Fractions and Music Production at UAI

14 Dec 2011, 10:34 AM by keith

At The Urban Assembly Institute of Math & Science for Young Women (UAI) in Brooklyn, 11th graders have been working with teaching artist Jules Gimbrone on digital music projects that integrate into their math curriculum.  Working alongside teacher Mr. Mike, the girls have been exploring using Garage Band to create original compositions that connect to various math concepts.  Their first project focused on students creating musical word problems, and now students have moved on to creating individual compositions that use beats and measures in relation to fractions.  Using the grid system in Garage Band, the girls are making musical patterns that fulfill specific criteria.  Their short individual pieces will be sequenced into longer compositions, and then students will create physical movements to accompany their parts.

"Since we need to create a new beat, I’m starting with a steady bass.  I’m figuring out what instruments to use and make the sounds match up with the metronome.  In another project, we made lyrics that related to math.  It was challenging to not just write about anything, but to make it about fractions.  The project is cool, but it’s challenging, which is good for us.  I would rather do math this way than just sit in class and write.” – Kenya, 11th grade

 “I like that if you don’t like something, you can work on it and make it into something different.  I want my track to have a little beat and then soothing sounds to go with it.  This is a good way to learn about math because it give you a different view on things.” – Regine, 11th grade