Music is math that you can dance to. The fact that certain notes sound good when played together, or in succession, is related to the mathematical properties of the frequencies to which they correspond, an idea that goes back as far as Pythagoras himself. These days we have a much more intricate understanding of these relationships and how to manipulate them. I talk to composer and music theorist Dmitri Tymoczko about how different musical scales are constructed and the math underlying what sounds good.

Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2025/10/20/332-dmitri-tymoczko-on-the-mathematics-behind-music/

Support Mindscape on Patreon.

Dmitri Tymoczko received a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently a professor of music at Princeton University as well as a composer and performer. He has been the recipient of Rhodes and Guggenheim fellowships. As a composer, his works have been performed by multiple groups, and recorded on several albums.

Personal web site
Princeton web page
Mad Musical Science
Spiral diagrams: rock music, classical music
Google Scholar publications
Amazon author page
Wikipedia
William Sethares's Tuning Timbre Spectrum Scale

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Will Trade War Go Nuclear? What's Next After Latest Escalations | Juan Cole

The David Lin Report

Israel Arming Gaza Gangs and Local Chaos

The AI-powered Podcast Player