Expressing our internal worlds through pictures, words, and symbols and sharing them with one another, riffing off of each other’s ideas is how much of modern mathematics is done. Contrary to the trope of the socially dysfunctional lone genius, mathematicians collaborate for most of their work, which makes them in some sense much like musicians. Credit: Leo SorelĪs with music, everyone incorporates the underlying language, grammar and technique in their senses differently, and thus comes to their own individual understanding that leads them to express ideas in their own unique way. To think of math as just formulas memorized through rote learning and mechanical thoughtless symbol shunting tragically misses the point. ![]() Through this process, a mathematician begins to develop a sense of the nature of mathematical ideas and their logical interrelationships, thus becoming sensitive to new ideas while becoming better equipped to manipulate them internally. Mathematical problems can be viewed as structured opportunities to play with what is already known in order to discover what is not. This is the language of mathematics its grammar, and its technique. A student must become adept with numbers and other symbols, various rules of algebra and calculus to manipulate symbols, and several functions. ![]() The process thus expands naturally from creative absorption to transformation, and eventually to execution. As the mastery of both the instrument and the underlying language expand, the mind becomes more sensitive to different ideas while the body becomes more competent at putting those ideas in practice. All the while, the fun comes in imagining and experimenting with the technical and linguistic components one has incorporated, in order to invoke a sensation, express an emotion, or tell a story. To improvise or compose one must learn the technique of the instrument and the harmonic and rhythmic language of music. Math can be experienced as play in much the same way music is. ![]() Can you spot the inference to be made here? It deeply informs my life and I would love to see it become more present in our culture: Developing the representation is thus a form of self discovery, while transforming it is a kind of play. Much of this “thought work” can be summarized as first creating, in the senses (and perhaps on a whiteboard or an instrument), a representation of an idea, and then imagining it transformed in creative and useful ways. Although the lifestyles of mathematicians and musicians might seem worlds apart, at least for me, the “thought work” behind them are more closely related than you might think: the magic of engaging with math and music fundamentally changes the way you imagine and create. What I would like to see further explored, are the commonalities between the subjective experiences of doing math and music. You can find math the construction of modern harmony and counterpoint, development of rhythms, and the proportioning of arrangements. Still, I continued reading math texts, as well as tutoring high school and college students, whenever I wasn't touring around the world. Upon graduation, however, I decided to spend my twenties back on stage rather than in a graduate school library. At school, I became enamored of math because of the allure of the elegant theoretical worlds mathematicians built. I started learning music at nine years old and worked as a musician through my teenage years, but opted to attend a university instead of a conservatory on the advice of my music mentors who encouraged me to learn more about the world. ![]() Still I believe the two disciplines are connected by an uncanny similarity in the roles creativity and imagination play in both. But, to me, the notion that math and music are the same thing is both terribly poetic and also too reductionist to be useful. My compositions are developed using relationships between sound frequencies. My practice involves using ideas of mathematical transformations on melodies, rhythms, and harmony. My skill set allows me to interpret musical experience through the language of mathematical structure and creative problem solving. My typical evening involves leaving the stage shortly after midnight and then preparing some problems in number theory or combinatorics until about 3 or 4 AM. Like most New Yorkers, I tend to work late.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |