From Pythagoras to Bach: The Mathematics of Harmony in Western Music

Sam X. Wattles
Alleyns School

Music is a hidden arithmetic exercise of the soul, which does not know that it is counting.
Gottfried Leibniz, 1712

FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

Table of Contents
Abstract

Introduction: A Connection Going Back to the Dawn of Humanity

Pythagoras: The Mathematical Roots of Harmony

Putting Pythagoras into Practice: Harmony and the Tuning of of Instruments

Building a Scale in Pythagorean Tuning (i): The Three Building Blocks

Building a Scale in Pythagorean Tuning (ii): Filling in the Gaps

Pythagorean Tuning: The Critical Limitation

10

Bachs Well Tempered Clavier

11

Irrational Numbers: A Revolution in the Mathematics of Harmony

12

The Mathematics of Equal Temperament

12

Equal Temperament: A Small Compromise for a Big Advantage

13

Conclusion: The Mathematics of Harmony

15

Bibliography

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Abstract
The links between mathematics and music have been widely studied. Research has shown mathematical patterns in all
aspects of music including harmony, rhythm and structure. The aim of this essay is different. This essay sets out to
examine the influence of mathematics on musical composition and to analyse how a dramatic shift in the development of
music in the modern era can be attributed to the use of a different type of mathematics.
Pythagoras was a forerunner in realising the mathematical underpinnings of harmony. By establishing the relationship
between string length and pitch, he established the fundamental building blocks of harmonics. For fifteen centuries,
harmony in Western music relied on the ideas of Pythagoras. His mathematical ideas were put into practice in the way in
which musical instruments were tuned, known as Pythagorean Tuning. This system, while highly sophisticated,
nevertheless contained fundamental limitations. Critically, it did not allow for successful modulation between keys. This
constrained composers in the music they wrote, the instruments they used and how they were combined.
Bachs Well Tempered Clavier of 1722 marked a decisive moment in freeing Western music from these constraints.
Intuitively, Bach embraced a tuning system which reflected a new form of tuning based on irrational numbers; a type of

mathematics which the Greeks had avoided. This allowed far greater freedom in composition, development of instruments
and orchestration. Music could be beautiful in new and different ways. Today, this system, known as Equal Temperament,
is widely used in all genres of Western music.

Abstract word count: 250

FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

Introduction: A Connection going back to the Dawn of Humanity
Music is one of the most fundamental, cross-cultural and ubiquitous aspects of human experience. Evidence suggests that
music existed long before speech, in the form of chanting. Similarly, mathematics, born of our need to quantify and count,
has existed since human beings began to form societies. These two disciplines appear to be polar opposites, one logical
and one emotional; however they are intrinsically connected. When we think of the universe, we imagine the waves and
the tides crashing rhythmically on the beach, planets orbiting their sun, or the spectrum of light that fills our world with
colour. Maybe we think of the cycles of life on our planet, the seasons or our own heartbeat. All of this and all that we
know is grounded in mathematics. The connection between maths and music can be thought of in this way; music is full
of patterns, cycles and rhythms that can be connected to nature. And like nature, when all these mathematical elements
come together they can form something greater than simply the sum of its parts. This sensation is what we experience as
beauty. It is why listening to a piece as mathematical and logical as a Bach fugue can provide an intense emotional
response.
Both maths and music have origins that are distant in time, yet remarkably coincidental. Music is one of the most ancient
art forms. Archaeological evidence suggests that our ancestors had vocal chords around 600,000 years ago, however it is
difficult to tell when music began to evolve. The oldest evidence of harnessing sound for musical effect was the discovery
of 35,000-year-old mammoth bones that had been used as percussion instruments. Markings indicated where, when
struck, they would produce the most pleasant sound. Likewise, mathematics has existed since prehistoric times, but the
earliest evidence is from the same period; tallies, etched into stone, have been found from around 40,000 years ago. This
is our first evidence of humans attempting to quantify the world they lived in. Ancient peoples later developed words or
gestures for this; at first, these were rudimentary but later developed into more complex numeric systems. It was not until
many centuries later that maths and music were explicitly connected.

