Where did UK music teaching go wrong?
UncategorizedThere is only one British contestant at this year’s Leeds piano competition, an event founded by piano teacher Fanny Waterman (pictured) to advance awareness of the instrument and its talented young performers.
Just one.
I looked through the list of current players in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester’s concert this week in Granada. One in five players were Spanish. I struggled to find a single Brit.
Getting into these elite events requires training at the highest level.
Have we just lost it?
Could it be 14 years of cuts and discouragement of the Arts, do you think?
But, whatever you think … don’t dare mention Brexit!
Rather more than 14 years I can assure you !
I greatly admire you bassoon sound, Mr. Alexander. Just last night I was listening to your Gustav Schreck Sonata recording.
Are British players still eligible to play in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester? On their website in the FAQ it says the following…
…….only musicians with a European citizenship are admitted to the orchestra.
Does that mean only EU citizens, or citizens from a country within the European continent?
OF COURSE they are: Europe is a continent with a rich cultural heritage and goes far beyond the EU. The GMJO has always anticipated the enlargement of the EU by admitting musicians from ALL European nationalities, and it therefore also continues to admit musicians from the UK. FYI: the GMJO is not supported by the EU.
Thanks for confirming! Delighted to hear it, and long may the opportunity for all young European citizens to audition for such a fantastic orchestra continue!
Thank you.
It clearly says ‘European’, not ‘European Union’. Do you think that not being in the EU means you stop being European?
Thanks for your slightly aggressive reply. No, I don’t believe that not being in the EU stops one from being European, (I’m British but live in the Netherlands) though I suspect many might think it does in light of the determination of the Brexiters to sever all ties with Europe, and as a result wonder whether they are still eligible to apply for the GMJO. I was simply asking a question for the sake of clarity.
Ask the Swiss, the Norwegians, Ukrainians, etc.
I am so not surprised. As a musician living in London I thought would be so easy to find good music education for my child. I was so wrong! It was very difficult and expensive. We were living near one of London’s leading music colleges with a Junior Department, and yet we had to go a long way across the city for music lessons at one of its branches.
As I understand, Britain used to have a really great music education system until about 30 years ago. The nets were cast very wide, with primary and secondary schools offering inexpensive music tuition with peripatetic teachers. That meant that many kids would have access to music lessons (which showed later in a very vibrant amateur music making scene, with many good quality amateur orchestras around the country). And then if they were particularly talented they could join a junior departments of a music college or a specialist school like Purcell, Menuhin or Chet’s. But then the system shrunk, got more expensive and many music education responsibilities were shifted from schools to professional music institutions.
Ok. I maybe the ubiquitous and free/inexpensive music education was too expensive for the tax payer, but what I could not understand was that the system did not compensate with selectiveness! My child had a very good voice and excellent good musical ear, but could not get to a weekend music school because places were already taken by kids who were not tested for their musical abilities, so probably some not showing any chances for developing great musical talent.
So, if Britain wants to have better quality young musicians then either you make the access to music education cheap and ubiquitous or you make it selective and look for kids who have at least some chance in succeeding in this profession.
But I have to stress, we should probably make every effort to go for the former. I just cannot understand why, when there is so much evidence of benefits of music training for other school subjects and when soft skills are more important than ever in the modern employment market (and even on social media!) our schools (and not just in Britain) offer less and less in the field of cultural education.
Only the dominant far-right narrative – now the only voice heard in political and media sources – is responsible for this utter travesty of cutting expenditure on every aspect of our lives where it doesn’t immediately reward our overpaid and vastly over-rated, so-called, financial services sector! Of course it’s a direct and unavoidable result of our far right and incredibly philistine government. At least the next PM has some genuine background and interest in real music … perhaps even a right wing English Labour government might reverse some of the damage done? I can’t think of a more apt description of the current mob than: ‘know the price of everything but the value of nothing’.
But I’ll bet they take advantage of free seats at the ROH when the wives want a glamorous night out.
Brexit prevents young British players to participate in the GMJO.
Same applies for the orchestral courses at the Concerteboew and Berlin Phil.
Not so. They are still welcome to apply.
And it is easy to get a 5 year EU visa. My 18 yr old daughter did it and obtained a University place in Paris. I suspect it is the loud ‘remainers’ who tell us it is all impossible that puts people off.
Well … a small price to pay for all these alleged benefits! Oh … forgot about the minimal 4% loss of national income … What a success!
