Music’s Impact on Youth Development

Music Ensembles

The value for young people is distinctive and highly documented (Hallam, 2015). Additionally, the development of talent and selective practices in music education is widely challenged (Ruddock, 2018). The selective practice has been replaced with the notion that music is for and is accompanied by an interest to encourage the youths to learn and participate in music through inclusive and accessible participation. In support for youth music education, ideals such as those in the International Music Council mission, that seeks to promote access to music for all; champion the provision of opportunities for all persons, especially children and young people (Pecenka and Keller, 2009). These emphases enable the children and young people to exercise rights to learn musical activities, listen to music and understand musicals and well as to perform. Also, musical education enables the learners in creating and expressing their opinions through musicals (MacRitchie, Varlet and Keller, 2017). In the process of achieving inclusive music education and an inclusive paradigm in music education, a substantial body of research has emerged to demonstrate the wider advantages of participating in musical activities such as social, cognitive, personal and emotional advantages (Hallam, 2015).

In the context of this research, there is an emergence of out-of-school youth music programs. These programs are based on the ideas around the use of music as an instrument to promote the cognitive, social and emotional developmental opportunities for the youth (Keller, Novembre, and Loehr, 2016). Music education programs developed for youth music education employ the collective practice of music making with the aim of the development of the youths in specific communities (Keller, 2014). More specifically, internationally since the year 2000, an extensive development in community-based orchestral ensemble programs modelled upon principles of social change have emerged (Creech, Gonzales-Moreno, Lorenzino & Waitman, 2013). In England, within this period there has been the increased establishment of the National Foundation for Youth Music. The aim of these establishments is to provide a range of musical opportunities for young people even amid challenging circumstances (National Foundation for Youth Music, 2016).

Music as an art has a significant impact on the learning abilities of students in that it promotes higher order thinking skills and creativity of the learner (Luck and Toiviainen, 2006). Music has been attributed to the growth of students; analysing, applying, creating and evaluation are some of the skills that have been found to result from student’s engagement in musical activities such as singing, composing, instrumental playing and listening (Keller, 2014). Musical ensemble performance places exceptional demands on the creativity and talent of performers. Performers in musical ensembles demand a balance between interpersonal coordination and precision which leads to high creativity affaire that involves divers’ parts of the body and social skills demand as will be required in a performance (Repp, 2006).

Wider benefits of participation in music ensembles

Focusing on the wider benefits of music education, Hallam (2010; 2015) presents compelling and wide-ranging evidence of the power of music on human development. Her overview of existing evidence encompasses links between music education, musical engagement and cognitive, social, emotional, behavioural and artistic outcomes. For example, she cites research showing music's influence on aural perceptual and language skills, literacy, special reasoning and mathematical performance, self-regulation, intellectual development, general attainment, creativity, educational motivation and re-engagement of the disaffected, social and personal development, social cohesion and inclusion, pro-social behaviour and teamwork, empathy and emotional intelligence, psychological well-being, physical development, health and well-being. Many studies on the impact of music making in the lives of individuals have attributed to musical engagement in academic achievement (Schellenberg, 2004), higher adaptive behaviour, academic attainments and academic working skills (Metsapelto & Pulkkinen, 2012), as well as positive impact in social, musical and personal skills (Kokotsaki & Hallam, 2011). Active engagement and participation in music has a significant impact on the development of the perceptual process and therefore critical in the ability to encode, listen and identify the sound. Musical training has been found to sharpen the brain’s encoding of sounds which further enhances listening performance (Hallam, 2015: Hallam, et al., 2012). Musical training at a young age is attributed to the proper development of the auditory cortex and therefore then the ability to discriminate sounds. Besides, musical engagement has also been found to have any significant impact on the intellectual development of young people. Research has shown adequate evidence that active engagement in music in young people improves spatial reasoning (Volpe et al., 2016). Regarding this observation, however, research has also shown that the unstructured and poor music tuition results to a lesser impact on the learner's IQ development. Also, research has attributed longer training and engagement in music to better intellectual development (Hallam, 2015).

