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McGill.CA / Music / Programs / Music Technology; M.A.

Thesis

In this section: Thesis criteria and deadlines.  For writing tips, visit Student Resources.

Thesis Criteria

The M.A. thesis demonstrates familiarity with previous work in the field and the ability to carry out research and organize results. It must be written in good literate style.

  • An exhaustive review of work in the particular field is not required, nor is original scholarship necessarily expected.

Length: Typically between 80-100 pages (excluding musical examples and other illustrations). It cannot exceed 150 pages in total, including all preliminary pages.

Thesis Evaluation Criteria

  1. Grasp of subject, powers of criticism and awareness of previous work.
  2. Resourcefulness, alertness to significance of findings.
  3. Diligence, care, technical skill in research.
  4. Organization of findings.
  5. Quality of presentation (coherence, lucidity, grammar, style, freedom from typographical errors).

Thesis Proposal Submission Deadline

Submit your thesis proposal form (PDF icon M.A./M.Mus. Thesis Proposal Form) to the Area, after approval by the supervisor, at any time.

Format of the Thesis Proposal

  • The thesis proposal should include the following sections (2 single-spaced pages, twelve-point font, 2 cm margins):
    • Introduction / Motivation
    • Previous Work
    • Proposed Research / Methodology
    • Contributions / Summary
  • References (1 single-spaced page, twelve-point font, 2 cm margins)

Evaluation of the Proposal

The proposal will be evaluated by all professors of the Area. Corrections and suggested revisions, if necessary, will be communicated to the candidate by each professor and this process may have several iterations, until the document is deemed acceptable. At that point, the Area Coordinator will sign the MA Thesis Proposal Form and the candidate will submit the form and proposal to the Music Graduate Studies Office (Graduatestudies.music [at] mcgill.ca).

Thesis Submission Timeline

Graduation date Initial submission Thesis evaluation semester Final submission deadline
May/June December 15 Winter April 15
Fall (October, November) April 15 Summer ĂŰĚŇ´«Ă˝app5
Winter (no convocation) ĂŰĚŇ´«Ă˝app5 Fall  December 15

Initial Submission Steps

Your supervisor may find some useful tips for selecting examiners onthe Graduate Supervision website.

  • At least two months before initial submission:

Students must submit their “Intent to Submit Thesis” through myThesis.

You will be asked to provide your thesis title, abstract, length of thesis and date of submission.
You will also be asked to nominate examiners (please discuss the examiners with your supervisor(s) prior to submitting the names). Once this is submitted, the request will be sent to your supervisor(s) and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in Music for approval. Then an invitation to the examiner will be sent through myThesis for the examiner to accept or decline. This whole approval process must be completed prior to your submission date.

Master’s students can access myThesis through the GPS website.Ěý Detailed guidelines and an instructional video are available on this page.

Verify MyProgress to ensure that all components of the program are complete or components of the program are marked as “Complete” or “In Progress”.

  • Day of submission:

Submit your thesis through the submission page on myThesis on the date submitted in your “Intent to Submit Thesis” form. Your supervisor(s) and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in Music will be advised of your submission and they will be asked to approve it.

Final Submission Steps

  1. Review the examiner's comments with your supervisor and make revisions if required. Consult the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) and the GPS website if the thesis has not been passed.
  2. Complete all required revisions and proof-reading.
  3. Submit online as per instructions by the date in the above table.
  4. Notify your supervisor that this has been completed.  Your supervisor will review and issue the final confirmation.
  5. Check out the convocation website for further details, and prepare to celebrate!

Colleagues' Tips for Surviving the Thesis Journey

  1. Begin talking about your thesis or paper topics as early as the first semester and develop a schedule for developing the idea and completing the research with your supervisor. For helpful hints on how to develop the schedule as you define your topic, visit the Graduate Supervision website.
  2. Begin using a bibliography such as endnotes or Zotero at the beginning of your research process.
  3. Take time for fun, nourishment and living life—each day, each week, each month!
  4. Assemble all software packages that your work will require at the outset (statistical or other analytical tools, notational, word processing, bibliography, illustration tools, etc.). Write a short “test” document and apply the McGill software package formatting to understand style implications and any potential challenges for your work (margins, fonts, headings, etc.). Visit the Graduate Studies website for troubleshooting tips.
  5. Review the Schulich School of Music Style Guide pertaining to style manuals and music. Keep a file tracking the style choices you make from the very beginning.
  6. Attend a concert, a movie, or some other live cultural event at least once a week.
  7. Collect written permission to use materials as soon as possible and track the progress of this process by assembling musical examples, illustrations, photographs, etc. in a separate folder.
  8. Use the talents of others to format musical examples as a major time-saver and to facilitate proof-reading.
  9. Attend the thesis defenses and lecture-recitals of your colleagues – enjoy in particular the wine!
  10. Share the results of your work in a variety of formal and informal settings. The more people you share with, academic and non-academic, musical, non-musical, the clearer the expression becomes!  You can find tips on the Graduate Supervision website.
  11. Draw on the resources of the whole Schulich School of Music Team, Library, and beyond.
  12. For other helpful hints, go to the Graduate Supervision website. Know that usually you are not the most effective proof-reader, that it takes much longer than you ever imagined and that, at least once, the computer, the electricity, the plumbing or some other critical disaster will occur at the most inopportune moment.

Other Resources

Tools for writing and research (including the Schulich School of Music style sheet)

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