Recent reports have charted a troubling decline in the number of young people learning to play musical instruments in schools. To find out what might bring them back into the practice room, young journalists from Childrens Express left school far behind in search of fresh ideas.
"It's probably dangerous to say this in your magazine, but I think children today are being sold short by pop music. It's so limited by comparison to, say the big band sounds we heard last night." Distinguished composer Anthony Hopkins was talking from his dressing room at last year's Schools Proms when he risked his assessment of the alternatives to traditional school musical fare. Larry Westland CBE, founder and executive director of Music for Youth, the organisation behind the event, was equally sceptical of other modern distractions. He remarked, "l don't imagine a child will go into a shop that sells Gameboys and cellos and say l want to play the cello. But you can go on playing a cello for years. You can get tired of a Gameboy in a matter of days."
Many of that night's new generation of performers, calming last minute nerves in the rabbit warren of rooms backstage at Londons Royal Albert Hall, agreed with them. Reporters Abeyna Jones and Mehrak Golestani, both 14, caught up with the JOHL Quartet from Nottingham and discovered that three of its members had ambitions for a career in the classical field. Sure, they listened to pop music in their spare time, but when it came to performing, only a more sophisticated piece by Christopher Heddington would do. "lt's really cool because you can get your teeth into it," said one. "It takes everyone by surprise," enthused another.
Though these teenagers were among over 1,500 Proms players, they are bucking the trend. Figures collated by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, show that since 1994, the proportion of children playing musical instruments has fallen from 45% to 41% and the number taking music lessons has dropped substantially.
New ways to learn
Birmingham-based Tamsin Snell, 23, whose only contact with formal learning these days is a course in teaching English as a foreign language. thought a number of factors might account for the downturn. Though she couldn't fault the music education she received when she was younger, she credited playing in seven-piece Indie band Novak with opening up new ways to learn.
When l started playing the recorder at the age of six like everyone else, I never thought I'd grow up playing all these different instruments, she explained, But joining the band gave me an opportunity to try things out. I already knew how to play the piano and the flute, and acquired an accordion, a squeezebox, a mouth organ and a baby piano as I went along. As this portfolio suggests, Novaks sound is not one you'll hear in your average school music department. Tamsin finds it difficult to describe: Its very layered, a very wide sound because there are lots of instruments. It doesn't tend to be verse-chorus-verse-chorus. There are lots of bits and bobs going on in there. It tends to be lo-fi and its definitely not mainstream.
Judging by her conception of the process, helping to craft something new and distinctive has proved liberating, even exhilarating. She said, When you're writing music, you've just got to let the music happen. I know that sounds really poncy, but its true. You know you might just want to write a song, but that can be too restricting. Working in an undirectional way is a good thing. It allows something unpredictable to come out.
Having more control also appears to take some of the pressure off. Now she can afford to laugh when she reflects on the past year's learning curve with the mouth organ (she admits there's still some way to go!). But the contrast of this experience with the formal environment of school couldn't be more marked, as her recollections of the exams that punctuated lessons demonstrates: "Each time I had to walk into an exam room, I thought I never want to touch an instrument again. One time, I was so nervous that I couldn't even open the door. I had to get someone to help me. That threw me for the whole thing."
Finding his own way
Though he is only twelve years old, Peter James Donnelly has already tasted the rewards of finding his own way when it comes to expressing himself musically - and record company Fatt Boy Records have just released his first record ('Too Young') on promotion to prove it. By day, Peter goes about his lessons like any other school student in Corby, Northamptonshire. By night he becomes PJ the DJ, spinning speed garage, drum and bass and hip hop at clubs such as Laposte in Corby, Generation X in Manchester and as far afield as Magalus on Majorca.
I dont get nervous, just a wee bit excited, he shrugs nonchanantly. When Im mixing at a club, I have five or ten minutes to get used to the equipment. I try a few tunes to see what the club's like, see whether people are dancing and know the tunes. Then I play some older ones, then the favourites. I love music." As an afterthought, he mentions that he's the youngest DJ in the land to mix vocals.
If you watch local papers and the music press closely, you might spot occasional courses, workshops and open competitions for aspiring disc jockeys and MCs, but PJ picked up his trade closer to home. In his loft, in fact. Since the age of three he has been taking over the decks from his dad and developing what he describes as a quiet, straightforward style.
"Its not easy, he says. You need to start by learning to count the beats and then you've got to learn from your mistakes. I watch the skills of the other DJs I meet, too. My music's come a long way since I started." Clearly, following up what he likes and responding to the influences he has grown up with means PJ isn't short of the motivation required to put in the hours to perfect his craft.
Relating to what young people want
Towards the end of her interview, Tamsin said she wondered whether music in schools doesn't relate to what young people want to do these days. PJ agrees: "It would be good to bring this sort of thing into music lessons in school, but teachers wouldnt know what to do with it. Theyd think it was just messing around. At school, they play really really old music."
One disincentive neither PJ or Tamsin suffer from is the perception that they're not cool, that theyre doing something no-one the right side of 25 should really consider. Tom Arthurs, 17, also from Northamptonshire, plays really really old music in his country big bands, and composes pieces for and performs in his own quintet. Having come up through the school and peripatetic system, he is well-placed to comment on the prejudice of many peers. A lot of people who study music at school, especially middle school, get a lot of stick from others, he said. For years people have said Oh, music is for softies. Its stupid and it happens to boys more than girls. Its time that changed.
Tamsin concluded with a more fundamental concern. I worry there wont be space in the National Curriculum for music, she said, no doubt alluding to David Blunketts thinning of the creative arts in the primary curriculum to make way for the Governments literacy drive. Music should be a subject that is available for everyone. Everyone should have a chance to take up an instrument. I dont think music should just be about listening to the chords of Bach. It needs to be a hands-on experience. If space for music in school is becoming more squeezed, perhaps its time the Government better supported the evident energy of young musicians performing beyond the school gates. Lets hope they do.
About the team
The news team for this story consisted of Pete Campbell, 17, Mehrak Golestani, 14, Senab Adekunle, 15, Kathleen Dawes, 14, Daniel Blackwood, 16, and Abeyna Jones, 14. The article was published in ninety-five per cent, the Youth Arts magazine.
