Alex hates music.

A couple of days ago, I was walking some primary school children back to an after-school club I manage, and the topic turned to music. I asked if they did music in school, to which there was a lacklustre mumble about doing something with glockenspiels and finding the right note on a board. One Year 4 boy, Alex (not his real name), then became pretty animated talking about all the boring things he had to do, and how he absolutely hates the subject. In fact, it was his least favourite of all his subjects. This came as a surprise to me as I know the boy to be very musically inclined. He sings whenever possible, dances for hours whenever we have music playing, and would love to learn the guitar (which I’ve now arranged for him).

None of the children really enjoyed the subject, and the one currently showing the most passion for music hated it the most. I wondered if this could be the same in other schools across the country, so I did a little research.

From various sources:

70% - percentage of adults who regret not learning an instrument

82% - percentage of parents who want their kids to be able to play an instrument

74% - percentage of adults who believe music is important to their quality of life

1,000,000 (approx) - the number of adults who picked up an instrument during lockdown

and

9/10 - number of children who want to learn an instrument.

There are definitely better fact checkers than me out there, but from my experience I believe these numbers probably aren’t that far off.

So why the disconnect? If 9/10 children want to learn an instrument, why do 7/10 adults regret never learning one?

1:1 music lessons can be expensive, but music is part of the compulsory key stage 1, 2, and 3 national curriculum, so access isn’t the issue. There does also seem to be more opportunity in secondary schools (depending on investment) to experience more than the cheap Casio keyboard based lessons I grew up with (30 uninterested kids pressing the “DJAY!” button whenever the teacher looked away).

But in primary schools at least, there still seems to be the assumption that you can only teach musicianship by forcing children to learn theory they don’t care about with 30 identical instruments that they hate the sound of.

There is still an emphasis on children performing well vocally, although a trip to any football stand in the country will prove that these skills are not kept into adulthood (the pre-match pub visit probably doesn’t help). However, singing is cheap, and putting on a school Christmas concert looks good.

But children don’t learn if they have a passion for being a musician through singing Christmas songs. They just learn the songs.

Music is deeply personal, incredibly social, empowering, creative, and can express your most strongly felt emotions. The truth of it is, in a results driven business, the most important parts of music are too subjective to quantify, and the curriculum is a cruel beast that strips music down to its coldest parts. If you can’t place the “A” note in the right place on the treble clef, then you have failed.

No wonder Alex hates music.

When someone finds their passion for music, be it an instrument, singing, d-jaying, producing, or whatever else, they will spend hours and hours practising and/or learning the theory they need just through the love of advancing their craft.

30 children learning to be musical by finding the “A” note on 30 glockenspiels, cheap keyboards, or the dreaded recorder isn’t helping them find their passion. It’s killing it. By the time they are old enough to experience and appreciate all music has to offer, most have had any spark they once had extinguished. Smothered in the quest to tick off boxes. Which is why we now live in a country full of adults who sometimes vaguely remember once being a child who wanted to learn an instrument.

Access to music isn’t the issue. It’s what we do with that access that matters.

We need a change.

We need to help children ignite and nurture their passions, not extinguish them when they’re just getting started.

As for me, I’m going to help Alex learn the guitar, and learn the songs and parts of music he actually wants to learn. From there he might want to go on to be a great musician, or he might not. He might just get the guitar out now and again at parties, or one day show his kids a few songs he learnt when he was young. The choice will be his.

The one thing he won’t do is hate music.