Beyond the Performance: The Art of Accessible Instrumental Music

From a circle of African drums to the Royal Albert Hall, how The Music Man Project developed an inclusive approach to instrumental music that places opportunity, musicianship and collaboration at its heart.

More Than a Choir

The Music Man Project is sometimes described as a choir. It's an understandable assumption, particularly when you see our musicians singing their hearts out on some of the world's most prestigious stages.

But anyone who has attended one of our concerts will know that singing is only part of the story. Our students sing, sign, dance and play musical instruments. Sometimes they do all four in the same piece of music!

This variety is one of the reasons our concerts are so entertaining. Audiences experience a wonderful mixture of musical styles, visual spectacle, humour, storytelling and audience participation.

Over the years, our musicians have collaborated with an extraordinary range of professional performers, including the Royal Marines Band Service, the RAF Music Service, Michael Ball, the London Community Gospel Choir and international ensembles. From military marches to gospel music, and from classical orchestral arrangements to my original Music Man Project Songbook, our students have demonstrated remarkable versatility.

However, this variety is about much more than entertainment. We seek to showcase talent and musicality in whatever form this takes. Remember, my approach is to punch through the elitism which prevented musicians with special needs taking part in prestigious musical events in the past. Being inclusive means being open to variety and using the universal language of music to collaborate with everyone, regardless of disability, difficulty or disadvantage. There is no better sight than witnessing our students surprise us with their unique talents – from being an accomplished drummer to doing the splits. It all goes in the Music Man Project act!

Nowhere is that principle more apparent than in our approach to instrumental music.

It All Started with a Circle of Drums

When I established my first Saturday music school for people with learning disabilities in 2001, I was also working as a secondary school Head of Music. Eastwood School in Southend (now Eastwood Academy), had an impressive collection of African djembe drums. I regularly used these instruments for group drumming activities with my secondary school students. The forward-thinking Headteacher encouraged me to use the music department to host our Saturday sessions. So as I started teaching my first Music Man Project students, it seemed natural to introduce the same instruments into my teaching of students with learning disabilities.

And so began a tradition that continues to this day.

Our musicians would sit in a circle, with me at the front playing the piano, and participate in group instrumental activities along to the piano. At first, the drums were simply an accessible way of making music together. They were engaging, physical, immediate and enormous fun.

But something important was happening. Students who might have struggled with conventional instrumental tuition or singing were successfully participating in this musical ensemble. Within the safety of the group, they listened, responded, kept in time and contributed to a shared musical experience.

The instruments provided an opportunity for musical success without some of the barriers associated with reading notation or mastering complicated instrumental techniques.

Over time the drums were joined by glockenspiels, tambourines, woodblocks and triangles. We introduced bells, handbells and eventually ukuleles.

Before long, the distinctive Music Man Project instrumental ensemble took shape. To this day, every Music Man Project across the UK follows this instrument line-up, allowing all our regions to come together for massed Music Man Project concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.

What began as a practical solution for a small Saturday music school had become one of the defining features of our musical identity.

Choosing Instruments That Create Opportunities

From the beginning, I wanted The Music Man Project to be accessible to everyone, regardless of previous experience, musical ability or learning disability. This meant choosing instruments that offered genuine opportunities for participation. I was not interested in creating an ensemble in which only the most musically confident and competent students could succeed. I wanted every musician to have a meaningful role.

Percussion instruments provided an ideal starting point. A drum can be played with a hand or a beater. A tambourine can be shaken or struck. A triangle produces a beautiful sound with a relatively simple movement. Bells and glockenspiels introduce opportunities to explore pitch and melody. Each instrument presents different physical, cognitive and musical demands and allows teachers to match instruments and musical parts to the individual strengths of their students. The objective is not necessarily to make every instrument equally easy. It is to find the right level of challenge for each musician.

Some students may initially play a single beat at a particular moment in a song. Others might maintain a repeated rhythmic pattern or perform a more complicated melodic phrase. Over time, students can progress to increasingly demanding parts.

Accessibility does not mean removing musical challenge. It means providing the support and opportunities that allow everyone to experience musicality, expressive communication and the thrill of ensemble performance.

Learning to Play Together

Playing an instrument independently is one achievement. Playing successfully as part of a musical ensemble is another. When teaching instrumental music at The Music Man Project, my principal aim is for students to play the right music at the right time. That might sound obvious, but it involves a surprisingly sophisticated combination of skills. Students must follow a conductor, remember their individual musical parts, maintain concentration, listen to other performers and respond to changes in the music. They must also learn when not to play. This is particularly important!

One of the earliest activities I introduced was a simple musical exercise in which students started and stopped playing together. Initially, that was quite an achievement but, before long, our musicians were performing different instrumental parts in succession, responding to musical cues and playing in different sections of a composition. Some maintained a repeated rhythmic accompaniment while others performed something completely different. The result was an increasingly sophisticated musical ensemble. It was certainly a long way from playing a medley of military marches with the Royal Marines at the Royal Albert Hall! Yet the underlying educational principles were exactly the same.

