MA Mathematics/Music

About this course

Mathematics and Music is an unusual combination that turns out to have deep connections. Music is a profoundly mathematical phenomenon: the physics of sound involves wave frequencies, harmonic series, and ratios; the structures of musical composition, from counterpoint and fugue to the twelve-tone row, have mathematical underpinnings that theorists have explored for centuries; and digital audio processing, music information retrieval, and the algorithmic generation of music are active areas of mathematical and computational research. Studying mathematics alongside music allows you to engage with both the rigorous abstract discipline and the creative and perceptual art form, and to discover the surprising ways in which they illuminate each other. At the University of Glasgow, this part-time programme allows you to develop both subjects across your studies, choosing from a wide variety of courses in the honours years to follow your own intellectual interests within both disciplines. The programme also connects to teaching through an ambassador scheme that gives students the chance to spend time in schools, experiencing teaching and developing workplace skills, which is a valuable addition for those considering education as a career. A year abroad is available, giving you the opportunity to study in another academic environment and to encounter both mathematics and music from a different perspective. Graduates of Mathematics and Music programmes develop a distinctive combination of analytical rigour and creative sensibility that opens doors across a very wide range of careers. Mathematics graduates are in strong demand in finance, data science, software engineering, and research. Music graduates work as performers, composers, educators, music technologists, and in the creative industries. Many graduates of this combination find that the breadth of their training makes them unusually adaptable, and some pursue postgraduate study in mathematics, music, or interdisciplinary fields that span both.

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