Are all great musicians good at physics?

[tarekatpf]

A lot of physicists were good at music. A lot of musicians were good at physics ( for example, the pink floyd guys who went to architecture school. One beatles member wanted to be an engineer, another was good at mechanics. )

Does this mean all great musicians were good at physics, too?

Can you name some great musicians who were known to be not good at physics?

I am worried about it, because music is the most important thing in my life, but I am not good at physics. Does that mean my brain is hardwired to make me not do good in music?

 

[DiracPool]

Does this mean all great musicians were good at physics, too?

Great question, tare, and welcome to PF First of all, to be a good scientist, try to avoid using the word "all" unless you really mean it. So your answer is no. But there is a connection there. Of course, two examples you missed were Einstein and his violin, and Brian May from Queen, who actually published a book recently.

I'll give you my personal opinion here, and this is just my personal opinion, as I am not a physicist, I'm a neurobiologist and a musician. But's that's where I think I can add to the discussion. I've found that there are 2 types of musicians, left brain and right brain. The left brain type are the technically proficient. These are usually the studio musician type. The other are more the right brain type. These are the type's of jokers that stink technically, but somehow can pull a great song out of nowhere. Most mathematicians and physicists are left brain leaning thinkers in my experience, so it's not surprising that these are the more technically proficient instrumentalists. I don't know about their songwriting, though.

 

[leroyjenkens]

To be good at physics, you need to sit down and study it a lot. How many great musicians have not taken the time to sit down and study physics a lot? Probably millions.

 

[tarekatpf]

Great question, tare, and welcome to PF First of all, to be a good scientist, try to avoid using the word "all" unless you really mean it. So your answer is no. But there is a connection there. Of course, two examples you missed were Einstein and his violin, and Brian May from Queen, who actually published a book recently.

I'll give you my personal opinion here, and this is just my personal opinion, as I am not a physicist, I'm a neurobiologist and a musician. But's that's where I think I can add to the discussion. I've found that there are 2 types of musicians, left brain and right brain. The left brain type are the technically proficient. These are usually the studio musician type. The other are more the right brain type. These are the type's of jokers that stink technically, but somehow can pull a great song out of nowhere. Most mathematicians and physicists are left brain leaning thinkers in my experience, so it's not surprising that these are the more technically proficient instrumentalists. I don't know about their songwriting, though.

Thank you very much for your reply. And yes, it's my first post on PF. And thanks for noticing it.About the examples I gave. I actually mentioned some musicians who were also good at physics. I have read about a lot of physicists who were good at music, including of course Einstein, but my concern was not whether ''all physicists are good at music'', because I know a lot of people who are good at physics but not good at music. My concern was whether ''all musicians are good at physics'', because if that's so, then to do well in music, I have to be good at physics, too.

And about my using the word ''all.'' I know generalization is not a great thing to do when you talk about science with limited data at your hand. That's why I needed some examples of great musicians who were ''known to be NOT good at physics.''

 

[tarekatpf]

To be good at physics, you need to sit down and study it a lot. How many great musicians have not taken the time to sit down and study physics a lot? Probably millions.

That's true, probably.

But I wonder whether they could think about how the world works like physicists, too.

 

[DiracPool]

My concern was whether ''all musicians are good at physics'', because if that's so, then to do well in music, I have to be good at physics, too.

That's what we in the biz call a non-sequitor. Why would you think that?

 

[tarekatpf]

Great question, tare, and welcome to PF First of all, to be a good scientist, try to avoid using the word "all" unless you really mean it. So your answer is no. But there is a connection there. Of course, two examples you missed were Einstein and his violin, and Brian May from Queen, who actually published a book recently.

I'll give you my personal opinion here, and this is just my personal opinion, as I am not a physicist, I'm a neurobiologist and a musician. But's that's where I think I can add to the discussion. I've found that there are 2 types of musicians, left brain and right brain. The left brain type are the technically proficient. These are usually the studio musician type. The other are more the right brain type. These are the type's of jokers that stink technically, but somehow can pull a great song out of nowhere. Most mathematicians and physicists are left brain leaning thinkers in my experience, so it's not surprising that these are the more technically proficient instrumentalists. I don't know about their songwriting, though.

And about my using the word ''all.'' I know generalization is not a great thing to do when you talk about science with limited data at your hand. That's why I needed some examples of great musicians who were ''known to be NOT good at physics.''

 

[tarekatpf]

That's what we in the biz call a non-sequitor. Why would you think that?

The reason is a little complicated. Can I send you a personal message on that?

 

[Number Nine]

I'd be hard pressed to name more than one or two musicians that have studied physics at all. What a bizarre question.

 

[marcusl]

A lot of musicians were good at physics ( for example, the pink floyd guys who went to architecture school. One beatles member wanted to be an engineer, another was good at mechanics. )

None of them were physicists, nor do the fields you cite equate to physics.

As for anecdotal observation, I am a physicist and played in the symphony orchestra in college. Most of the orchestra members, and all of the ones who went on to professional careers, were highly allergic to physics.

 

[tarekatpf]

None of them were physicists, nor do the fields you cite equate to physics.