British citizens are OF COURSE welcome to apply for GMJO auditions and to participate in GMJO projects. The GMJO organises auditions in London every year, as it does in 25 other cities in Europe, both inside and outside the EU. The GMJO has never had and will not have restrictions on any European nationality. On the other hand, there is no country quote or, so the nationalities of admitted players vary from year to year.
That’s not what was posted earlier about the GMJO! By their Management.
In the UK music has, protestations to the contrary notwithstanding, been transformed into a middle class fashion accessory. And that has inevitable consequences.
Just what all Tories wanted! Keep the riff-raff out. Can’t have northern and Celtic flat vowels contaminating our darlings’ experience …
Give up with the tedious socialist drivel Mel, it is becoming boring.
I fear you’re spot on…
15 plus years of wider opportunities lessons in primary schools has a had a lot to the with decline in instrumental education, how can you teach a whole class an instrument properly? Ticks box’s achieves nothing, schools like it for this reason, not to mention cheaper than buying teacher cover,
Suzuki method uses the large classes principal
@Wannaplayguitar: Suzuki uses group classes only in addition to individual lessons, unlike wider opportunities!
Suzuki group classes never replace one-to-one lessons.
Also, the parent is expected to sit in the individual Suzuki lessons, to observe, to take notes and to help the child at home.
Based on my experience, it is not possible to learn the violin to a high standard or even to a reasonably decent amateur standard solely by attending group lessons. I can’t speak for other instruments, perhaps for other instruments it is possible.
Often, the wider opportunities start really late (in year 3, some schools even later).
In a way, wider opportunities can even be damaging as it is impossible for the music teacher (often not a specialist string teacher) to keep an eye on every child.
Once I get to teach those kids individually who want to continue after having attended wider opportunities for about a year, I often have to teach them like complete beginners, or worse, I have to undo their bad habits created by the fact that basics haven’t been taught properly and noone has keept an eye on anything.
Plus, by the time they finally start individual lessons, these children are relatively “old” to learn a string instrument (around age 9, when ideally they should have started by the age of 7).
By this time, most privately taught kids have been playing for several years and play at a higher level.
I sympathise. Eradicating ingrained bad habits is not easy and inheriting poor teaching is just as difficult. YouTube videos have a lot to answer for, showing poor technique and flat fingers and ‘But my other teacher let me play like this’ all hinder progress. Acrylic stiletto type nails are a new problem and not allowed anywhere near my piano!
Self taught are nightmare words. No one would perform self taught surgery surely?
It’s amazing how many teachers don’t teach theory alongside the practical. I once knew a BMus Hons LRAM who didn’t know that an accidental lasted the whole bar, grade 1 theory!
Best of luck, if students enjoy learning that is an achievement in itself. They can’t all be the next Vengerov.
I understand your comment about children needing to start (violin) lessons by age 7 in order to become successful, and that it is not possible to reach a decent standard by learning in group lessons. I have to tell you though, that I started lessons aged 12, in my secondary school na din a group (of four) pupils, which continued for about a year, by which time I was the only one left. After this I had one-to-one lessons, until by the time I was 16 I had become good enough to join the County Youth Orchestra, and at 17 I had obtained a place at a well-known London college of music, and then a place in a Manchester college. By the time I was 27 (and after that I obtained a post in a National Symphony Orchestra. Then I moved to a newly formed Opera Company (as a founder member of the orchestra there), and then moved home again, and ended up freelancing for a further 17 or 18 years till I stopped playing for a living. So perhaps I was just lucky, certainly not especially talented, nor had I come from a particularly musical family.
Sheer determination, motivation & hard work often outweigh ‘natural talent ‘ in my teaching experience.
Admittedly, not in music.
Yes, but with parents heavily involved in lessons and home practising. Don’t think that will be the case with most of these large groups outside of Suzuki.
Not really, no. Suzuki combines private lessons with the student AND parent with at home practices where the parent actively coaches and also regular small group lessons and playtogether opportunities.
I saw part of the Tower Hamlets Strings project first hand whilst doing teacher training. A class of 30 something, many, nay most from very underprivileged backgrounds, who were not getting on well at school, and some couldn’t read. A 20 or 30 minute ( I can’t now remember which ) ‘lesson’ which left little more than time for tuning and minor repairs. The sad thing was that the good ones couldn’t stand it, the ones who didn’t want to do it at disrupted the others, so it didn’t work, and that was with several of us students helping. Normally there were two teachers.
