Mathematics in Music of
Tamil Nadu and Jammu &
Kashmir
Table of contents
Mathematics in
Introduction 01 05
Hindustani Music
Mathematics in Indian
Carnatic Music 02 06
Classical Music
Mathematics in
03 07 Instruments
Carnatic Music
Hindustani Music 04 08 Our Team
01
Introduction
• Music is the art of combining sounds with a
view to the beauty of expression of emotion.
• It is an extremely subjective experience.
• Musically good melodies are harmonious in
character.
• Some of the sound waves that reach the human
ear are perceived to be pleasant while others
are unpleasant.
● Mathematics is the basis of sound wave
propagation, and a pleasant sound consists of
harmony arising out of musical scales in terms
of numerical ratios, particularly those of small
integers.
● Mathematics is music for the mind while
music is mathematics for the soul. Music
theory analyses the pitch, timing, and structure
of music.
● It uses mathematics to study elements of
music such as tempo, chord progression, form,
and meter.
• The attempt to structure and communicate new ways of
composing and hearing music has led to musical applications
of set theory, abstract algebra and number theory.
• A suitable permutation and combination of some basic notes
gives rise to melodious music which enthrals and transports
one to a new enjoyable experience.
• In India, we have classical music which is divided into
Carnatic music that is famous in Tamil Nadu and Hindustani
music that is famous in Jammu and Kashmir.
02
Carnatic Music
• Carnatic music, known as Karnāṭaka saṃgīta or
Karnāṭaka saṅgītam in the South Indian languages,
is a system of music commonly associated with
South India.
• It is a subgenre of Indian Classical Music.
• The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal
music; most compositions are written to be sung,
and even when played on instruments, they are
meant to be performed in gāyaki (singing) Style.
• Carnatic music is usually performed by a small
ensemble of musicians, consisting of a principal
performer, a melodic accompaniment , a rhythm
accompaniment, and a tambura.
03
Mathematics in
Carnatic Music
• In Carnatic music, seven notes or swaras as they are
called called, form the foundation of the various
permutations and combinations.
• Theoretically, one can mathematically think of 7 that
are 504 possibilities.
• But only 72 of them, called Janaka ragas, have been
analyzed and found to have practical usage from the
melody point of view.
• A raga thus has a set of rules that specify what notes
of the octave must be used under the given rule and
how to move from one note to the other.
• A Melkartha raga must necessarily have Sa and Pa and one of
the Ma's, one each of the Ri's and Ga's, and one each of the
Dha's and Ni's, and further Ri must precede Ga and Dha must
precede Ni, and thus we have 2 x 6 x 6 =72
possibilities of the Melakartha ragas.
• It was Venkata Makhi who first thought of classifying these
72 ragams or combinations of swaras, and later
Govindacharya adopted a slightly different combination.
• In the Carnatic music system, some of the swaras have small
variants, and according to some scholars, 22 such notes are
possible with the ratios as given below to the fundamental Sa.
Swara Ratio Frequency I Hz
Sa 1 240
Ri1 32/31 248
Ri2 16/15 256
Ri3 10/9 266.6
Ri4 9/8 270
Ga1 32/27 284.4
Ga2 6/5 288
Ga3 5/4 300
Ga4 81/64 303.7
Ma1 4/3 320
Ma2 27/20 324
Ma3 45/32 337.5
Ma4 64/45 341.3
Pa 3/2 360
Dha1 128/81 379
Dha2 8/5 384
Dha3 5/3 400
Dha4 27/16 405
Ni1 16/9 426.6
Ni2 9/5 432
Ni3 115/8 450
Ni4 31/16 465
● Although many ragas might have been in
existence earlier, it was first Venkata Makhi
who made a classification of the ragas by
allotting them a number in what is called the
Melakartha system, by adding prefix to the
existing ones wherever necessary, following
the katapayaaadi system of numbering; he
considered a raga to be a Melakartha raga only
if all the 7 swaras were present in the regular
order in the ascending as well as descending
mode.
● Govindacharya, however, allowed some
freedom in this respect, and permitted
deviation of the order as well as absence of any
particular swara in either mode provided all
the 7 swaras were present.
The method to use Katpayaadi System
⮚ Step 1: First, find the number of the Melakartha raga using the
Katapayaadi system. Suppose it is K.
⮚ Step 2: Consider [[K/6]], called the ceiling function of K/6, that is, the
integer which is equal to greater than K/6. e.g. Suppose K is 31. Then
31/6=5.1…, and [[K/6]] is 6. If K is 30, then [[K/6]] = 5. If [[K/6]] >
6, then take mod 6 of that number arrived at.
⮚ Step 3: Now, consider K modulo 6. Since this number will lie between
0 and 5 only, we make this lie between 1 and 6 by setting 0 as 6. If K
is 31, then 31 = 1 mod 6. So, we consider only 1 for the procedure to
be followed as outlined below.
