Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 2, “Math & Music” (7th-8th)
Today’s Math and Music class dove deep into the world of copyright. We began by discussing what makes a work qualify as copyright infringement versus simply drawing inspiration from another artist’s creation. The conversation sparked some lively debate as students explored how originality and influence intersect in music. Some students argued that if it sounded similar enough, that would be copyright infringement! Some said that the only way to definitively know it is copyright infringement is if the lyrics are identical. To make it interactive, we played a quiz game where students guessed whether pairs of songs had gone to court and were ruled guilty of infringement. I encourage you to ask your student about the verdicts and whether or not they agreed! We specifically talked about the following pairs:
* Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me” and Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down”
* Olivia Rodrigo’s “Deja Vu” and Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer”
* Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” and Paramore’s “Misery Business”
* Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Spirit’s “Taurus”
* The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen”
Students then used well-known songs like “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” to test their ability to walk the fine line between recognizable inspiration and avoiding copyright infringement. They created pieces that the class could recognize as a familiar tune. Then the class voted on whether it was copyright infringement or not. It was interesting to see how students applied their abstract ideas about copyright to real-world examples while refining their understanding of both music and law. They were quite passionate about passing the copyright test! This even led to a discussion about AI-generated music and its implications. Many of your students had some solid ideas about how to handle copyright infringement by AI or AI’s ability to own copyrights.
We then shifted focus to fractions, which are very closely tied to music. We reviewed how to add and subtract fractions, then moved on to multiplying and dividing them. Students practiced solving equations with variables that included fractions and worked on simplifying large fractions. To push their thinking further, students were then thrown into the deep end with an “around the class” practice activity featuring challenging practice problems. Problems focused on solving equations with fractions were posted around the room, and they worked with partners to solve all the problems. The problems took basic fraction skills and basic equation-solving skills and applied them in new ways. I hope that students come away with questions and an interest in learning more about how to solve fractional equations!
Tomorrow, we will connect fractions to music by exploring how fractions relate to time signatures, which dictate rhythm and beat in musical compositions. We will discuss how understanding fractions helps make sense of how music is structured and performed.
Today, we learned how to play both the Boomwhackers and the recorder. Students have three more days to practice playing the recorder before I send them home (so rest assured, your eardrums are safe for now!). We learned about the proper embouchure and airstream, and many of our woodwind players got to show off their knowledge. Ultimately, we will use all these instruments that we are experimenting with to compose a piece featuring mathematical concepts (more to come on that later in the week!). I can’t wait to continue working with your inventive and insightful students tomorrow.
—Ms. Kendall
Today’s Discussion Questions:
- How do I define copyright? What is the difference between copyright and inspiration? How does AI fit into all of this? Should AI-generated music have a copyright? Can it be copyright infringement?
- How do fractions show up in music? How does my mathematical understanding of how fractions work influence my ability to write, play, or listen to music?
Today’s Tunes:
Soak Up the Sun – Sheryl Crow
Dancing in the Moonlight – King Harvest
The Planets, Op. 32: IV. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity – Gustav Holst
Chiquitita – ABBA
Demons – Imagine Dragons
We Don’t Talk About Bruno – from Encanto
I Just Can’t Wait To Be King – from The Lion King