Pythagoras: The Mathematical Roots of Harmony

The Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras (570 - 495 BC) is often credited with the discovery of the
mathematical basis of harmony. According to legend, he was passing a blacksmiths and observed that the sound of the
hammers on the anvil was harmonious and beautiful. Upon investigation, he found that comparing the weights of the

FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

Putting Pythagoras into Practice: Harmony and the Tuning of of Instruments

Today, Western music is based on a 12 tone equal tempered system - that is, the octave is divided into 12 tones, each
separated from the next by a fixed ratio. However, this is a fairly modern tuning concept. Pythagoras discoveries formed
the basis for a system of tuning that predominated for 15 centuries. To understand the origins of our current system, we
must first understand the Pythagorean system; both its strengths and limitations.

Pythagorean tuning is a system of tuning based on the ideas of simple, whole number ratios. The mathematics behind this
system takes advantage of the fact that, in a stringed instrument, frequency is the reciprocal of string length; in other
words, for example, if the ratio of the string lengths is 2:3, then the ratio of the frequencies is 3:2. It is possible to build a
complete scale from the three simple ratios (the octave, fifth and fourth) that Pythagoras discovered. This scale is known
as the Pythagorean diatonic scale and is very similar to a modern major scale.

Before understanding this scale, we must turn briefly to the fundamental mathematics of harmony.

The reason for these simple whole number ratios producing a pleasant sound lies in the Harmonic Series. When a single
string of an instrument (such as a guitar string) is plucked, it will resonate at a number of different frequencies at once.
However, the string will only vibrate at frequencies with wavelengths that fit exactly a whole number of times into the
length of the string. Smaller wavelengths, higher in frequency but less audible, are known as overtones. This set of
frequencies is known as the harmonic series, and may be produced on a single string. The diagram below shows these
waves and their frequencies separately.

FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

When two notes are one octave apart, they are considered to be very harmonious. The notes sound together clearly and
purely. This is because the frequency of the higher note is half the frequency of the lower note, making it the same
frequency as the second harmonic. As the two notes fit onto the same harmonic series, they have harmonics in common
with each other, creating a likeness between them.
Going down the harmonic series, as the wavelengths get smaller, the perceived distance between the notes decreases.
This is because the ratio between the two notes also decreases.
The closer the notes, the less harmonious they sound. This is because they have fewer harmonics in common.

FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

Building a Scale in Pythagorean Tuning (i): The Three Building Blocks

The following example builds this scale based on the three Pythagorean building blocks: the octave, the fifth and the
fourth. On a modern piano keyboard tuned in this way, the scale is performed by playing all the white notes consecutively
from C to C2 (one octave above). On the monochord, the harmonious note produced by shortening the string to its
original length produces the fifth note of the scale (in this case, a G). Shortening the string to its original length
produces the fourth note of the scale, F. Finally, halving the string length provides the octave above which, as Pythagoras
observed, sounds similar to the first note, but higher.

FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

Building a Scale in Pythagorean Tuning (ii): Filling in the Gaps

Pythagorean tuning provides a straightforward way of filling in the rest of the scale: we must follow a system of first
going up by fifths and then dropping by octaves. To go up by fifths (i.e go to the fifth note of the scale from the starting
note), we simply shorten the monochord to its original length as many times as necessary until we reach the note we
want. Then, to reach the note in the right octave, we simply drop down octaves by halving the length of the string until the
note we want is reached. For example, going up a fifth from G1 (a fifth up from our root, C1) takes us to D2. Thus
dropping down the octave will give us D1, the next note of the scale.
The necessary change in string lengths can be expressed mathematically by using the same ratios multiple times to
express going up by fifths:

...and dropping down by octaves:

This process is illustrated with the arrows below.

FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

Repeating the process of up by fifths, down by octaves three more times will give the full Pythagorean diatonic scale.
For example, the next step, to find the note A1, would involve going up a fifth from D2 followed by dropping down the
octave. The string length can be calculated as follows:

This scale, like the modern major scale, is made up of a mixture of tone and semi-tone intervals, where a semitone passes
from one of the 12 notes to the next and a tone is a jump of two notes. There are semitone intervals between the third and
fourth note and between the seventh and eighth note. This is true of any starting note.

