The Use of Cymatics: Changing Face of Music Teaching and Learning in Ghanaian Schools

Abstract

Functionally, Music and Science have a lot in common to offer humanity and are largely inseparable. However, very little attention is paid to an exploration that would expose music educators to the complementarity of music and science in their pedagogical approaches to music learning. The paper, therefore, focuses on the use of science in music to initiate innovation in music education through Cymatics. Using the experimental approach and Cymatic setup, the three main Ghanaian musical types and randomisation and five songs were selected from a collection of twenty songs based on the three musical types to generate cymatic figures which were induced by frequencies and amplitudes. It was observed that the figures created from the three Ghanaian musical types possessed some similarities, yet they uniquely stood out as a brand. It was also detected that melodies produced more figures than harmonised songs. The consumable sound levels (20 to 20000 Hz) were found to produce legible figures for use in other ventures. The study recommends that Music educators should record and use the generated frequencies and amplitudes for replication to aid comprehension in the teaching and learning process. Keywords: Cymatics, music teaching, science and music education