One questions answering before this blog can be taken at face value.
How many UK pianists applied to take part in the competition, but were eliminated in earlier rounds.
Conservatoires have changed in the past 30 years. They used to encourage musicians to think and interpret independently and to perform solo repertoire frequently- there was always the chance to tryout new repertoire in a performing environment. They now want to produce neatly packaged ‘portfolio’ musicians who all sound the same and are sadly ‘ Jacks of all trades and masters of none’. They spend so much time in meaningless rehearsals, updating images on Social media and earning money to support themselves that students no longer have time to just practise. To really focus on excellence and on the intrinsic message of each piece. Instead, they swivel between orchestra, chamber music, some solo work, technicals academic work – all of this is important, but why not have pathways – after a foundation year decide which path you want to follow? Singers don’t typically start opera training with an opera school until postgrad level – of course the voice is an instrument and it needs to mature and it is different to playing a string instrument for example, but why is the process so different? The pursuit of excellence has been eradicated from state schools in the UK seeking to make everyone the same in the pursuit of equality – now it is disappearing from conservatoires. In most countries a conservatoire student will have at least two lessons a week with their Professor and maybe an Assistant – here they have just one hour ! It is also increasingly the case of ‘the least offensive wins’ – the personalities of yesteryear would not stand a chance today as their playing was often controversial. However, that type of playing was original and meaningful – and (usually )about the composer and music first and foremost- not about the performer or their clothes. We need more music societies and more early career performing opportunities.
Your observations are spot-on and not simply U.K. concentric. Certainly in the U.S. and S.E. Asia the described paradigms most often ring true. Add to that disease the Youtube infiltration and you have instant copy-cat mentality in abundance. It’s more than alleged that some very well known teachers instruct their prize seeking students to “play this like Richter did, that like Horowitz …etc.” .And lets not even get started with the competitions and the brother/sister hood of jury members now elevated to global levels etc. Creativity and originality, while highly touted and lauded, seldom take top honors.
My child is a very talented 10 year old pianist and violinist. We live in Lewisham, London.
The upstairs neighbour and the Council had threatened us for Noise Abatement Order if he continues to practise at home, even though we always practise strictly at socialable times. We don’t even own a TV and his other home activities are reading books and doing homework.
It’s very hard……
https://discoveringleeds.wordpress.com/leeds-international-pianoforte-competition-finalists/
According to this website only 7 British pianists have made it through to the final since the competition began, out of a total of 61 finalists. It doesn’t give information about the pianists who made it through to the earlier rounds, so quite possibly there were many more British entrants each year, but is having only one UK pianist through to the 2nd round this year really indicative of the state of musical education in the country? I’m not saying that the situation is great in the UK as clearly there are many problems at all levels, but to make such a sweeping statement based on one competition is going a bit far. According to the competition website there were at least two Brits in the 1st round (Callum McLachlan and Julian Miles Trevelyan).
Years and years of government rhetoric that the arts are not worthwhile career choices, cuts in funding, cuts in university departments, BREXIT, a pandemic and need to ‘catch up’ in English and maths in primary and secondary schools, the Ebacc that removes any art from some school syllabi, schools being responsible for their funding distribution but at the same time being accountable for not hitting arbitrary targets, music curricula being written by people who have long since been in a modern, multicultural UK classroom so thus they are not relevant to the type of music young people relate to in 2024, costs, a cost of living crisis and a ‘You Tube’ environment that makes everyone and no one an expert.
Put all that in a pot and stir it up…welcome to the future of music in the UK.
Follow the money. British people can’t afford to be musicians. British musicians get paid peanuts in comparison to their continental counterparts. They’re not less talented, they’ve simply assessed the risk of their investment is too high and the chance of a good life too low.
I am so sad to hear of Cathy’s experience in Lewisham.
I am a governor of a small primary school in Lewisham. This year we have decided that every child in Year 4 will learn the violin. Their teacher is one of the Lewisham Music Hub team.
It seems that Lewisham Council may not be consistent in its attitude to music education.
Why does every child in year 4 have to learn the violin? As a violin teacher, I don’t see the point.
Please read my comment above, and AEMDs.
Year 4 is very late to start the violin. Why not in year 1 or year 2? And why the violin and not whatever the children actually want to learn (if it isn’t the violin)?
If it’s group or even whole class lessons, I can guarantee the children will not actually “learn” the violin (to a good level), no matter how good the teacher is.
