"Math in the World Around Us: Fractions in Music" by Adventure Academy

Hi, I'm Kyan. Welcome to Math in the World Around Us. Today, we're talking about musical notes and fractions. Yep, you heard right. Math and music actually go hand in hand. One of the first people to explain the connection between math and music was a famous Greek mathematician named Pythagoras. Hey, why don't we just ask Pythagoras himself to tell us about it? Yeah! Yeah, come on! Okay, so you want to know about some awesome-sounding musical combinations using simple fractions. Every song has a mix of high and low sounds. When we talk about a sound's highness... Oh yeah! Or lowness... We're talking about its pitch! Now, listen to what happens when I pluck this string. As it vibrates, it makes the sound of a pretty slick musical note. Not bad. Now listen to the pitch when I make only half the string vibrate. Oh, get in there! And when I play those two notes together. Totally sweet! So, let's try some other simple fractions. Check out when I prevent one third of the string from vibrating. And one fifth. Oh, come on! Yeah! Just by allowing different fractions of the string to vibrate, you can create some really awesome tunes! And you can catch these musical combinations in thousands of sounds! Rock on, dude! Wow, thanks. Do you remember that song that Pythagoras played at the beginning? Let's see how those notes are made. Sound familiar? Yep, it's the beginning of the Star-Spangled Banner. So the next time you're listening to your favorite song, remember that you have fractions to thank. And Pythagoras! And Pythagoras, too. Because math is everywhere in the world around us, if you just know what to listen for. See you next time.