The Skills Behind the Music

One of the most important lessons I have learnt is that the educational value of instrumental playing is not determined by the complexity or prestige of the instrument. A professional orchestral musician playing a violin must listen to colleagues, follow a conductor, maintain concentration and perform their individual part within a larger musical arrangement. A Music Man Project student playing a triangle must do exactly the same.

Of course, the technical demands of the instruments are very different, but the underlying principles of ensemble musicianship are remarkably similar. Consider what happens when a student is required to play a triangle on a particular beat, following several bars of silence. They must remember their part, anticipate their entrance, watch the conductor, resist the temptation to play early and strike the instrument at precisely the right moment.

Meanwhile, other musicians may be performing completely different rhythms or melodies. The student must maintain their own musical responsibility without becoming distracted by the activity around them. This requires attention, memory, self-control, coordination and an awareness of others.

And when the triangle is finally struck at exactly the right moment, the contribution is musically significant, however brief it might be. The importance of a musical part should never be confused with the number of notes being played. In an ensemble, every contribution matters.

How We Teach Instrumental Music

The Music Man Project approach has developed gradually through years of practical teaching, experimentation and observation. Although every student is different, several principles have become central to our instrumental teaching.

Start with achievable musical tasks.

For a new student, playing a repeated beat or responding to a simple start-and-stop signal may be the most appropriate introduction. Early success builds confidence and establishes an understanding of musical participation.

Develop listening before complexity.

Listening to the music and responding appropriately is often more important than learning increasingly complicated instrumental techniques. This can take the form of playing along to a musical pulse in time, changing tempo and dynamics or simply joining in with the mood of the music through body movement, verbalising or facial expression. The trick is to spot these responses and celebrate them.

Use clear and consistent conducting signals.

Visual and audio cues help students anticipate entrances, recognise changes and maintain their place in a performance. Familiar gestures and repeated rehearsal routines provide reassurance and independence. It is remarkable what you can make people do and think through subtle prompts and musical rhetoric – something which I enjoy greatly as an improvisor at the piano.

Introduce different instrumental parts gradually, remembering to always balance new challenges with easy repetition.

Once students can play together, they can begin playing in separate groups. Once they can play easier music, they can begin to explore more complex music. Once they are secure within their group, they can explore greater independence by maintaining their own rhythmic part while others perform something different and distracting.

Look out for the signals that students want greater challenges too – a different instrument, a solo, a leading role or ideally their own creative contribution! Some will tell you, but most will be too shy so will show you in other ways. You need to recognise and respond to these signs for each individual. The ultimate objective is not simply for students to copy the teacher. It is for them to understand and take responsibility for their individual musical contribution, with appropriate support.

Make the music enjoyable.

Humour, imagination and the excitement of performance are essential ingredients. A student who enjoys making music is more likely to remain engaged, persevere through challenges and develop confidence. Try learning a new skill when you’re sad or nervous!

These principles are not unique to teaching people with learning disabilities. They are fundamental elements of good music education. What makes our approach distinctive is the way we adapt them to ensure that everyone can participate.

A Different Kind of Musical Ensemble

As The Music Man Project developed, so did our musical ambitions. I began writing more original compositions that incorporated instrumental sections alongside singing, signing and dancing. Students were no longer simply performing one musical activity throughout a piece. They might begin by playing an instrument, put it down to sing and sign a chorus, stand to perform a choreographed movement during a musical interlude and return to their instruments to play and sing for the finale. Each transition required preparation, concentration and an understanding of the structure of the music.

For some students, moving seamlessly between these activities was a considerable achievement. For audiences, it became part of the spectacle. Our performances were no longer easily described as concerts by a choir, a percussion group or a dance company. They were something different. The combination of musical activities allowed us to create performances that were accessible to our students while offering enormous artistic variety and a vehicle for wonderfully expressive concerts for our audiences who experience an interactive rollercoaster of emotions.

It also meant that our original compositions could be adapted to suit different groups, venues and collaborations. We could perform with a professional orchestra, a military band, a gospel choir or solo artists without abandoning the distinctive musical identity of The Music Man Project. Our students could contribute instrumental parts, sing, sign and dance alongside professional musicians, creating a shared performance in which everyone had a role.

From the Music Room to the Royal Albert Hall

Looking back, it is extraordinary to consider how far our instrumental ensemble has travelled. Those early Saturday morning sessions, with a handful of students playing African drums, eventually led to performances at the London Palladium, the Royal Albert Hall and other prestigious venues around the world.

One of the greatest privileges of my career has been watching our musicians perform alongside the Band of His Majesty's Royal Marines. The precision, discipline and professionalism of military musicians are renowned internationally. To see our students with learning disabilities participating in the same musical performances, responding to the same conductor and contributing to the same arrangements is an extraordinary demonstration of what inclusive music education can achieve.

Of course, our students are not playing the same technically demanding instrumental parts as the professional musicians around them, but they are contributing to the same performance. They must listen, concentrate, follow instructions, maintain their musical parts and demonstrate sensitivity to the wider ensemble. These are genuine musical responsibilities. The Royal Marines musicians are always impressed by our discipline, preparation and professionalism.

