Three music professors have devised a new way of analyzing and categorizing music that takes advantage of the deep, complex mathematics they see enmeshed in its very fabric. Writing in Science, they ...

A new way of visualizing Western music theory could inspire innovations in everything from musical instrument design to music composition techniques—even to new kinds of toys. If you're enjoying this ...

"There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres." — Pythagoras. Disclaimer: I am neither a musician nor a mathematician, though I did take piano lessons ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Through the ages, the sound of music in myriad incarnations has captivated human beings and made them sing along, and as scholars have suspected for centuries, the mysterious ...

A new way of visualising chord progressions sheds light on why conventional and experimental music compositions both sound pleasant to the ear. Musical maps made with this method could guide ...

When you first hear them, a Gregorian chant, a Debussy prelude and a John Coltrane improvisation might seem to have almost nothing in common–except that they all include chord progressions and ...

The same mathematical principles that physicists use in string theory can be applied to analyze a string quartet, a music theorist writes in this week’s issue of the journal Science. He’s devised a ...