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Sequences-Part 3

by Matt Raum

I had planned to move on to arpeggios, but I've decided to spend at least one more issue discussing sequences. I'll try to better explain the idea I introduced last time: that sequences are a mathematical idea as much as a musical one.

Some of you may have understood the concept and missed the relevance. The idea is that a musical phrase that sounds good to our ears sounds good for a reason, just as a building that stands for centuries stands for a reason. That musical idea which is based on symmetry, repitition, and balance, will sound logical and orderly to our ears. That structure which is built plumb and level, with right angles and uniform dimensions throughout, will last longer than a structure built with whatever materials are at hand and without consistent standards.

So, too, is art governed by math: numbers and shapes. Leonardo DaVinci and Salvador Dali are said to have consciously employed the number phi (1.618...), the Golden Ratio, in their art. M.C. Escher said,"I often seem to have more in common with mathematicians than with my fellow artists."

Surely, music is the most scientific of all the arts and math is no more evident in the music of J.S. Bach than it is in the music of Fats Waller or in the music of Jesse McReynolds.

Here's a couple more complicated sequences that I've invented. It is a great exercise to compose your own sequences. Be sure they follow some consistent logic.

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Matt started playing guitar at age eleven and was first interested in old time blues. The blues led to the Allman Brothers which led to the Grateful Dead which led to the David Grisman Quintet which led to Matt switching from guitar to mandolin. In June of 2000 he moved from North Dakota to Nashville. He has since won the Tennessee state mandolin championship in Clarksville and twice placed third at Winfield. He has played with the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, the Hot Club of Nashville, Roni Stoneman, and various local bluegrass and country bands. His first book for MelBay, Mandolin Technique Studies, was released in September of 2004 and a follow up book is in the works.