“You don’t think about it as much like you just do it”: how two music students use and conceptualize their use of mathematics while playing music

This observational study with interviews examines the ways in which two music students perceive to use and are observed to use mathematical concepts while learning to play music. Students were initially found to have not realized that they were using math to play music, but upon further questioning, identified mathematical concepts familiar to them that they used subconsciously. This study coins the framework “Mathematical Knowledge for Music” to describe four mathematical concepts used by students to play music: modular arithmetic, referent units, formulas, and permutation. These findings can be used by educators to inform authentic interdisciplinary math and music instruction.