I’d be far more for selecting (younger) suitable kids who have good violin hands and a good ear for it and who actually want to learn the instrument.
Rather than forcing a year of whole class scraping on bad quality violin shaped objects with no practice at home, zero technique and forming bad habits which are difficult to break once the child is then even older (year 5 in this case).
I’m definitely not against involving all children in some kind of music making and exposing them to music, perhaps Kodaly, singing, perhaps basic drumming (sorry singing and drums teachers).
But why the violin, of all instruments? It’s become the “new recorder” in recent years and it really puts a lot of people off altogether. Like the recorder did in my day. Only I think it is harder to learn and sounds even worse when played badly.
I do feel sorry for Cathy’s child. It would be helpful if the school or local church etc. could provide a practice room. I still think she’s unlucky with the neighbours who are to blame here, not necessarily the council.
Why blame the teaching when we have had so many years of discouragement from our government ? All Western countries are facing financial challenges, but it seems that our leaders especially decide that the Arts are unnecessary in trying to deal with society’s inherent problems.
Actually this is factually incorrect. There were two British contenders at the Leeds this year. As far as I’m aware the first round is part of the competition! Only one made it through to round 2.
The issue is our UK conservatoires are flooded with non-uk musicians. Conservatoires get more money from overseas students. One finalist last time was British but 2 others were UK conservatoire educated. Maybe though British pianists are crowded out by foreign ones as our UK music education is dire.
Perhaps the old allure of competitions is fading (except for the eager pianists from the Far East)? As things stand this country has produced/is producing young pianists to match any in the world. A competition is a perilous affair and, in a sense ridiculous (though I’m chair of one!) – trying to decide on who is the ‘best’ as opposed to merely different. Blood sport…
The type of barrier that Cathy is coming up against is becoming sadly more common, particularly now that more people are working from home. What makes it all the more frustrating is a lack of legal framework as to what constitutes noise nuisance. As a professional musician who has encountered this problem, I share Cathy’s concerns. All I can advise is entering a constructive discourse with both council and neighbour to come up with a solution that everyone is satisfied with. If that’s not possible, maybe there is a local community centre or a church that would be happy to lend out their piano at certain times that aren’t too busy?
All of the above are true. Mrs T started the rot, and I am very sorry to say that Mr Bliar did not help one iota – “Education education, education” – NOT!
What we had 30 was world-beating now we’re stuffed… Such a shame. The number of top London pros who learned without charge in Redbridge and North Kent is very impressive, and of course when things were rosy in ’77 the basic tax rate was 25%, now it’s 20%: is there a connection? Keep voting Tory for more carnage!
…and electronic keyboards, classroom guitar, djembes and the dreaded ukeleles will NOT cut it.
It may not be the quality of education in the UK but who is attending that education. What percentage of students in specialist music schools and conservatoires in the UK are British, for example?
Brits listen to just pop music nowadays. What can you expect
What free-market, right-wingers think of the arts.
https://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/50747/1/a-brief-explainer-on-the-government-dystopian-fatima-cyber-ad
Every last one of you who enabled these nutcase, philistine, free-market vandals over the last 40 years is complicit.
My son is 13, he has grade 8 in one instrument and grade 4 in another, yet he cannot do GCSE Music as his school isn’t running it for his year group as only 6 pupils chose it . He wants to be a professional musician and will continue his instrumental studies, however, he was really looking forward to studying a subject he loves for his exams.
It used to be that the viable number for a GCSE group was 10. An exception should be made in this case.Even with just 2 more, making 8 there should be more pressure on the school to run the course. What is the history of music as an option in this school? What were you told at the year 6 open evening and what was stated in the brochure/ website?
Would the music teacher be willing to run it as an after school/ lunchtime class but why should they? Would the local music hub run it or different schools joining together?
It’s an absolute disgrace that a child of such talent is in this position. It would be a very poor advert for the school if made public, which isn’t bothered about keeping the valuable music staff either. The powers that be should know that subjects can have lean times and canceling one year leads to staff leaving and the option and subject disappearing from the curriculum altogether. It is a very short sighted strategy. Who wouldn’t want to take your son through to 18?
You’re only other option is to change to a school with a well established music department with a history of running GCSE and A level that doesn’t over promise in its glossy publicity but then under delivers playing the numbers game at option crunch time.
Disappointed parent doesn’t even come close, you must be seething!
