Executive Summary

The Science of Music module (IL016) aims to introduce students (in all subject areas and with any level of musical, mathematical or scientific expertise) to the relationships between science, music and mathematics. The addition of live demonstrations within the module will promote a better understanding of the topics being studied and will encourage active participation by the students, while the attendance of a live performance will enhance the students' understanding of music in the environment, and appreciation of the cultural diversity of music.

In particular, the performance chosen, 'Yorkston Thorne Khan' shows a collaborative group using guitar, sarangi, double bass and vocals, which demonstrate some of the aspects taught in the module such as string pitch and resonance. It is expected that this experimental performance will inspire the students in their own performance/presentation assessment.

The students should gain a more thorough knowledge of both the human voice and how construction of a string instrument affects its timbre, through practical demonstrations of each, and how these are placed in a modem setting.

By attending a live performance, the students should gain a broader understanding of how instruments and the human voice are perceived, with reference to the acoustic environment. The performance should enhance the students' cultural awareness of different instruments, and how musical collaboration can work together. The social side of attending a concert should also help bring together students from different disciplines, which will be of benefit for peer assessment work.