As many of you may know, Pi Day is fast approaching. Pi Day is the day we celebrate the ratio of the circumference of a banjo* head to its diameter. It’s a day for math geeks and musicians to celebrate. Some of you may think this is an irrational thing to celebrate, and you’re right. But just think about it a bit – i.e., do a little “transcendental” meditation – and I’m sure you’ll see it’s a good excuse for a party.
In honor of Pi Day this year, I decided to write a tune inspired by pi. Here’s my first attempt, in abc notation. To get a copy in ordinary musical notation, or to hear a MIDI version (warning: MIDI from sheet music is always rather wooden), you can copy everything between but not including the dashed lines below, go to the abc converter at http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html and paste it into the box and click “submit.” It will give a gif image of the sheet music, and there will be places to click to hear a midi file or to get a PDF copy of the dots.
X:1
T: Pi 111 (a Pi Day Waltz)
C: “HDSarah”
M:3/4
L:1/4
K:G
B G c| G/d/a2 |A/e/ d B|d3/g/ a|faB|A/B/ g c|eAe|c2B|
BgB/A/|f/a/ d b|A/g/ gc|G/a/f G|e a/B/a| a2 B|f d2|G2 z||
||bdg|A/b/ af|c/a/c c/d/|aA2|B/b/f g|G/e/c b|e A/g/ e|A/b/ g2|
a a/g/e|A/g/b B|c/g/A d/B/|c A/G/ G/f/|bef|a g A/G/|c/g/ b/g/ e/d/|G2 z||
It’s a rather odd melody, but if you’re even a little bit geeky you’ll see the constraint I had to work with.
So, here’s the challenge: Write a Pi Day tune, using whatever rules you choose to follow, and share it with us here. Then on 3/14 at 15:92:65 (this simplifies to March 14, 4:33:05 p.m.), play your favorite of the pi tunes to celebrate pi day. And eat some pie, and have your banjo*-playing friends join you.
*You can substitute “bodhran” for “banjo” if you prefer.
The ABC format was not really intended
to be read directly. It was supposed to
be a way to share sheet music on the
Intertubes w/o passing big graphics files
around.
I coach a MathCounts* team and every year I make square pumpkin pies for them the week before Thanksgiving. When the pies come out of the oven, I cut a Greek letter “pi” into the top, which widens as it cools. We eat pie, ponder the eternal question of “Why is it that pie are squared only when the pies are round?” and do a lesson on area, volume, and surface area.
*MathCounts is a national program for grades 6 through 8. Extracurricular clubs in schools meet regularly for math enrichment (and FOOD – an essential part of the program!), and then compete in local, state, and national competitions.
P.S. I love the Raven poem! I hadn’t ever seen that before. I’ll share it with my pi-loving friends. Thanks!
It’s “Pi 111” because I used the first 111 digits in the decimal expansion of pi.
It’s in G because we sometimes refer to G as “God’s key” and I thought that was appropriate for something as cosmic as pi. D would probably have been a better choice for the whistle board, though, because it doesn’t ever go below the “1” of the scale. (I made the “0” digits be the tenth note of the scale.)
How do you make your square pies?
I ordered a square springform pan,
but it hasn’t been delivered yet. So
I was thinking of using a regular 9x9
baking pan. But I’m not sure how to
safely remove the pie. Maybe some
parchment paper under the crust
that I can use to sort of lift the pie
out?
I serve round pies in the pie pan and lift individual slices out as I serve, so I don’t feel any need to lift my square pies out of the pan before serving either. I just use ordinary square baking pans: I have an old 8"x8" pan that was my grandmother’s, and a newer 8"x8", and a 9"x9". It’s a bit more of a challenge to fit the pie crust dough into square rather than round pans due to the corners, but it isn’t too hard.
If you want to lift the whole pie out, I’d recommend using a recipe for a “tart shell” instead of ordinary pie crust. The tart shells are stronger and less likely to fall apart.
The different size pans are good for my MathCounts team: I ask them questions like “If I cut the 8"x8” pie into 8 pieces, how many pieces should I cut the 9"x9" pie into if I want all the pieces to contain about the same amount of pie?" (The pies are the same thickness.)
But just think about it a bit – i.e., do a little “transcendental” meditation 
– and I’m sure you’ll see it’s a good excuse for a party.