Social cohesion and self-regulation among young people is another benefit that has been associated with music ensembles participation (Price, Mann and Morrison, 2016). Self-regulation and executive functioning are facilitated by the cognitive flexibility required in musical training. Such flexibility includes the ability to maintain sustainable and controlled attention, long term memory encoding and decoding of musical programmes and having a goal-directed behaviour (Kokotsaki and Hallam, 2011). Proper self-regulation skills development is facilitated by an early engagement in music ensembles for young people. The engagement in extended musical activities which is again made possible in music ensembles increases affiliation through the creation of a social cohesion both between the young people training and the adults. Young people are able to socially and culturally adjust to positive attitudes through the social inclusion that is made possible through group music (Wesolowski, Wind and Engelhard, 2016). A wider cultural experience is introduced through group music, therefore, allowing young people to explore more inclusion ideas and perspectives. Music is also attributed to the general wellbeing and health of people (Kawase, 2016). The engagement in musical activities has been found to generate wellbeing emotions and feelings that are necessary for dealing with emotional difficulties. Music is widely applied in the regulation and exploration of good moods and emotions; it has been found effective in adolescents to achieve mood regulation though playing musical instruments or listening to music when they are alone. In young people, engaging in music and musical instruments in important for the development of self-identity because by engaging in musical activities, adolescents are able to deal with worries and loneliness (Repp, 2006).

Music Accessibility

Music ensemble has the goal of increasing access to music activities for disadvantaged groups. Large-scale community music organizations like El Sistema have come to international interest during the last 10 years. Founded in 1975 by way of economist and musician José Antonio Abreu, El Sistema is a publicly financed voluntary sector community music schooling programme in Venezuela which affords access to music training for heaps of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Music accessibility is connected to music judgements which are mainly based on the implicit attitude to whether the music will be accessible or not. For music to be termed accessible, the implicit judgement should be that the music can be identified and therefore exposed. These judgements are subject to numerous factors which include inequities and exclusion. Exclusion and inequities subject to numerous other factors including gender, disabilities, social-economic classes, poverty, education classes, and race among others. In recent times, music accessibility has been impacted by the challenges of digitalisation (Buchanan, Capanni and González-Vélez, 2015). The availability and accessibility of technological instruments and elements that affect how people access music poses a new set of challenges affecting music accessibility. With the evolvement and increase use of technology as an instrument for accessing music, there arises a question of whether the technology and technological instruments being used meet the requirements for Special Education Needs and Disability Act (Barile and Sugiyama, 2015).

Music may become exclusionary for less advantaged students. For students with disabilities, music accessibility might be difficult to achieve. The fact that peers without a disability might notice that the student's with disability are not learning the same is likely to steer exclusion unless teaching methods are replaced with inclusive techniques. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a flexible teaching technique has been designed to enable inclusive classroom instruction guide. UDL is student centred and effective in adapting curriculum that includes students with disabilities. UDL Guidelines are organized in the direction of increasing opportunities for success in three areas: Representation is part of a popularity network allowing various novices alternatives for obtaining information and information; Expression presents alternatives for diverse inexperienced persons to demonstrate what they recognise; and Engagement taps into freshmen' interests, offers challenges and will increase motivation. All three regions are meant to manual the educator in creating an environment wherein any child, at any time, can get right of entry to what they want to learn. All 3 may be used within the classroom to allow accessibility to study for every student in a self-determining way. In an SXSW Music, in an unofficial panel, a topic on “access denied” was engaged by artists explain their experience with attending music events while with a disability. The discussion of this topic brought in the issue of inclusion in music inclusion (Lyons, Bridges and McCloskey, 2015). Exclusion for people with disabilities is a common hindrance to music accessibility especially in live events since most of them are denied to be a part of the live scene. Two issues have emerged with regard to music accessibility involving persons with disability; venues are inaccessible and there lacks adequate information on the venues that are accessible. A reasonable adjustment is important as a strategy to improve music accessibility. Alternative modes and models for music accessibility ought to be encouraged and promoted to meet individual needs. Consequently, the music education providers face a critical dilemma and challenge in the implementation of music accessibility (Burgoyne, Fujinaga and Downie, 2015).

Music and Wellbeing

Published literature discusses educational issues referring to the education of music in music ensembles and additionally the educational emphasis of music education programmes. Bowman (2009) discusses how musical engagements in community settings broaden “individual, conduct, inclinations. Music programs including those of singing, songwriting, and recording were have been identified to be beneficial in the enhancement of health and wellbeing in culturally various communities (Bartleet, Dunbar-Hall, Letts, & Schippers, 2009; Mills & Brown, 2004). Further research has reported that music participation provides a cultural base upon which vulnerable human beings make choices about guidelines that affect them and emerge as empowered to build networks with a purpose to make the feel of their lives (Batt-Rawden, 2010; Skingley, Clift, Coulton and Rodriguez, 2011). MacDonald, Kreutz, and Mitchell (2013) highlight the developing acknowledgement of the capability benefits of the song to human wellbeing. Skingley, Clift, Coulton, and Rodriguez (2011) explained that music brings humans a feeling of belonging and lets in them to increase a feeling of identification which could promote physical and mental well-being in displaced human beings including the young and most vulnerable. Burnard et al., (2008) studies with Immigrant College students in Sweden also shows that involvement in track participation can be a vital device for social inclusion, promoting cooperation and intellectual nicely-being.

A study done with the aid of FIU's Community-Based Research Institute (CBRI) at Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work found that ensemble-primarily based musical instruction in an after college program undoubtedly influences the conduct and improvement of college-learners. These results were acquired from a study that investigated the social behaviours of 180 youngsters elderly eight to 17 over a 3-year duration and also blanketed 178 primary caregivers. Working with Miami Music Project, a Florida-primarily based non-profit arts and social development company founded in 2008, the researchers based their investigations in three locations. Miami Music Project uses the world over identified El Sistema tune schooling philosophy, which changed and developed by economist and musician José Antonio Abreu to create a fine person and social improvement through track training in response to intense poverty in Venezuela. The study offers empirical documentation of the numerous significant ways that participation in an El Sistema-stimulated application is impacting among adolescents. In this type of rigorous orchestral model of musical preparation, learners seem to collect no longer simplest cognitive improvement and also improvement was recorded regarding their social and emotional development. Through music ensembles, training individuals showed widespread positive adjustments in all 5 C's, in particular inside the areas of personal, competence and emotional development. Orchestral model of music coaching gives college students cognitive benefits in addition to social and emotional wellbeing, presumably due to gaining knowledge about themselves in an environment that calls for disciplined social inclusion. After-college community music ensembles packages offer a secure space for kids to research and practice social-emotional abilities associated with superb children development and lifelong well-being.

The National Orchestra for All (NOFA)

Within this context, a plethora of organized out-of-school youth music programs have emerged, united by ideals that focus around using music as a vehicle for promoting social, emotional, and cognitive developmental opportunities for young people. Music education programs around the world use the collective practice of music making to support youth development within specific communities. For example, internationally since the year 2000 there has been extensive development of community-based orchestral ensemble programs modelled upon principles of social change espoused by Venezuela’s El Sistema (Creech, Gonzales-Moreno, Lorenzino & Waitman, 2013), while in England during the same period we have seen the establishment of the National Foundation for Youth Music, dedicated to providing a range of musical opportunities for young people in challenging circumstances (National Foundation for Youth Music, 2016). One such program is the National Orchestra for All (NOFA), an open-access residential orchestral program, established in the belief that no young person aged 11-18 should be excluded from the artistic experience and non-musical benefits of making music in a large ensemble with other committed young musicians. NOFA's vision is music without boundaries, in the form of a non-auditioned orchestra open to young people of all standards and stages of musical development. NOFA's main experience happens during a four-day summer residential course comprising intensive rehearsal schedules including sectional work and the whole orchestra and culminating in a final concert. In addition, during the winter months, NOFA hosts regional creative workshops, focusing on composition and improvisation activities (Fox, Currie, and Brennan, 2018).

The residential summer course always includes a performance of a piece composed by the young people during the regional winter workshops or online collaborations. NOFA’s summer course repertoire furthermore includes varied genres, such as hip-hop, rap, jazz, world music, and classical music. In each orchestral season, the repertoire evolves around an interdisciplinary theme with collaborations of guest artists representing different art forms. For example, the theme Where Music Meets explored relationships between different music genres, Painters of Sound focused on collaborations involving music and visual art, and Rhythm of Life brought together young musicians and dancers. Approximately 100 participants are recruited for the summer residential course through a nomination process from schools ranking among the most challenging in the country (measured by the UK Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index). Nominations are based on a demonstrated commitment to music and music making in and/or out of school and sufficient emotional maturity to benefit from and contribute to a residential course. Typically, NOFA participants have experienced: a) musical isolation – no orchestra or ensemble playing opportunities in school or the local community; b) late start on musical instrument instruction – lack of advanced skills required for “mainstream” selective instrumental ensembles; or c) challenging family or caretaker circumstances and special educational needs; alongside a commitment and dedication to music. In many instances, participants return to the residential program year after year, eventually taking leadership roles (Jellison and Draper, 2015).

Inclusive practices

Inclusion refers to a state of ensuring that all learners achieve and participate despite differences that may include poverty, linguistic and cultural heritage differences, race, class, religion or gender. Achieving inclusion in the music classroom is as important as ensuring a proper curriculum or teaching pedagogy is being used (Kenny, 2014). In a study by the College Music Society “Transforming Music Study from Its Foundations: A Manifesto for Progressive Change in the Undergraduate Preparation of Music Majors”, a paradigm shift in music education was urged. The authors argued that the conventional model does not cover the needs and the opportunities of the students in music today. There is a high recommendation for inclusion of diversity in the music of all forms, cultures, periods and styles (Laes, Westerlund, 2017). The question that arises on the issue of inclusive practice is what needs to be done to encourage adaption and change in the music education structures. The aim of these practices is to create and deliver a well-rounded music education that is culturally appropriate and relevant (Burnard et al., 2008). Against the political and cultural backdrop defined, music training deals with other inclusive challenges. Fewer opportunities is an obvious challenge in principal orchestras. Youth from deprived areas have much less opportunity and lack the financial availability to pay charges related to musical studies, thereby lowering their opportunities to getting established right into a college track application and achieving music training (DeLorenzo, 2012). Though psychosocial problems (such as friendships, self-identity) and the character music trainer can have an effect on pupil musical participation, the problems of how race and socioeconomics play into what students accept as true.

Empowering all music instructors, irrespective of teaching undertaking, with much broader expertise of the world is impossible without interactions among the musical areas of researcher, performer, creator, practitioner, and those who keep the council in all the one's musical areas, consequently preventing the profession from fully knowing what music training could be. Traditional formal mastering in the song classroom has been further challenged by the upward thrust in casual track studying, impacting the way college students view music education (Wright, 2013). Gendered musical traditions influence the functioning of both professional and school music ensembles. Similarly, Gould argues that the masculine country-building function of music additionally works in counterpoint to the female function of nurturing and maintaining society. One of the approaches that perceptions of gender have manifested in music education through college students’ instrument selections. Studies have confirmed that drums, trumpet, tuba, and saxophone are frequently diagnosed as masculine, while flute, violin, clarinet and oboe are diagnosed as female.

Breaking gender stereotypes is arguably creating an expectation of excellence that recognizes the necessity of a gender diverse ensemble. Such ensembles, however, provide a rigorous instance and practice of traumatic, deliberative (epistemic) democratic virtues. These virtues are developed by means of the belief that musical excellence is reached through a multiplicity of musical interpretations, negotiated through the conductor, in which men and women interact on the same gambling discipline to assemble an extra worldwide interpretation of a musical training Music education also is required to move towards a music-for-all mission which is only achievable through the exploration of the diversity that exists in terms of musical styles (Humpal and Wolf, 2007).

An inclusive community of practice (Wider benefits)

Music education is composed of the study of cultures, people and places from an artistic point of view to understand the creation and performance of music. These aspects of music are there subject the diversity of people which makes it important for the students to learn the diversities caused in music such as different musical styles, genres, and culture (Alekhina, 2016). Embracing a holistic approach to learning and teaching music is necessitated first by the National Music Standards as well as the need to encourage music teachers to explore musical diversities around the world. In support of this, it is important that ensembles employ a diverse teaching workforce. Also, based on a statement provided the Access and Equity in Music Education, music ensembles must address the issue on equitable access to music education. Achieving equitable music education is paramount to achieving creativity as it will achieve an inclusive education regardless of the students’ ethnicity, economic status, academic standing and musical abilities (Armstrong, Armstrong and Barton, 2016). Inclusion means that enough space is availed to the others with a developed structure. It means that the structure includes students with impairments by providing them with the right adaptive instruments. A system with diversity is structured support and encourage growth and incremental representation of all people without a need for changes to accommodate everyone.

