Composition and Theory

Well… of course! Since MATH uses numbers to express ratios, and MUSIC uses frequency (numbers per a given period of time or “vibrations per second”) to express pitch and the ratio of one pitch to another, they are two methods of expressing the same thing. You could refer to that as “…the harmony between math and music” although the word “harmony” in this case is used somewhat metaphorically.

The amazing thing about the Human perception of MUSIC is that the MATH is experienced emotionally as well as intellectually. More importantly, MUSIC is experienced emotionally even with no intellectual understanding of the MATH.

Humans have this innate ability to hear these ratios and recognize them as distinct harmonies even before knowing how to count to three… or before any understanding of what “ratio” means.

That is amazing :star_struck:

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Just as the human mind does advanced calculus to play sports with no cognitive comprehension of the subject. :wink:

Cheers,
Jayson

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Exactly!

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Well not me. I’m not very good at math. Kudos to math wizards like you. Hahaha!

I’d like to counter this, but I soon realize that almost every sport has some sort of curve or a changing acceleration of something.

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It seems as though humans can can “know,” or at least experience, certain complex equations without needing to calculate them… innately…. Like we are wired to it somehow :man_shrugging:

We are. Guy had an accident and his brain rerouted cognitive math processing to the occipital lobe and now, though he blinks to do a mental calulation, he suddenly can solve incredibly complex equations in a split second in spite of not being a maths guy.

Our vision, that is, is a highly advanced natrual math machine.

And even without such hysterics, obviously our brains need to keep up with reality at breakneck speeds and there’s a pile of math and prediction involved in navigating reality. It may not need “2”, but it absolutely needs the idea of “pair”, or the like. And on it goes with natural association labels of the same things we create cognitive labels for.

If our cognitive could handle taking the brute onslaught of our subconciousness explicitly, we’d all be math geniuses.

Cheers,
Jayson

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Awesome article @Jayson Thanks for sharing :pray:

Reminds me of a simiar story about a guy who jumped in a pool and hit his head. After recovering he discovered he could play piano! Never played piano before, had played some guitar. Simply saw a piano one day and instantly realized he knew how to play it, before touching it! Started to play and said "I realised the music had been writing itself in my unconscious ever since the accident – now, at last, I was simply letting it out into the world. "

Here is the article:
Derek Amato - Wikipedia

If you click on the Guardian reference at the bottom there is this great quote:

“I’ve played alongside a classically trained concert pianist, who was fascinated by my technique – in some respects, I play like someone who has just started learning, in others my skills outstripped his.” That means not only his understanding of music as it relates to the piano, but also his physical ability! He suddenly had Chops!

Astonishing!:star_struck::man_shrugging:

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Definitely.

My youngest, now mid-teen, is a savant. Which sounds great, and she is breathtaking to behold. Music to her is no different than moving our bodies for walking or excercise is to us. If someone says, “This is a pushup”, we hardly struggle to replicate it. If we walk with someone, we hardly think even once about matching pace.

Anything she hears or sees, she can replicate it. Further, she hears all of the possible phonic connections that aren’t being expressed, so really advanced harmony is her little b*tch.

And on pretty much any instrument. The only one that trips her up is the violin (or the like) because of right-hand technique, but her left is right at home.

Her on a piano is a blur to keep up with. I spend most my time trying to get her to slow it down and let it breathe so people can understand and immerse in it - not just get plowed over by the onslaught.

The problem is formalism. Though music is to her as water to a dolphin, equally she has a dolphin’s ability to explain hydrodynamics to a person (even if it could speak English).

She can work out sheet music slowly, but there is a massive gap in her practical theory and academic theory. And it’s a pain to close it, because the human brain isn’t evolved to prefer the harder and less efficient option. So, there’s this massive rejection push in her mind she struggles with for music formalism as why should she learn a less efficient way to get at what she can already do?

So, like that fellow, teachers watch her in bewilderment as they witness both a wild surpassing of highly skilled players right alongside crude grasp of nearly finger-painting skill.

It’s a real pain in the a**. The point being, the closer tapping into the subconcious results in easier output, but since everyone else isn’t able to do that, it also creates a massive language barrier between that person and everyone else.

Cheers,
Jayson

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Wow, John Schneider sounds like an incredible teacher! It’s amazing how one person can have such a profound impact on our musical journeys. Exploring alternative tuning methods and instruments opens up a whole new world of musical possibilities. Thanks for sharing this inspiring story!

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What an amazing gift your daughter has, and your amazing is having such a remarkable person for a daughter!

I’m no savant but I can identify with…

I started studying Music in my teens, and was basically self taught until College which is where the “formal” study began in earnest. I can play pretty well but I’m a slow reader. So… even though I’ve closed the gap in terms of learning the theory, and how to read music, I’d still rather just Jam, because I can flow when not attached to reading a score.

I’m guessing your daughter, regardless of her eventual progress in “Formal Music,” will always feel more at home in her “Native Language” … so to speak.

The good news is… the more I learned about theory, and the more I studied and played written music, the better I got at jamming! It all adds up!

Thanks again for sharing! :pray::pray::pray::sunglasses:

He was an eye opener for sure. Super nice guy as well… a true Gentleman.

That quote was from 5 years ago! and my time with John Schneider was 40 years ago! (ouch! dating myself here :frowning_face:) Amazing how the past can vibrate into the future in unexpected ways :pray::sunglasses: