A shining exception? Pupils at King Edward VI High School for Girls take part in a music lesson. Photograph: Getty
The Arts Council is launching a timely and welcome scheme, Take it Away, to help individuals buy all kinds of instruments (or pay for the costs of sheet music and tuition) with interest-free loans of up to £2,000, repayable in nine monthly instalments.
As Professor Susan Hallam from London University's Institute of Education points out, "Music exerts a powerful impact on our lives, and is as important for a well-rounded education as reading, writing and maths. Learning to play an instrument has demonstrable effects on intelligence."
A friend of mine recently took up the cello in his sixties. It was hard starting a string instrument from scratch (as it were). Making himself practice every day was tough, but he kept at it. After only six months, his hands are more agile, he feels better coordinated, and he even thinks that he can do Kakuro and crossword puzzles more quickly.
There are 18 million lapsed musicians in the UK, of whom around 8 million would like to start playing again. Many gave up when they were 16 years old, and more had given up by 21. During school, learning an instrument still tends to be a private initiative with lessons arranged and financed by families. A few schools are shining exceptions, but in general our talented young players have had to find their own paths outside the curriculum, and in what little remains of their free time.
I recently discovered, to my astonishment, that most music teachers in UK schools don't even attempt to teach their pupils to read music. When I asked one of them why not, she said there wasn't time, and that "it would demoralise all the children who've already learned to read music at home".
Most school music activities - choirs, bands, orchestras - rely on children being able to read music or deal with some kind of notation. Schools are happy to claim credit for these activities, just as they're happy to list good results in music at GSCE and A-level, even though many students acquired their musical education outside school.
No other subjects are in this pickle. Imagine the outcry if maths teachers didn't teach formulas, if chemistry teachers never explained the periodic table, or if classics teachers said they didn't have time to teach the Greek alphabet. What if primary schools tried to skip the process of learning to read and just left it to parents to do the job for them?
It's no wonder that many people emerge into adult life with half-learned or half-abandoned musical skills. The research amply demonstrates that music enhances ability, co-ordination and communication skills. Music must become a core subject in the school curriculum.
We can learn from countries like Venezuela, where a national campaign of daily musical activities for all schoolchildren has borne amazing fruit. The Arts Council's new scheme is an excellent idea, but an interest-free loan for instruments won't solve inadequacies in school curricula - we still need music to be a regular part of the school day. As the Chinese proverb says, a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
