So, how do music and science connect?
I view Mathematics and English classes as core classes. What I mean by that is, these two subject areas serve as the backbone for the rest of our learning. Students must know how to read. Students must know how to work sums. I also submit to you that Science, general Science taught at the primary level, is also very core. Students must understand basic and natural processes. I do not imagine any of this to be controversial.
At the primary level most knowledge is new knowledge. The battle for most primary teachers is comprehension. My parents were both elementary school teachers and they used to fret over whether students understood their lessons. I remember my father saying, "I hope I dug down to their level and brought them up." Learning at this age is very A quadrant, or basic. There is not a lot of higher order thinking going on, and - while I feel it's important to expose students to divergent and higher order items - it's important that they get the basics. As students progress, and I suggest that 6th or 7th grade become the point of transfer for them, it is time to challenge them with more divergent thinking.
Science is a most interesting subject because it lends itself so nicely to projects.
Mathematics are glued to their axioms and, while they're able to create real world problems, it is often hard to create consistent relevance enough to create real-world solutions to those problems. In effect, Math is limited by it's resources where applications are concerned. There are only so many ways that you can show a graph. I'm not saying that Mathematics can't utilize projects, I'm simply saying that it is more difficult for them to do so on a full project-based level.
English has its own set of problems too. There are many options for creation in a 10th grade literature class, but few of them will be useful to mankind. In my years teaching Litmus (Literature + Musicology) we created artistic models, powerpoints, speeches, countless videos, and lots of music. It was difficult to solve real-world problems when the students were reading The Odyssey. Again, we were tied to the content and the context of our work, much like mathematicians are.
Science, though, is a subject that can reach outside itself. If you think about it, Science is the logic of Mathematics combined with the imagination of Literature. Some of you may scoff at this, but consider: before mankind endeavors to do anything he must first conceive the idea in his mind. A person must have a problem, hypothesize a solution, and then create an experiment and test their idea. In many ways scientists combine the best of the Arts. It is the objective of scientists to realize that which we have only considered. People didn't understand Edison's light bulb when he unveiled it at the World's Fair in 1893, but Edison himself had a vision for his work. Science is the connecting cog between English and Math.
Integrating Science with music is difficult. While Science lends itself to projects, it's almost too practical. In many ways Music is the anti-thesis to Science. Science lets the student explore within the confines of the hypothesis. Music lets the student explore within the confines of their skill. Both subjects have pretty serious higher order thinking syntheses. Creating Science yields tangible products (rockets, trebuchets, instruments, chemicals) while creating music - unless it's recorded - leaves only the aesthetic experience of having created something and hearing it once.
The best connection between Science and Music is the process!
Music utilizes creative process. Science utilizes Scientific Method. Both processes have variables that can be controlled, but also are open to experimentation. Music is the more approachable of the two arts because a mistake in music has no residual effect. A mistake in science could theoretically injure or even kill someone. (Again, I apologize for our lab experiment in College Chemistry, Raj. I am truly sorry about your hair.)
Scientific Method is a structure centered around a hypothesis, based on observation. In short, the scientist observes something, makes a hypothesis about it, and then runs an experiment to see if their hypothesis is correct. Musicians in the "Lab," so to speak, are utilizing their current knowledge to make calculations - in real time - based on their observations (which are made through the ears). Then a musician will release their experiment, their sound, and see how it goes with the other parts playing. Let me give you an example. I play bass guitar an awful lot. I play with all kinds of groups - jazz groups, country groups, rock groups, alternative bands, tejano groups... Often when I get with these people, they do not have music for me. Sometimes they do, but most of the time they do not. To a person that needs structure it's very scary to hear the words, "Just play by ear." But a true musician has no problem with this because we understand the system.
There are only 7 notes in a scale (because 1 and 8 are the same) and 12 total notes if you include the half-steps between notes. That means I have a one in twelve chance of hitting the right note with a blind guess. Now, when I play in certain styles I can expect certain things to happen. For example - Gospel music will utilize flat 7 chords. It is unlikely that I will ever encounter a three chord in rock music, and so on... This narrows down my choices. Using the typical voice leading patterns that humanity has decided work best, I now have myself down to a 1:4 ratio. I am 25% likely to hit the right note. Experience is the final straw. Usually, because I have played so much, I can tell without ever hearing the song, what the next chord will be. All I have to do now, is set my hand and pluck the string. Then I will know pretty quickly whether or not I've got it. I have to do this for every note of every song for the duration of the show. What I just described to you is a process that happens pretty quickly while I play. Did you notice the similarities between my play process and Scientific Method? Observation. Hypothesis. Calculation. Experiment. Assessment...
This kind of experimentation is entirely too dynamic for a Science classroom, but not a Music one.
The best integration projects that I've seen between Science and Music in the Science classroom have been instrument building projects that connect Physics and Manufacturing with Music. Indeed, Physics seems to be the branch of Science that lends itself most readily to Music. Type "Physics + Music + Lessons" into your search engine and you will receive myriad projects with calculations included. My favorite is this one from The Physics Classroom. There are also several lessons on the use of sound waves, sound travel, creation of sound, and manipulation of sound.
Chemistry teachers may try to make the connection with density and liquid levels. Using glass instruments filled with chemicals and rubbing the edges... makes a sound... kind of neat... This is only one project though; certainly not enough to build a semester of integration. Perhaps there could be something to the elements involved in the creation of instruments? For example, the use of brass alloys to make trumpets, versus the use of nickel or silver alloys; How does this affect the sound? Which trumpet sounds better? Are there uses for the other alloy sound?
My suggestion is to utilize as much Music as possible in the early stages of Physics. 8th grade Physical Science where students learn foundational Physics is the best place for Music to make appearances in the Science classroom. While I admit that I have had little chance to test these theories, I certainly would feel comfortable going into a Science class and trying. I realize that several of you may be hoping that I would detail a plan for you here, but I don't have one. I see the connection in method, but beyond that I would look to the shared lesson plans on the web and see how you can synthesize them to best assist your students. I'm sorry that I don't have more, but look to the method. The method is the key. Your own driving questions will drive those of your students. And what better way to teach than by example?
Until next week...
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