher told the class that when she’s struggling with understanding
the steps of a combination, she thinks of it
as a mathematical equation. As I thought more
about this topic, I wondered, do either of these subjects
make you better at the other? I believe the answer is yes. Playing an instrument would gradually
help you in math class as you advance. This happens when you start
counting beats per measure and dividing rhythms in your head when the time signature changes. Knowing math when learning an instrument
works in the opposite way because knowing ratios,
proportions and division helps you keep time as you play. I asked a few teachers
and students their thoughts on the correlation between math
and playing a musical instrument, everyone reported that they were aware of
the connection between the two subjects. Saddle River Day School
mathematics teacher Mr. Lipper said, “Mathematics teaches us how to apply
certain rules and analyze relationships. I unwittingly use these disciplines when
playing with other musicians to determine when to come in, how loudly or softly to play, when to solo, when to fade out.” Francis Wood, my grandmother, who played the flute and is a retired
elementary school teacher, said “The connection between math and music
was pretty direct for me growing up because I learned the piano
and math at a young age. So fractions, measures and different
kinds of notes informed each other. If you’re going to be really proficient
at music in our Western culture, you really need
to understand math concepts to stay on rhythm and read sheet music.” As I did more research, I found a number of studies
on the connection between music and general
academic achievement. A study entitled “Long term positive
associations between music and IQ” by University of Toronto’s psychology
professor Glenn Schellenberg showed that students
who regularly play instruments generally score higher grades
on standardized math tests compared to students
who don’t play instruments. Martin Bergee, professor of music
education and music therapy at University of Kansas, was skeptical about what he called the overhyped interpretations
of the correlation between math and music. After studying over a thousand
middle school students, he actually found the opposite. There is a positive correlation between music achievement
and math and reading achievement. These results were
statistically significant at both the individual student level
and the school district level. A recent study by Harvard developmental
psychologist Nadine Gaab showed that people
who frequently play instruments have higher executive
or brain functioning skills, opposed to non-musicians. These skills are essential
for mathematics. To really answer my question, I suggest that a study be made that analyzes a group of students
and their math skills before starting an instrument as well as again, after they have
been regularly practicing. A long term study like this
would really show whether music training
strengthens math ability, or whether math skills
strengthen music ability. The academic research
does not attribute a specific cause for the correlation between music
and general academic achievement. It could be that the discipline
of playing the same thing every day makes for good study habits, or that a part of the brain
that is stimulated by music also helps with general
academic achievement. Whatever the causation, it is known that there is a statistically
significant correlation. This is important. A recent trend in schools across the U.S. is to cut music programs due to funding, or desire to fill the day with additional
test preparations to boost test scores. If policymakers and our country
paid attention to data showing that playing instruments
helps with general academic achievement, they could better advocate
for strong music programs. If parents paid attention
to the correlation, it might influence their willingness
to urge their kids to participate in singing classes
or playing instruments. So next time you listen
to some classical music, or even a more busy genre, like pop, try and hear the mathematical beats
between each note. Or, next time you’re stuck
on a math problem, try listening to a little Coldplay. Thank you. (Applause)
