In the last issue of YES magazine, my colleague at the Associated Board, Nigel Scaife, wrote about our new interactive website SoundJunction, which allows visitors to listen to explore, discover and create music through the online technologies. I am delighted to add that since then SoundJunction has won the ‘Oscar’ for music websites, represented by the 2006 New Media Age effectiveness award in this category.

I mention this by way of contrast with the subject of this article, which is all about learning to play musical instruments. While SoundJunction exploits the new technologies to the fullest extent possible in conveying the experience of live music and in educating visitors on the wide range of instruments through which live music is made, this can be no substitute for the hand-brain skills and art of performing live music itself. It is this activity which both demands and generates an extraordinary range of attributes, all of which are transferable in a general educational sense. These include self-discipline, coordination, balance, intelligence, teamwork and self-confidence.  Moreover, it is only through the acquisition of these skills that the ultimate expressive and communicative power of music can be realised for the benefit of audiences across all genres.

It is generally acknowledged that over recent years the government has introduced or supported a range of new initiatives to increase first access for young people to  instrumental/vocal music. Youth Music Action Zones have been established in many parts of the country where there was previous deprivation and a national programme of providing wider opportunities in music on a whole-classroom basis is planned over the coming year.

The campaign for 1m more young musicians, however, reflects the equally widespread belief that the government has not put in place structures or funding that will ensure sustained, progressive instrumental/vocal tuition for all those young people who demonstrate aptitude or enthusiasm to continue their studies beyond this first access. As every musician and every teacher knows, these further studies must be one-to-one or in small groups and must be sustained over many years if true instrumental learning is to be achieved. The government has not therefore as yet honoured its continuing commitment made since 2000 that ‘over time every child who so wishes should have the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument’. Research conducted by Ofsted, following pilots of the Wider Opportunities programme, revealed that in some areas 70-100 per cent of pupils wanted to continue their instrumental tuition. It will be particularly unfortunate if these excellent programmes have the effect of inspiring many youngsters to take up musical instruments only to find that they hit a roadblock at the end of this introductory phase.

The core funding currently provided by the government to support sustained, progressive instrumental/ vocal tuition makes up the bulk of the £59m per annum allocated to local authority music services through the Music Standards Fund. As is illustrated by the DfES Survey of Music Services 2005, this funding is sufficient to contribute only 43 per cent of the cost of delivering this tuition to approximately 439,000 young people, representing only 8.4 per cent of all pupils at state schools at Key Stage (KS) 1 to KS 4 inclusive.

Associated Board research, carried out in support of the campaign, seeks to compare this picture with the quantity of sustained, progressive instrumental/vocal tuition currently provided in private schools and wholly funded by parents. This research discovers that such tuition exists for 50 per cent of all pupils at private schools at KS1 to KS4 inclusive.

The campaign for 1m more young musicians is calling on the government to honour its previous pledges and to realise its own stated aspirations to bring educational support in state schools up to the level enjoyed in the private sector. The campaign has received support from a wide range of representative organisations including the Music Education Council, the Music Business Forum, the Federation of Music Services, the Music Industries Association and Conservatoires UK.

Recognising that full implementation of these ambitions may be out of reach, the campaign proposes that the government commit to the provision of sustained, progressive instrumental/vocal tuition for 1m more young musicians over the next seven years. At the end of that period the number of recipients of such tuition in the state sector would represent about 27.5 per cent of all pupils at KS1 to KS4 inclusive. If government were to increase its support for instrumental/vocal tuition in proportion to its current contribution, it is estimated that this plan would require additional central funding of around £13in m the first year, building up to a ceiling of around £90m in year seven and beyond. In his 2006 Budget speech, Gordon Brown pledged a total of £34bn new investment in state education over five years. In this context, the extra required for instrumental/vocal tuition is not going to break the bank.

The timing of this campaign is particularly important as even the present £59m per annum is subject to the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review and is not committed beyond April 2008. There are fears that the government may give in to wider political pressures for the delegation of all funding to individual schools, as it did in December 2005 in respect of the £26m one-off allocation linked to the pledges in the Music Manifesto. If it did so, this could lead to the demise of local authority Music Services – with horrendous consequences for instrumental tuition, including a severe reduction in its quality and diversity, a dearth of tuition in minority instruments and in ensemble music-making and access to instrumental tuition being determined by ability to pay and/or the lottery of geographic location.

All in all, these are crucial times for the future wellbeing of instrumental and vocal music education. Within the next six months it is likely that decisions will be taken which will set the pattern for provision for many years to come.

If you want to participate in the campaign, visit the press section of the Associated Board's website at www.abrsm.org or write directly to your own MP.