Lecture to explore connections between math and music

Mathematics and music are a match made in heaven, says Jason Brown – and he should know. A guitarist and songwriter, Brown is also a mathematics professor at Dalhousie University.

He will discuss his twin passions in a free public lecture, “A Hard Day’s Math: the connections between mathematics and music,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 10, in Assumption University’s Freed-Orman Centre.

The ancient Greeks elevated music and mathematics to the same level, says Brown: “Even the most unschooled rock musicians use more mathematics than they realize.”

His lecture will illustrate some of the most interesting connections between mathematics and music, including a discussion of his uncovering, via mathematics, exactly how the Beatles played the opening chord of A Hard Day's Night.

Brown is the author of Our Days Are Numbered: How Mathematics Orders our Lives, a revealing and entertaining look at the world as viewed through mathematical eyeglasses. His appearance in Windsor is part of the distinguished speakers series of the Humanities Research Group, which is hosting a reception following the talk.

He will also deliver “The Mathematics Underlying Musical Mysteries” at 11 a.m. on Friday, November 11, in the Freed-Orman Centre, applying a variety of mathematics to discover why we love music the way we do, and to uncover mysteries in the best of pop music.