Analyzing interesting musical concepts and their applications
Key Signature Calculation
This week, we once again explore the close connection between music and math as we learn a simple method to calculate key signatures. As you probably already know, there are 12 distinct keys in music; any scale, melody, or song can be played in any of these 12 keys. Changing the key of a song…
Tone Rows
As I have shown in previous posts, there is a very close relationship between music and mathematics. Whether we are talking about the ratios between polyrhythms, how to count in irrational time signatures, or the similarities between rhythm and pitch, math always has its place in music theory. In this week’s topic, the two subjects…
Irrational Time Signatures
Irrational time signatures are best explained if we first understand their rational counterparts. In music, time signatures are rhythmic devices that tell us the number of counts in each measure, and the value of each of these counts. Let’s take a simple form of a rational time signature: Both numbers tell us different things. The…
Music Theory Blog 