As for anecdotal observation, I am a physicist and played in the symphony orchestra in college. Most of the orchestra members, and all of the ones who went on to professional careers, were highly allergic to physics.

Thank you very much. This is exactly what I needed.

 

[BobG]

Many musicians have an aptitude for math.

The physics probably has little to do with it, except math is an even stronger requirement to be good at physics.

 

[Adyssa]

I found out recently that Gerald Donald of seminal Detroit techno outfit Drexciya, is a physicist! :)



He's written some very thoughtful electronic music over the years. :)

 

[TorqueDork]

I know this is a Necro...and irrelevent.

Just thought I would say Richard Feynman played a mean bongo.

 

[DeIdeal]

Spoiler

 

[zoobyshoe]

Just thought I would say Richard Feynman played a mean bongo.

He knows. He wants to know if Leonard Bernstein could draw a mean Feynman diagram.

 

[atyy]

He knows. He wants to know if Leonard Bernstein could draw a mean Feynman diagram.

Bernstein explains eigenfunctions of the wave equation as a basis set at around 31 minutes of http://www.openculture.com/2012/03/leonard_bernsteins_masterful_lectures_on_music.html

Then he gives an experimental demonstration of the theoretical physics at 33:30.

 

[1MileCrash]

Spoiler

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Bernstein explains eigenfunctions of the wave equation as a basis set at around 31 minutes of http://www.openculture.com/2012/03/leonard_bernsteins_masterful_lectures_on_music.html

Then he gives an experimental demonstration of the theoretical physics at 33:30.

There you go. He must say, "...the laws of physics..." about 20 times there!

 

[Aero51]

I am very good at science and math but I am an absolutely terrible musician. However, I am an excellent writer and speaker.

 

[QuantumCurt]

All? No...but rarely will there be an absolute in any situation.

Is it fairly common? Somewhat. In my experience, a good portion of people in virtually any scientific field tend to be at least somewhat musically inclined. I've been playing guitar for about 15 years myself, and while I'm not about to take the world of music by storm, I am a pretty decent guitarist. I've met plenty of other science majors that are also quite adept at playing music. I think the mathematical nature of music correlates quite well with the mathematical nature of a lot of science, particularly with math and physics. A great deal of music theory can be explained mathematically, and many aspects of that would likely be absorbed more completely by someone that is already mathematically inclined.

Does it work the other way? That, I don't know. Most musicians I know hardly even know what physics is, but they can play the crap out of their instruments.

 

[atyy]

Does one need mathematics to be good at physics? Nowadays professionally yes, but if we are asking for physics sense, shouldn't one allow Faraday to still be a great physicist?

 

[tarekatpf]

Most musicians I know hardly even know what physics is, but they can play the crap out of their instruments.

Thanks for your great reply.

Can you name any ''great musicians'' who were NOT good at physics or did not like physics or mechanical stuff or school at all?

 

[tarekatpf]

Many musicians have an aptitude for math.

The physics probably has little to do with it, except math is an even stronger requirement to be good at physics.

Thanks. I wanted a specific example though. I wanted names of some great musicians who are documented as NOT HAVE BEEN good at physics.

PS: Sorry for being so late to reply. I was dead busy with exams and stuff.

 

[tarekatpf]

None of them were physicists, nor do the fields you cite equate to physics.

As for anecdotal observation, I am a physicist and played in the symphony orchestra in college. Most of the orchestra members, and all of the ones who went on to professional careers, were highly allergic to physics.

I think physics is very much essential in the field of architecture. Well, I may be wrong.

Do you think the ones who were ''highly allergic'' to physics were better at music than those who were not?

PS: Sorry for being so late to reply. I was dead busy with exams and stuff.

 

[tarekatpf]

Spoiler

Hahaha

 

[turbo]

I had a next-door neighbor (physicist) that was a music aficionado. He was not a musician, but he had had every piece of vinyl that Hendrix, Dylan, and Miles Davis ever pressed and they were on constant rotation in his room. He was also the late-night operator of the campus radio station. One time he got suspended for a few days when a caller wanted a deep cut and he said he'd do it if the caller brought us a pepperoni pizza. At least we got a pizza.

He used to come over to my room when I played guitar - entertaining, I guess, but performing was not his thing. It helped me pay my way through college.

 

[tarekatpf]

I had a next-door neighbor (physicist) that was a music aficionado. He was not a musician, but he had had every piece of vinyl that Hendrix, Dylan, and Miles Davis ever pressed and they were on constant rotation in his room. He was also the late-night operator of the campus radio station. One time he got suspended for a few days when a caller wanted a deep cut and he said he'd do it if the caller brought us a pepperoni pizza. At least we got a pizza.

He used to come over to my room when I played guitar - entertaining, I guess, but performing was not his thing. It helped me pay my way through college.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

What I need though is information about some musician who was NOT good at physics. That would prove the assumption ''are all great musicians good at physics?'' wrong.

 

[Hornbein]

All the good musicians I know have no science aptitude.

James Williamson of the Stooges became an electrical engineer. It saved him from heroin addiction.

 

[Hornbein]

Einstein was a klutz on the violin

Eyewitnesses from Switzerland said he was an excellent player, good enough to turn pro. In later years he slacked off and took up the piano.