We share a love of music and a love of teaching, so we decided to join forces prior to her departure and co-teach a lesson for 5th grade students focused on the many, many overlaps between math and music.
Ms. Nixon and I made the obvious connection between whole, half, quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes to their fractional counterparts and asked students to "PLAY" fractions using a variety of instruments as well as an amazing online resource found HERE. We had a blast combining and adding fractions to produce amazing beats and rhythms. Try it out yourself! (We liked the Taiko best).
Ultimately, we introduced the students to Mr. Robert Schneider, a LITERAL math rock star. Mr. Schneider earned his BS in mathematics in 2012 and is currently pursuing a PhD in mathematics with an emphasis in number theory and theoretical mathematical science.
What does that have to do with music, you ask?
Since 2006 Schneider, a self-taught student of mathematics, has composed using a Non-Pythagorean scale of his own invention based on logarithms, incorporated prime numbers and the sieve of Eratosthenes in both a composition for bell towers and in the score for a play by mathematician Andrew Granville and playwright Jennifer Granville that debuted at the Institute for Advanced Study on December 12, 2009, has written a plan for an electronic composition based on prime numbers lasting millions of years, and has engaged in a number of other experimental music projects taking inspiration from mathematical concepts.
Now THAT was fun!
