A presentation by a 16 year old concerning the reason why music is what it is.

1. Why do humans like music?
A study of a strange phenomenon

2. What is music?
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Music is an arrangement of sounds which
produce continuous rhythmic patterns, often
containing melodies, harmonies and other
structures, which make the sounds into a
unified composition.
Music often provokes emotional responses, but
how it does this is more complex than simply
combining melodies and harmonies.

3. Distinguishing between Music and
Noise
The first sounds which most people consider to
be music would be lullabies sung by mothers to
their sleeping children. The thing which
distinguishes this from birdsong is that it is not
simply a biologically imprinted pattern which the
mother sings over and over, it's an
independently composed series of sounds,
each of which was picked by the mother and
sung at a specific tempo in a specific order.

4. On the Origins of Music
Music is thought to have emerged in human culture
with art, around 30 000 to 60 000 years ago in a
sudden development of human culture, or as
through an evolutionary process over
thousands of generations. There is conflict
between these theories as 30 000 years is too
short a period to significantly alter human
biology, however, music doesn't seem to be the
solution to any specific problem which may
have been faced prehistoric humans, although
there have been some suggestions, such as the
high “evolutionary cost” of music bringing
people together.

5. The Maths behind Music
Music, as in the actual notes, chords and
melodies, is based on mathematical patterns,
for example, notes an octave apart follow a
specific pattern. The higher note has double the
frequency of the lower, for example, Middle C
(261.63 Hz) and High C (523.25 Hz):

6. Other patterns based on frequency
Middle C (261.63 Hz) + Middle G (392.00 Hz):
Middle C +Middle E (329.63 Hz)+ Middle G:

7. Patterns which don't...
Middle C (261.63 Hz) and Middle F# (369.99 Hz):

8. The Frequency Patterns
These frequency patterns are how the various
keys are formed. By taking Middle C (261.63
Hz) and multiplying it by 3/2, we get 392.45 Hz,
which is roughly the frequency of G. Repeating
this gives 588.67 (D), 883.00 (A), 1324.50 (E),
1986.75 (B), 2980.13 (F#), 4470.19 (C#),
6705.29 (G#), 10057.94 (D#), 15086.90 (A#),
22930.36 (F). By this exercise we find the 12
note pattern which most western musical
instrument use.
Note: frequencies are inaccurate due to rounding errors.

9. The Appeal in Frequency Patterns
These patterns are relevant as all of music is
based on this idea of sounds which form
patterns. The appeal of these patterns is that
they cause anticipation, because we recognise
and try to predict (sometimes without realising
it) how it will come out in the end. This
anticipation causes the brain to release
dopamine, a chemical associated with the
pleasure centres of the brain.

10. To bring it back round...
As we have seen, music is a cultural phenomenon based
on mathematical principles, and both of these things
allow us to at least shed some light on the reason why
humans like music:
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Coinciding frequencies sound nice because they make
the ear drum resonate regularly.
These patterns could be recognised and easily picked
up by early humans, leading to social bonds growing
through shared tastes of music
Music acts as a “social glue” leading towards the
formation of society as we know it

11. … Why do Humans like Music?
No-one really knows.