To introduce our mathematics unit of NUMBER THEORY, we explored how “theory” is used in art and music.
Starting with art, theoretically, students know that, if they want to make a painting or drawing that has a warm feeling, they will choose shades of red, orange, and yellow. If they want to make drawings that have a cool feeling, they would choose shades of blue, green, and purple. Color Theory gives artists power in creating great artwork.
Moving to music, students were asked to pick three to four chords to make a song, and I played them on my guitar. (major or minor: C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, Gb, G, Ab, A, Bb, B,) Most students have little knowledge of which chords work together well. We then used a music wheel, a Music Theory tool, and our songs instantly sounded better. Music Theory gives musicians power to write songs. 
If you want to try this yourself, pick a chord. The chords that will work well together are those that are next to it on the wheel. For example, if you choose chord A then chords D and E will sound good. On the wheel above, you could also include the minor chords written in blue. Once again using chord A, in addition to using D and E, you could also use F#min, Bmin, and C#min. Try it out using this online groove builder: http://www.wholenote.com/Default.asp (then select “Groove Builder”). Tip: try changing the style, tempo, and sound. Also select “forever” on the loop option.
Just as color theory and music theory gives us power, Number Theory gives us power to solve mathematical problems.
Engineers at Work »« Number Theory Mini-Lessons
Hosted by 