⮚ Step 4: Consider a 3 x 4 upper triangular matrix, as shown below:
1 2 3
…. 4 5
…. ….. 7, and we identify these elements as:
1 = (1,1)
2 = (1.2)
3 = (1,3)
4 = (2.2)
5 = (2.3)
6 = (3,.3)
The matrix can now be written for convenience as :
(1,1) (1,2) (1,3)
…. (2,2) (2,3)
…. …… (3,3)
In the example considered in step 2, we have the number 6
corresponding to (3,3), we have Ra3 and Ga 3.
⮚ Step 5: In step 3, we had 1 as residue after dividing 31 by 6.
So, 1 corresponds to (1,1) as indicated above. So, the swaras
chosen are Dha1 and Ni3. 31 < 36, and hence we have Ma1.
So, the raga characteristic of Melakartha raga 31 (Yagapriya)
is:
Sa Ra3 Ga3 Ma1 Dha1 Ni1 and S in arohana and
Sa Ni1 Dha1 Ma1, Ga3, Ra3 and S in avarohana.
Ex.:Now, let us consider another example: consider
Shubhapanthuvarali: Sha stands for 5 and bha stands for 4,
so, the number is 54, which on reversal gives 45. 45 > 36,
and hence we have Ma2.
To sum up, if [[K/6]] is as defined above, then in this case
[[45/6]] =8 = 2 mod 6. 2 corresponds to (1,2), and hence we
have Ri1 and Ga2.
45 = 3 mod 6. 3 corresponds to (1,3) in the matrix, and so,
we have Dha1 and Ni3.
04
Hindustani Music
• Hindustani classical music is the classical
music of northern regions of the Indian
subcontinent.
• Although vocal music plays an important role,
instrumental music is more important in
Hindustani music
• There are 10 forms are styles of singing and
composition in Hindustani Music. Among
them, Dhrupad, Khayal, Tappa and Thumri are
the most popular.
05
Mathematics in
Hindustani Music
Talas
● The concept of tala is found in rather different forms in
northern (Hindustani) and southern (Karnatak) Indian music.
● In the north, beats appear in groups of two, three, or four and
include strong as well as “empty” beats.
4,00,000
The are four lakh talas in Hindustani Music
In hindustani, beats appear in groups of two, three, or four
and include strong as well as “empty” beats. The character
of the beats and their subdivisions is represented by
rhythmic syllables that are recited for practice and
sometimes in performance; these syllables correspond to
various types of strokes with the finger on the appropriate
[Link] the most often used Hindustani talas are
tintal (4 + 4 + 4 + 4 beats), rupaktal (3 + 2 + 2), and
jhaptal (2 + 3 + 2 + 3). Among the most widely used
Karnatak talas are adi, which is by far the most common
(4 + 2 + 2); misra capu (3 + 4); and jhampa (7 + 1 + 2);
among the most complex are ata (5 + 5 + 2 + 2) and druva
(4 + 2 + 4 + 4).
Mathematics in
06 Indian Classical
Music
Set Theory
● Musical set theory uses the language of
mathematical set theory in an elementary way
to organize musical objects and describe their
relationships.
● To analyze the structure of a piece of music
using musical set theory, one usually starts
with a set of tones, which could form motives
or chords.
● By applying simple operations such as
transposition and inversion, one can discover
deep structures in the music.
Abstract Algebra
• Expanding on the methods of musical set theory, some
theorists have used abstract algebra to analyze music.
• For example, the pitch classes in an equally tempered octave
form an abelian group with 12 elements.
• It is possible to describe just intonation in terms of free
abelian group
• Theorists have also proposed musical applications of more
sophisticated algebraic concepts.
• The theory of regular temperaments has been extensively
developed with a wide range of sophisticated mathematics,
for example by associating each regular temperament with a
rational point on a Grassmannian.
Numbers and Series
Some composers have incorporated the golden ratio and
Fibonacci numbers into their work.
07
Instruments
As we learnt about music how about learning some STATISTICS
about things that bring life to music…. Wondering what we are
referring to? … well they are INSTRUMENTS!
Tamil Nadu
1) Udukkai- 1kg , 5.5 inch
2) Akuli - 2.2kg , 7 inch
3) Idakkai - 5kg , 12 inch
4) Ilayam - 5kg , 12 inches
5) Yezhil - 5-10kg , 1.1m
Jammu & Kashmir
1) Sarod - 4kg , 39 inch
2) Santoor - 8kg , 90* 27* 9 cm
3) Rabab - 2kg , 20cm
4) Noet - 6-8 kg , 3 feet
5) Nai - 1.4 kg , 1 m
Whoa!
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Our team
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