The relative string lengths and frequencies for the complete Pythagorean scale in C is shown in the table below, where l is
the original string length and f the original frequency.
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The problem is, these two methods arrive at different frequency ratios:

Going up 7 octaves = (2/1)7 = 128

Going up 12 fifths = (3/2)12 = 129.746

Clearly there is a discrepancy between the two methods of calculating the frequency ratio. This difference (1.0136) is
the Pythagorean Comma. This difference may seem small, but as any musician or music lover knows, a note which is
even slightly but consistently out of tune can ruin a musical performance!
As musical style developed into and beyond the Baroque period, these problems became increasingly inhibiting. Musical
instruments with fixed tuning systems (such as the harpsichord) were becoming more complex. Composers trying to
explore different keys and modulations were limited by the tuning. Different approaches were used to counter the
limitations of the Pythagorean system. However, it took a true genius to take a seminal step forward.

Bachs Well Tempered Clavier

In 1722, Bach published The Well Tempered Clavier, widely considered one of the greatest musical masterpieces of all
time. This collection of Preludes and Fugues was written in all 24 major and minor keys, to be played on a keyboard
without retuning; in other words, it broke decisively away from the limitations set by Pythagorean tuning and is therefore
a pioneering work of modern music. This was made possible, as the title suggests, by Well Tempered Tuning; the first
system to deal with the problem of Wolf Intervals. This system provided an escape from the differences in frequency
ratios that occur in the Pythagorean system.
This tuning system solves the problem of the Wolf Intervals by distributing the discrepancies between keys inherent in the
Pythagorean system. As Bach gloriously demonstrated, musicians could now embrace all keys in a single work. However,
while all the keys were now available to the composer, there were still small differences between the affect of each key.
The solution to this lies in an entirely different branch of mathematics.

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FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

Irrational Numbers: A Revolution in the Mathematics of Harmony

A fundamental belief of Pythagoras was that every number could be expressed as the ratio of two integers; in other words,
a decimal cannot have infinite digits. When Hippasus, Greek philosopher and Pythagorean, discovered a proof for
irrational numbers, there was shock and disbelief. As a result, the Greeks shied away from harnessing irrational numbers
in tuning an instrument.
In another moment of remarkable coincidence, the new mathematics of harmony were discovered at opposite ends of the
earth within a year of each other. A Dutchman, Simon Stevin, and a Chinese man, Zhu Zaiyu, discovered a system of
tuning based on irrational numbers independently in 1585 and 1584 respectively. In this system, the ratio between one
note and the next note a semitone away is 12
2 (twelfth root of two 1.0594) consistently across the range of notes and
therefore across all keys. For example, if an A has a frequency of x Hz, then the A# that follows has a frequency of (122)
x. This system is known as Equal Temperament.
Bachs Well Tempered Clavier is often supposed to be the seminal work of Equal Temperament. However, as Bach had
no way of measuring frequency, he actually used a system that was a brilliant and intuitive approximation. German
philosopher Gottfried Leibniz, writing in a letter only a decade before the publication of the Well Tempered Clavier,
summed it up perfectly when he talked of arithmetic which does not know it is counting.

The Mathematics of Equal Temperament

But how does this number, 12
2, provide the decisive break from Pythagoras?
We know that there are 12 steps in the octave. We also know that the ratio between any two notes (r) is the same. So, to
get from one note to the next, we must multiply by r . From this we can build a pattern, multiplying by this ratio 12 times
(once for every step in the octave).
A =
A# =
B =
C =

A2 =

A
A r
(A r) r = A r2
(A r2) r = A r3
A r12

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From this we can see that to go from A to A2 (up one octave), we must multiply by the ratio (r) to the twelfth power. Also,
if:
A2 = A r12 ,

Then rearranging gives:

A2 / A = r12
Twelfth rooting both sides of the equation gives:
(A2 / A) = r

12

As the frequency of A2 is exactly double the frequency of A (as it is one octave up), we can say that:
A2 / A = 2/1
Inserting this gives:
(2/1) = r

12

r = 2

( 1.059463)

