‘Young people are excited by the prospect of music discovery’: 8 in 10 students want to learn an instrument

With the new school year starting this month, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has released a report offering a promising insight into students’ attitudes to orchestral music.  The orchestra’s latest research, a survey of 2,000 adults across the UK, reveals that 83 per cent of parents with children returning to school this month say their children would like to learn a musical instrument.

However, of the survey respondents, around one in five parents (19 per cent) say their children don’t have the opportunity to learn a music instrument in school. This issue is most prevalent in Scotland, where 24 per cent of parents report this lack of opportunity, followed by London (22 per cent) and the north-west (22 per cent).

RPO music director Vasily Petrenko said: ‘Our research shows that young people are excited by the prospect of music discovery. Just how important this positivity and enthusiasm is cannot be understated, not just in producing the next generation of musicians and audiences. Nurturing this interest, and encouraging young people to push boundaries and explore new horizons is fundamental to any child’s development, and will stay with them for life. However, it seems that our obsession with STEM subjects comes at the detriment of other subjects and we need to see access to music at school as a universal right for all children. Through the RPO’s work with schools, community groups and at our concerts, we see first-hand the positive benefits that music brings to young people. We work with some of the most inspirational music teachers and practitioners who transform young people’s lives on a daily basis.’

As part of the survey the orchestra asked parents which musical instruments their children were interested in learning. The piano was revealed to be the most popular instrument, with 30 per cent of parents reporting it as their child’s instrument of choice, closely followed by the guitar (24 per cent). As well as drums (22 per cent), the top 10 instruments for the new academic year are: violin and viola (14 per cent), recorder (12 per cent), flute (11 per cent), bass guitar (11 per cent), trumpet (10 per cent), saxophone (8 per cent) and ukulele (7 per cent)

Alongside these music education statistics, RPO research among students more broadly (including those in Further and Higher education) discovered that 69 per cent of respondents found orchestral music to be good music to study to. ‘Smooth classics’ was the most popular sub-genre, enjoyed by 26 per cent of respondents, while Film soundtracks made up 20 per cent, musicals 18 per cent, symphonies 17 per cent and orchestral versions of pop music 13 per cent. Mozart was the most popular composer respondents listened to when studying, followed by Beethoven, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Brahms, Handel and Verdi.

RPO acting manager Huw Davies said: ‘Our recent research over the summer revealed that British adults today see music as Britain’s greatest export to the world, culturally and also economically. From our latest research, it is very positive news that so many children express an interest in listening to orchestral music when studying and are interested in learning an instrument. We need to ensure that the opportunity to do so is open to everyone.’