Saratoga High senior discovers link between whale songs and human sonatas

"When Lucy Zhang first listened to recordings of humpback whale songs, she didn't expect to hear the makings of a symphony. But while playing the recordings, the Saratoga High School senior recognized music patterns she had encountered while practicing piano sonatas. Zhang listened to these recordings as part of collaboration with John Ryan, a senior research specialist studying ocean soundscapes at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and discovered structural similarities between whale songs and human sonatas."

"Three parts make up a sonata in human music: exposition, development and recapitulation. The exposition has a main theme that's repeated in the third section. So, the first section and the third section are very similar, and the second section is the developmentit's a little bit more unique, and flows by itself, Zhang said. The whale songs sections showed a similar pattern. Nestled between an introduction section and an ending, Zhang found a familiar pattern: exposition, development and recapitulation."

Lucy Zhang, a Saratoga High School senior, analyzed humpback whale song recordings and identified musical structures comparable to sonata form. The project involved collaboration with John Ryan, a senior research specialist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), who provided underwater microphone recordings from Monterey Bay. Zhang recognized distinct song sections analogous to exposition, development and recapitulation, with recurring themes and a unique middle section. The research originated from Zhang seeking real-world science experience, leveraged her piano training to detect patterns, and culminated in a presentation at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting in New Orleans.

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