Q&A: Graham Dowdall

What was your introduction to music?

Music has always been in my life. My grandfather on my mother's side was a choirmaster and a church organist. Although I was a boy soprano, I was naturally experimenting with music at a young age, always playing the inside of the piano, rather than the top, as I found the screeching of the strings much more exciting.

What have you learnt from your work with young disabled people?

Our philosophy when it comes to working with young disabled people, or those with severe learning difficulties is that we need to break down the barriers that prevent them from accessing meaningful music-making. iPads in particular are a small, flexible, and accessible technology which allow anyone to be creative. I was working with a lad at the Children's Trust, who was only able to move his head from side to side. In using this app called Thumb Jam – that divides the screen into horizontal line with notes on each – we discovered that with his nose he was able to touch the screen and start playing notes. The iPad is becoming a major tool, on it you may have something like 20 or 50 apps that can tap into the abilities, interests and aspirations of any young person, so in a way it's like having an enormous box of instruments.

What can be gained from co-composing with students?

The voice of the young person has to be present in everything we do, and co-composing is integral to that. It's not about going in and just letting young people make music, we have a role there, which is about guidance and exchange. My role is to steer their ideas and make suggestions that might help them. I love that partnership as it gives us both benefits. If you're working with a young person who has a severe disability, they're going to be making music differently and that's something I can learn from. It's no different from the set up I'd have with other professional musicians, it's about listening, responding, finding where someone's contribution to the sound world interacts and contradicts my own and how we can develop from that.

What lead you to working with young offenders?

I wasn't the most well-behaved teenager myself. When I was kid, I wasn't shoplifting to put food on the table, I was doing it for a buzz. So when I started my own band at 15, I realised that the buzz I got from making music with my friends and performing was very similar to the one I got from shoplifting. Combine that with my experiences as a lawyer, and I was very aware that music could act as something else to do which was exciting and rewarding.

Songwriting also provides some significant reflection: how did I come to be here? What have I done in the past? What would I like to become? A lot of young people who become excluded, have usually been let down, so the rebuilding of relationships and the nurturing nature of musical exchange is a crucial part. Within that, you need to understand the kind of music that young people want to make. You can't just go in and go, ‘this is the what we're going to do’, it's all about the voice of the participant. What are their interests? What are their skills? What would they like to achieve? Music can change people. It can turn an offender into a more positive member of society.

Anything you'd like to add?

We're in a very exciting period where music education has become much more inclusive and puts young people first. Music education, community music and music therapy have learnt a lot from each other. If we continue to communicate and respect the distinctiveness as well as the commonalties across the three fields, we can really help to make major transformations in the lives of young and older people, particularly those who face challenging circumstances.