12

Equal Temperament: A Small Compromise for a Big Advantage

So how do these tuning systems compare? Firstly, the frequencies they result in are similar, but not identical. The
following table compares the frequencies in the Pythagorean and the Equal Tempered A major scale:

Note

C#

F#

G#

Pythagorean

220.0

247.5

278.4

293.3

330.0

371.3

417.7

440.0

Equal Tempered

220.0

246.9

277.2

293.7

329.6

370.0

415.3

440.0

In both cases, the frequencies add up to one octave. However, the frequencies within are slightly different. This is the
result of a difference between the size of the tone and semitone.
Semitone

Whole tone

Pythagorean

256/243 1.0535

9/8 = 1.125

Equal tempered

12

(122)2 = 6 2 1.1225

2 1.0594

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FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

This table shows that Pythagorean tuning has a slightly broader whole tone and slightly narrower semitone than Equal
Tempered tuning. Thus, the scales have a slightly different character. For example, the major third in Pythagorean tuning
has a frequency ratio of 1.265625, whereas in Equal Tempered it is 1.25992 Therefore, Pythagorean the major third
sounds brighter and slightly more open. Also, the interval of a fifth is 1.5 in Pythagorean tuning, whereas in Equal
Tempered tuning it is 1.498 Pythagorean tuning has a more clear and pure sound as the ratios of the intervals are
simple. This means that when the waves overlap, they fit together better and there is more coherence.

This diagram shows the sound waves of a fifth in Pythagorean tuning. The blue line represents the root and the black line the
fifth. For every complete oscillation of the root, the fifth oscillates exactly 1.5 times. As a result the lines intersect the x axis
together at regular intervals. This strong coherence provides the crystal clear sound.

In Equal Tempered tuning, as the ratio of the frequencies is not exactly 1.5, the waves do not fit together so perfectly.

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FROM PYTHAGORAS TO BACH: THE MATHEMATICS OF HARMONY IN WESTERN MUSIC

This diagram shows the sound waves of the fifth in Equal Temperament. As the fifth has been ever slightly flattened, the waves do not
intersect as perfectly. This is close to perfect coherence, so is only just audible.

So, while Pythagorean tuning subjectively sounds better, Equal Temperament is so close to being pure that the
difference is negligible. This small drawback is greatly outweighed by the benefit of perfect transposition without the
need to retune the instrument. Today, all standard pianos, organs, digital instruments, tuned percussion instruments and
other instruments with fixed tuning are tuned in this way. Equal Temperament achieves mathematically what Bach
achieved intuitively in his brilliant exploitation of Well Temperament.

Conclusion
As we have seen, the origins of music can be traced back to the dawn of human civilisation. It may therefore seem strange
that in Western Culture, the great flowering of music came some centuries later than that of other art forms such as poetry,
painting and sculpture. Why is this?
The answer may lie in the constraints and then liberation of the mathematics of harmony. Pythagorean tuning dominated
tuning for 15 centuries. During this period, music flourished brilliantly, but within its constraints on composition and
instrument design. Byrd, Taverner and Tallis are a few examples. However, Pythagorean tuning prevented further
development by not allowing for seamless transposition and modulation between keys. Bachs Well Tempered Clavier,
a decisive step away from Pythagorean tuning, was the start of a new era in which the possibilities of musical instruments
and orchestral composition broke free from the past. Bach seemed to be saying to future generations of music, look what
we can do, look at the range of emotions we can express when we can play across all different keys on the same
instrument without a pause. Later composers responded to his call. As we now know, Bachs revolution was intuitive. It
was, as Leibniz put so eloquently, an arithmetic that does not know it is counting. However, the basis for this tectonic
shift was in fact an embrace of irrational numbers, which had been shied away from by the Greeks. Hence, the dawn of
the modern era in Western music was rooted in a shift in the mathematics of harmony.

Main body word count (excluding illustrations and annotations): 2992

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Note on Images & Illustrations
Unless otherwise indicated, all illustrations were created by the author (Wattles, S. X., July 2016). All images
illustrations from other sources have been fully cited in the Bibliography.

Note: These tertiary sources were used simply as a starting point for further research. As community built sources, there
is possibility for error. They have not been quoted from or used as a primary source in this paper.
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