The British music education system is broken. There are far too many music teachers who cannot read music. External examinations such as GCSE and A level have been dummed down and far too many mediocre musicians are being awarded 1st class honours degrees. It really is a dire state of affairs. There are many reasons for this, including a lack of funding, respect and an over-emphasis in education on stem subjects and the pressure of teachers having to meet targets. It’s a broken system. Unfortunately, it may have to get worse before it gets better…
Dummed down?
UK music teaching has always been about teaching the grammar rather than learning to play. Many people drop out because they are bored stiff. Teach people to play something , even just one tune, and then they can get into the theory.
Import South Korean drinking water to the UK, and the UK talent pool will miraculously blossom!
Peer group pressure may deter many young people from playing anything other than electric guitars, electric keyboards and drums. Choral singing is also beyond the pale.
Blame the Tories. The National Curriculum has killed any creativity. We do our best despite poor funding, lack of support and lack of insight.
Perhaps what is needed is an incentive for young people. The ‘Celtic’ nations have traditional music sessions. I have been in some excellent sessions in Northern Ireland and in Orkney, involving musicians of all ages, and in Wales i have been in sessions with four or five harpers as well as loads of other instruments. mostly played by young people. English traditional music, in contrast, seems to be dominated by elderly people like me. Yes, this is folk music, not the high-powered classical music of the Leeds piano competitions. But it is music. And it gives new players a way in that is inviting rather than daunting.
The main reason is that studying an instrumental is still considered elitist. We need, in the short term at least, to introduce the USmodel, in which ALL students study instruments in class music lessons for part of a year (ideally in years and 8). Not all would then take their studies further at the end of this compulsory unit, but all who wish to should be able to do do. Those families who can’t afford lessons should be supported under the Pupil Premium support scheme available to a schools. It’s a no-brainer.
I have just been in a meeting with local music teachers. One school has 7 peri teachers and another has 12. The local music hub supplies most of the teaching. The schools run regular classes, after school groups and concerts at least every term. These are just local state schools teaching local students. Many of the lessons are free to the students. The National Plan for music and the Model Music Curriculum support music learning (one might suggest mainly Western Classical). I’m not saying it’s the best but compare this to Design and Technology and Drama… Music, it might be argued, is better supported currently.
Schools spend their budget as they choose, this means that school leaders choose how much money they are going to spend on each subject each year. Money in schools, is extremely tight at the moment and all of the subjects in my school have less money to work for the forthcoming academic hear than we have for the year which is just finishing.
Long term – free individual music lessons used to be funded back in the 70s and 80s – this is no longer the case. The dismantling of the county music services and their transformation into music hubs which provide WCET which does not work well in my opinion and is mostly a box ticking exercise for schools, does not help.
Personally, I think that if WCET is to be used then WCET should be run for one term only, and then lessons offered. Pupil Premium money can be used to fund those lessons if school leadership allow that.
At the top end? I know that some talented young musicians are not intending to follow music as a career path because of the wages and the cost of training in this country. I don’t think it is particularly the fault of the professors at the conservatoires, I think because of cuts further down the ladder, there is a narrowed selection pool for the conservatoires to choose their students from.
There used to be more coverage of bands and orchestras in the mainstream media in the last century. Many traditional bands were seen at public events but increasingly school age groups have only performed to parents in schools and music centres.
Also in our area, when the cuts started and lesson charging was re-introduced around 1996 for music service lessons, then we experienced a gradual decline in both pupil numbers and standards. This continued though the next decade and until 2010/11 when a lot of music service staff and school music staff were made redundant. Now music can often be a once a week subject in early secondary and non-existent in many of our local primary schools. Along with the increasing smart phone culture, traditional instrumental teachers now find it difficult to attract pupils who can show the willingness and tenacity to develop to the higher levels.
When they had people teaching at top conservatories and then getting tutti jobs which they should have been training their students to get. Conflict of interest much?
We have far from lost it. In fact, we have seven stunning major music colleges in this country, turning out an array of brilliant young talented players. In fact, too many. There is nowhere for them to go.
We are the hub of the world right now. Just look at the names of the members of the London orchestras. Multi national. Brexit has stopped a lot of our young players being able to work in Europe. I see young musicians here playing for free to keep their standards up and they sound amazing.
Spain started a huge push in music education in the 1990’s and we are really seeing that come to fruition.
We’ve stuck to rigidly to traditional styles in education, America leads the way on music education, accessible to all, and more enticing. Also the complete disregard for the arts funding in the UK.
We used to lead.