{"title":"音阶、大提琴弦长与数学的关系","authors":"Neo Cheng","doi":"10.1109/isec49744.2020.9397840","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"I play the cello, but my intonation is not good because I do not always remember where to place my fingers on the strings. Usually I use a tuner to help me find the right spots, and then I put stickers to mark the locations. However, I always ask myself: What makes these locations the right spots for the right pitches? Can I prove it mathematically? In this project, I want to know the sticker locations using math only, without a tuner. First, I used my tuner to determine where to press the string for C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, and C. Next, I measured the pressed string length with a tape ruler. Then I calculated the pressed string length ratio to the whole string. For math, I knew there are 12 half-notes within an octave and the length is halved (50%) for each octave. I just needed to find a multiplier that divides the length between 100% and 50% equally. In other words, I needed to find a number M such that M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M* M=0.5. By using a scientific calculator, I found the magic number, M, to be 0.944! This means that for each half-note, the string needs to be reduced to 94.4%, and for each whole-note, the string needs to be reduced to 89.1%.","PeriodicalId":355861,"journal":{"name":"2020 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2020-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"The Relationship between Musical Scale, Cello String Length, and Math\",\"authors\":\"Neo Cheng\",\"doi\":\"10.1109/isec49744.2020.9397840\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"I play the cello, but my intonation is not good because I do not always remember where to place my fingers on the strings. Usually I use a tuner to help me find the right spots, and then I put stickers to mark the locations. However, I always ask myself: What makes these locations the right spots for the right pitches? Can I prove it mathematically? In this project, I want to know the sticker locations using math only, without a tuner. First, I used my tuner to determine where to press the string for C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, and C. Next, I measured the pressed string length with a tape ruler. Then I calculated the pressed string length ratio to the whole string. For math, I knew there are 12 half-notes within an octave and the length is halved (50%) for each octave. I just needed to find a multiplier that divides the length between 100% and 50% equally. In other words, I needed to find a number M such that M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M* M=0.5. By using a scientific calculator, I found the magic number, M, to be 0.944! This means that for each half-note, the string needs to be reduced to 94.4%, and for each whole-note, the string needs to be reduced to 89.1%.\",\"PeriodicalId\":355861,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"2020 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)\",\"volume\":\"7 1\",\"pages\":\"0\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2020-08-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"2020 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1109/isec49744.2020.9397840\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"\",\"JCRName\":\"\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"2020 IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference (ISEC)","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1109/isec49744.2020.9397840","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
The Relationship between Musical Scale, Cello String Length, and Math
I play the cello, but my intonation is not good because I do not always remember where to place my fingers on the strings. Usually I use a tuner to help me find the right spots, and then I put stickers to mark the locations. However, I always ask myself: What makes these locations the right spots for the right pitches? Can I prove it mathematically? In this project, I want to know the sticker locations using math only, without a tuner. First, I used my tuner to determine where to press the string for C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, and C. Next, I measured the pressed string length with a tape ruler. Then I calculated the pressed string length ratio to the whole string. For math, I knew there are 12 half-notes within an octave and the length is halved (50%) for each octave. I just needed to find a multiplier that divides the length between 100% and 50% equally. In other words, I needed to find a number M such that M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M* M=0.5. By using a scientific calculator, I found the magic number, M, to be 0.944! This means that for each half-note, the string needs to be reduced to 94.4%, and for each whole-note, the string needs to be reduced to 89.1%.