What is music, really? Pythagoras, Aristotle, Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo Galilei all studied sound and music and none of them are noted for their musical ability.

This week on the BBC Knowledge Science Club, Dara and his team of experts explore the science behind music. Dara asks the question ‘What is music really?’ and takes us back in time to look how music was traditionally defined and distributed. Professor Trevor Cox discusses the evolution of music and Alexandra Lamont talks about the psychology behind music.

Jam-packed with special guests; James May from Top Gear will be exploring how music is inextricably linked to our emotions and British singer, composer and song writer Imogen Heap will be performing live.

Materials scientist Mark Miodownik takes apart a Fender Telecaster and takes us through a crash course of how guitars are made and the history behind the pieces.  Don’t worry guitar lovers! Mark put the telecaster back together once he was finished.

Check out these beauties- The Telecaster, played by Keith Richards; The Les Paul, played by Jimmy Page; The Stratcaster, played by Jimmy Hendricks and The flying V, played by Nigel Tafnel.

Check out these beauties- The Telecaster, played by Keith Richards; The Les Paul, played by Jimmy Page; The Stratcaster, played by Jimmy Hendricks and The flying V, played by Nigel Tafnel.

Do you think you’re a music buff? We have another weekly giveaway with our friends at the BBC. Up for grabs is a BBC Knowledge bag, pen and CSIRO Publishing’s book Probing the New Solar System.

Unscramble the dates, creators and musical devices in this image and send your answer in to socialmedia(at)csiro.au by 5pm next Monday 1 April.

competition

And here is a sneak peek into what’s coming up this Sunday…


Tune in this Sunday at 8.40pm on BBC Knowledge, Channel 612 – Only on Foxtel.