Music, Math, and Mind
Course Level: Graduate, Undergraduate
Prerequisites: Instructor's permission
Credits: 3
Course Number: VIAR AV4000
This course encompasses the physics and neuroscience of music and sound. Previous course work in math and physiology is not required, and it is intended to be useful from diverse backgrounds in science or the arts, including undergrad and grad students. Topics include the physics of sound waves (explained with grad school level math), pitch, harmonics, and rhythm: sound transduction and perception mechanisms in the ear and brain: sound, and music and hearing by other species including songbirds, cetaceans, insects, and bats: associated neurological disorders: and what little is known about the physiology of emotion. We will study the mathematics by which musical scales, rhythms, and harmonies are derived, a topic that spans the history of math from the monochord of Pythagoras, wave functions, through fractal geometry. The perception of music encompasses the physics, anatomy, and neuroscience of the ear and auditory neural pathways, and synaptic mechanisms that occur within the midbrain and cerebral cortex. There will be guest scientist and musician presentations. Coursework will include student-led projects.