Felicia Burke

Mentor: Professor Leslie Cheng

My research this summer will be looking at the connection between math and music. I will begin by investigating why some notes can be placed together harmoniously by looking at the mathematical relationships between pitch, timbre, and overtones. I will then use concepts from Abstract Algebra to look at musical techniques such as transposing, and in understanding the English tradition of change ringing. Moreover, I will study randomness and probability that composers such as Mozart used.

I will start by reading the book The Math Behind the Music by Leon Harleroad to obtain some background knowledge on the subject matter. I will read other articles to supplement the different topics covered in each chapter of this text.