Teaching Music with Mathematics: A Pilot Study

Abstract

We detail a recently conducted teaching intervention involving the use of mathematics and associated software to teach rhythm and meter to Year 9 pupils. This intervention served as a feasibility and pilot study within a broader project related to the mutual teaching of mathematics and music. Causal conclusions cannot be made due to the lack of a control group, but questionnaires show that 81% of the pupils found interacting with software helped them to understand and visualize mathematical theories of rhythm and meter, and the same percentage think that mathematics and music are related. The two teachers who delivered the program enjoyed the experience and felt the software was beneficial.