Back in 2018, Creative United organised a celebratory event marking the 10th anniversary of the Take it away scheme, our flagship programme which focuses on reducing the financial barriers faced by many people wishing or needing to purchase a new musical instrument.
We also announced the formation of a new consortium, signalling our commitment to making music education and the wider music industry more open, diverse and accessible, primarily through providing adapted instruments and assistive equipment for use by disabled musicians. In this, we worked in partnership with other organisations and individuals with lived experience of the challenges.
Seven years on, the Inclusive Music Consortium* is still going strong. We meet quarterly to share knowledge, celebrate achievements and provide space for discussion and encouragement as we continue to work towards our shared goals. These sessions explore ways in which we can support music professionals of all kinds to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to ensure that music learning and performance experiences are delivered in an inclusive and accessible way.
As a Consortium, we recognise that the changes and improvements needed to make a more equitable and accessible music industry cannot be achieved by any one organisation or individual alone; so we've chosen to work together to drive forward change through active collaboration and information sharing.
This has been a particularly valuable forum for the evolution of Creative United's work in this field, and it continues to inform the way we think about how to position ‘Take it away’ as a mechanism for supporting disabled players, who often face the dual challenge of finding and financing the musical instruments and equipment they need to start or continue their music-making journey.
In June 2022, when the DfE published their refreshed National Plan for Music Education, along with the announcement of a £25m capital investment fund for the purchase of new musical instruments, there was much optimism within the Consortium. It seemed that, for the first time, our message about the importance of providing adaptive musical instruments and/or assistive equipment for use by disabled children had been understood as part of a foundational commitment to making music education inclusive and accessible to all.
Sadly, our early optimism diminished as the focus shifted to the business of reshaping the administrative framework for the delivery of music services, followed shortly after by a change in government, which (perhaps inevitably) has resulted in further shifts and changes in policy. Most significantly, the proposed appointment of the four ‘centres of excellence’ as set out in the National Plan, which would have provided essential resources to support the advancement of knowledge around the use of adapted instruments and inclusive teaching practices, did not materialise.
This is a great shame, as we all know that the provision of instruments alone is unlikely to change anything without simultaneous and sustained long-term investment in supporting the professional development, knowledge and understanding of music teachers and others involved supporting children and young people to access and enjoy instrumental music learning and participation.
The development and use of a wider range of adapted musical instruments, music technology and assistive equipment will continue to be the primary focus of the Consortium, working with partners across the commercial music industry as well as those involved in research and product innovation.
But our efforts need to be matched by the commitment of funding and resources that can properly support music teachers and others to become both the champions of and experts in the use of these amazing new instruments, like the Arcana Strum, Cmpsr, Artiphon, Clarion (see picture above) and many others.
If we can achieve this, with the support of a government that recognises the importance and benefits of high-quality music education for all children, then we will have created the conditions for diverse talent to shine through in our classrooms, grassroots music venues and concert halls for generations to come.
*Members of the Inclusive Music Consortium include Creative United, Drake Music, Music for Youth, The OHMI Trust, Open Up Music, Youth Music and TiME: Technology in Music Education UK.
