The correlation between music aptitude and mathematical achievements of students. A case study of six individual students from a High School in Johannesburg, South Africa

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2023 in the subject Musicology - Miscellaneous, grade: Distinction, University of Venda, course: PhD in Arts and Social Sciences, language: English, abstract: A gap existed in the literature focusing on research overall between music aptitude and mathematical achievement within a South African context. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of music aptitude on mathematical achievement and to evaluate the most appropriate instruments for measuring musical talents and juxtaposing them with mathematical achievement using Gordon's AMMA tool to establish the connection between musical acumen and mathematical achievement in randomly selected learners. This study presented data that is now available for use by other researchers. The researcher used exploratory designs to generalise, assess, and test qualitative exploratory results, and to see if they could be generalised to a sample and a population as outlined in this dissertation. This research was evaluated in both qualitative and quantitative phases. The researcher focussed on how students of different ages, gender, intelligence levels, and musical abilities reacted to the AMMA (music aptitude test). The researcher was intrigued to see that most of the music students in the secondary school could compose with ease without prior knowledge of composition thus demonstrating an excellent theoretical background, which was prevalent in his discussions with colleagues. Having studied the previous school curriculum, they were exposed to since their childhood in primary school, the researcher could not find any relevant material linked to composition, form, structure or even analysis. Conversations with colleagues in the mathematical department revealed that the same students were doing extremely well academically in their mathematical subjects. This raised further questions for the researcher; was this merely a coincidence or was this increase in academic achievement due to the impact of their music studies? Most parents in the community encouraged their children to attend private schools and went out of their way financially to provide for a good education reinforcing good will and intentions to foster a brighter future for these learners. For students to achieve excellent results, aptitude played a prominent role in their musical development.

Mario Maxwell Muller studied and completed a PhD in Philosophy (Arts, Social Sciences, and Education) at the University of Venda, South Africa). He has a triple master's degree, First Class (with Distinction) from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, London College of Music, West London University, United Kingdom, and the University of the People, USA (Whilst studying at the University of the People, he concluded research papers on his research outputs in consultation with his supervisors Prof Geoff Mapaya, and Prof Mashua from the University of Venda, Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Education). Mario has been teaching for twenty-three years in different leadership positions and has taught at prestigious schools in South Africa, England, Thailand, India, Mexico, and Gabon. He enjoys being a risktaker, principled and effective communicator, whilst serving as an Examiner for Music (HL & SL) for the International Baccalaureate programme. He is currently enrolled on the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) under the LSSE, UK and in partnership with Cambridge University, and Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom. Ensuring each child reaches their full potential through an IB curriculum is essential, through promoting inquiry-based learning, cooperative learning and collaboration for students to work together, with a strong emphasis on 'International Mindedness'.