Music, Math, and Fun

The IBM funded program, "Music as a Motivator for Math and Science," in 
association with the Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the 
Bronx Technical Assistance Center, New York Public Schools, is using 
electronic music to recreate something of the scientist's world at a level 
that junior high/intermediate students can understand and find fun.  The 
program combines computers with digital sound synthesizers to represent 
today's popular music.

Students in grades 7 through 9 who are two or more years behind in math 
and/or reading, and who have shown little prior interest in math and 
science will learn basic concepts of music, math, and science.  The 
program is aimed at motivating students towards learning by enhancing 
their self-esteem and confidence as successful learners, mastering 
computer technology and basic musical "composition."

Using MIDI technology, students will use the computer to produce rhythms, 
tonal music, complex harmonic and melodic constructions, and new 
instrumental voices.  The evident interest of this age group in music and 
technology will thus serve as a springboard for their learning of implicit 
mathematical topics (time, fractions, representations of data) computer 
themes (the keyboard, applications and files, databases, interfaces, 
networks), and science themes (signals, limits of perception, wave 
structure, etc.).

For information on Music as a Motivator for Math and Science, contact:
The Fund for New York City Public Education
96 Morton Street, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10014
(212) 645-5110
.