Danny Young Final Project: Mathematics and the Guitar Some brand rock and rollers as brainless deadbeats,

when in fact a lot more intellect goes into the guitar that one might expect. It took the worlds first pure mathematician, Pythagoras to discover how to use math to organize a guitars fret board, making it easier to navigate. He was born approximately 569 B.C., making his discoveries some of the groundwork for all future mathematicians. Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician who is best known for his studies with triangles. His Pythagorean Theorem showed how the lengths of triangles relate to each other (A^2+B^2=C^2).

Pythagoras went on to discover that the note that a string gives off depends on the length of the string. In other words, if you cut the string in half, the string vibrates at twice the frequency, giving you a pitch exactly one octave higher than that of the string twice its size. That frequency is traditionally measured in megahertz, although that varies greatly depending on the thickness of the string, as well as the material. This creates a series of fractions describing where each fret must be placed to accomplish the desired pitch.

Lets start with your first E string on a guitar in standard 440 megahert tuning (E A D G B E) as an example. Without placing your finger on any fret, and plucking that string, you are playing an E note. Exactly half the length of the string rests on the twelfth fret. This means if you put your finger on the twelfth fret you would also be playing an E note. This leaves frets one through eleven as follows; F, F#, G, G#/, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, and D#. With that in mind, you can then find notes an octave higher. Pushing on the third fret on the same E string, produces a G note. So if you add 12 (3+12), you find that the next G is on the fifteenth fret.

Besides just adding the number twelve to fret numbers to find octaves, there are actual formulas that go along with the spacing of a guitar neck. To guitar craftsmen, the method is known as the Rule of Eighteen. With this we can find the length from the Zero fret to the bridge by using the value 17.817. If I were to put it in a more legible format, it would look like so: (String Length-distance to the fret before the one you are measuring for)/17.817. Example: for the second frets position, we solve (string length-distance to the first fret)/ 17.817. This answer will vary depending on the instrument and the lengths of their necks. To find the frets necessary distance to the bridge, we would use a different number using the power of two. (String length/(2^(number of the fret being evaluated/12)). Once all of the measuring has been completed, and the guitar lays finished with all six strings capable of producing a wide variety of pitches each, mathematics plays a much more important role. That role is to be able to combine all of the different tones, strings vibrating wildly at an assortment of different frequencies, and making them harmonize together to create something tangible, audible, and useful to everyone. If using a standard twenty two fret guitar, and multiplying that by the number of strings (6), you could have 19044 different chord combinations, to be interpreted by a limitless amount of musicians who will play them differently. Scales are laid out, intertwine so that the can be used interchangeably, simply starting over again an octave higher at the twelfth fret. These scales work together only because of the mathematical relationship they share with each other. None of this even takes into account that there are different tunings of a guitar, or using devices like capos to raise the key of what you are playing. My point being is that there is way more to be done with a guitar other than what is clearly seen. After all, music is subjective, and what comes out when these theories are put to use has its value to someone somewhere. This slightly separates mathematics from the wonders of a

truly great guitar player. Learning the guitar like the back of your hand, knowing every note, only gets you to a certain point. It takes a separation from the mental aspects of the instrument, to let another part of you decide which note is next, and even more importantly, how to play it.

Sources

http://www.passyworldofmathematics.com/guitar-mathematics/ http://www.fretboard.com/guitarhistory.html http://www.mathopenref.com/pythagoras.html http://www.guitar-guide-easy.com/lessons/guitar-basics/item/20-notes-on-the-guitarfretboard#.UqC80m13fTo