Methods of composition Fibonacci style.
There are three types of methods to compose Fibonacci music, which are the Binary Method, Number Method, and Beat Ratio Method.
- When using the Binary Method,
- a composer will create a piece consisting of a pattern that follows a 0 and 1 system.
- For example, a composer will choose the length of their smallest 0 and 1. ex. 0 = a 32nd note, 1 = a 16th note.
- As the piece progresses so do the length of the notes.
- The Note to Number method
- involves creating a rhythm or melody by assigning a note to a number on the Fibonacci Sequence through Modular Arithmetic.
- The composer would only need to plug-in notes to their designated number and arrange note lengths at their discretion, thus resulting in a new rhythm or melody that would sound pleasing to the human ear, so long as the Fibonacci pattern is followed.
- The Beat Ratio Method
- involves the use of beats within a musical time frame in order to achieve a golden ratio hierarchy through the Fibonacci Sequence.
- For example, one may chose to use "4/4 time", meaning 4 beats per measure, to compose their piece. In relation to the length of a note or "beat" an individual may have:
- 1 whole note per measure
- 2 half notes per measure
- 4 quarter notes per measure
- 8 eighth notes per measure
- 16 sixteenth notes per measure
- 32 thirty-second notes per measure
- 64 sixty-fourth notes per measure
Surprisingly, It has been said that Mozart used the Fibonacci Sequence in some of his works.
- The scribbling of mathematical equations have been found on the side columns of his compositions.
- Many believe this was the Fibonacci Sequence at work. Sonata No. 1 in C Major is the composer's most associated composition to Fibonacci numbers.