The success of these collaborations depends not on pretending that everyone has identical abilities, but on recognising that different abilities can contribute to a shared artistic achievement. Inclusion is not about everyone doing the same thing. It is about everyone having something meaningful to contribute.

Learning from AllegroModerato

In 2024, I visited Milan and had the opportunity to observe our friends at AllegroModerato, the remarkable Italian organisation that provides orchestral music education for people with disabilities. Their approach demonstrated another exciting dimension of accessible instrumental teaching.

Unlike The Music Man Project's predominantly percussion-based ensemble, AllegroModerato teaches a wide range of traditional orchestral instruments. Their musicians perform on instruments such as violins, trumpets and clarinets, participating in ambitious orchestral arrangements. Watching musicians with disabilities perform alongside professional instrumentalists reinforced my belief that accessible music education should never be limited by conventional expectations.

It also highlighted the importance of specialist teaching, carefully adapted arrangements, sustained rehearsal and a willingness to experiment. This kind of instrumental education presents significant challenges. Traditional orchestral instruments can require complex combinations of physical coordination, technical understanding, musical memory and sustained concentration. Developing accessible teaching methods therefore demands time, expertise, patience and imagination.

But AllegroModerato demonstrates what can be achieved.

Their musicians are not simply being given instruments to explore. They are being taught to participate in an orchestra. That distinction is important. The objective is not merely access to musical activity, but access to genuine musical development.

What Comes Next?

My experience in Milan encouraged me to think about the next stage of instrumental education at The Music Man Project. Our existing ensemble has proved remarkably successful. It provides accessible musical opportunities for students with a wide range of abilities and allows us to create exciting, multidisciplinary performances. I would never want to lose that. Indeed, the accessibility of our approach is one of its greatest strengths.

However, I also believe there is an opportunity to build upon this foundation by exploring more specialist instrumental teaching. Could some of our students learn traditional orchestral instruments? Could we develop partnerships with professional instrumental teachers, conservatoires and orchestras to create new pathways for musical progression? Could our musicians participate in increasingly ambitious orchestral arrangements while maintaining the inclusive principles that have defined The Music Man Project from the beginning?

I believe the answer is yes.

The challenge will be to introduce these opportunities without creating new barriers for students who benefit from our existing approach. We must continue to offer accessible entry points while creating opportunities for those who are ready to progress further.

It is an exciting prospect, particularly as The Music Man Project develops its international partnerships through the International Alliance of Accessible Music. By sharing expertise with organisations such as AllegroModerato, we can explore new teaching methods, exchange ideas and challenge assumptions about the musical potential of people with learning disabilities.

The ambition is not to replace our distinctive instrumental ensemble. It is to expand the possibilities available to our musicians.

The Music Matters. So Does the Laughter.

There is one final ingredient in our instrumental teaching that I haven't mentioned sufficiently.

Laughter.

Anyone who has attended a Music Man Project rehearsal will know that things don't always go according to plan. Students occasionally play at the wrong moment, forget which instrument they are supposed to be playing or become so enthusiastic that they anticipate their entrance several bars early!

One of our Global Ambassadors has even been known to leap up enthusiastically for the wrong instrumental section during a concert. These moments are part of the joy of making music together. They remind us that musical discipline and enjoyment are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, humour can be a powerful teaching tool. It helps students feel comfortable, reduces anxiety and creates a safe environment in which mistakes become opportunities to learn rather than reasons for embarrassment.

Of course, we work hard to achieve high musical standards. Our rehearsals are structured, our expectations are ambitious and our performances require considerable preparation. But we never lose sight of the reason we started making music together in the first place.

Because music is fun!

Beyond the Performance

When audiences watch our musicians performing at the Royal Albert Hall, they see the finished product. They hear the music, enjoy the spectacle and celebrate the achievements of performers who have overcome significant barriers.

But the most important work often takes place long before anyone steps onto a stage. It happens when a student learns to wait patiently for their musical entrance. When someone who previously struggled to concentrate successfully follows a conductor.

When a musician remembers their individual part while listening to an entirely different rhythm. When a student develops the confidence to try a new instrument. When a group of individuals learns to work together as a musical ensemble. These achievements may appear modest when compared with the grandeur of an international concert, but they are the foundations upon which those extraordinary performances are built.

The instruments themselves are simply the tools.

The real educational value lies in the concentration, coordination, communication, cooperation, confidence and musicianship developed through learning to play them.

And the most remarkable thing is that these benefits are available whether someone is playing a violin in a symphony orchestra or striking a triangle in a Music Man Project ensemble. The technical demands may be different, but the opportunity to contribute, develop and belong is just as important.

And the final ingredient? The audience! Somehow, all that hard work, all that laughter and all those delightful, unique characters, who have the freedom to be themselves within the structure of the music, combine to create energetic, expressive and inspirational entertainment for the people cheering them on. That's where the magic happens!

More than two decades after those first Saturday morning sessions, I still believe that the most powerful question a music teacher can ask is not "What can't this student play?"

It is "What could this student achieve if we found the right way to teach them?"

That question transformed a circle of African drums into an international musical adventure.

And I suspect we have only just begun.