In an inclusive community, it will be possible to achieve equity in music education. Equity requires that the structures and systems are altered to create an environment that allows all students to achieve educational opportunities (Ruhindwa, 2016). An equity setting enhances support by reducing harm and revising an abusive system. In all levels of ensembles, achieving equity is necessary for achieving proper representation and to promote creativity. Multidimensional, transformative, empowering and comprehensive culturally responsive pedagogy in music education are important in that it facilitates the creation of value to the students on the different cultures involved Sonn and Baker, 2016). Music ensembles by embracing inclusive practices prepare the students to the diversity of the world. David Ausubel's Learning Theory encourages the use of cultural music which the students relate to as a way of teaching new material. Inclusive musical practice demotrstaes cultural democracy which is focused towards enabling music creators to make musical opportunities for an inclusive community (Botha and Kourkoutas, 2016). Community music ensembles act as a support system to community diversities. Skills required to drive this cultural diversity require that the teachers be versed in musical activities with diverse perspectives. Involving in inclusive practices for community-based music ensemble is also important in reading the musical response of the individuals there providing leadership and social guidance to a group’s musical journey.

Higher inclusivity would be attained through an integrated interaction between music educationists and other stakeholders in the industry such as the musicians. The aim of such an interaction is to provide teachers with an all-round knowledge regarding music in the contemporary aspect. The two groups of stakeholders in music development could share research, teaching practices and curricula on popular music so as to identify changes and as a result identify practices that will equip the learners with such diversity that is needed (Kelly-McHale, 2018).

Transferable competencies

Typically, the concept of transferable skills refers to competencies which have relevance, utility, and portability throughout exceptional cognitive domain names, subject regions, or social conditions (Bridges, 1993; Rocha, 2014). Transferable skills may additionally encompass private virtues and characteristics in addition to abilities related to seasoned-social behaviour, collaboration, or group working (Bridges, 1993). In music training, there was large discourse across the consequences of participation which might be expressed as transferable skills or skills. Particularly inside programmes orientated across the concept of fantastic youngsters improvement, among which can be found Sistema-inspired ensembles, there may be a robust emphasis at the concept that music participation can function as a context for the improvement of personal assets. Such developmental (and probably transferable) assets include creativity, leadership, altruism, agency, self-sufficient action, morality, spirituality, and initiative (Damon, 2004; Larson, 2000), in addition to social capabilities including bonding and seasoned-social involvement (Bonell et al., 2016). There is a few evidence that youth music programmes can indeed achieve success in fostering transferable capabilities. For instance, within the UK, an overview of 15 initiatives that targeted at-risk youth no longer in education, employment, or education (QA Research, 2012) verified that individuals advanced transferable skills that included ‘educational competencies, listening, reasoning and decision making, attention and recognition, crew operating, time maintaining, purpose placing and assembly cut-off dates’. The evaluate also diagnosed greater non-public talents including ‘vanity, self-appreciate, pride, empowerment, sense of success and confidence and a ramification of friendships, consider and advanced relationships with adults’ (Hallam, 2015, p.77). Social talents, which includes the ability to forge robust friendships, a commitment to supporting fellow network participants, and being proactive in combatting social inequities, have been determined to be promoted within school music ensembles (Miksza, 2010). Analysing a records set comprising over 12,000 white and minority college students representing 603 regions of the united states, Miksza determined that participation in ensembles became related constantly to what he termed as ‘community ethics’, even when controlling for a number of man or woman and college-degree outcomes which include socioeconomic and minority popularity, city or rural places, and qualifications of the music teachers.

Within the particular area of Sistema-inspired orchestral activities, constantly and always, programme objectives have targeted around promoting personal and social developmental property, referring to a wider range of underlying ideas such as self assurance, vanity, pride, happiness, emotional awareness, optimism, teamwork, cooperation, and network spirit (see Creech et al., 2013; Hopkins, Provenzano & Spencer, 2016). The well-known premise is that the willpower, consciousness, and subject required in pursuit of shared, collective desires, specifically inside the context of joyful tune-making, promotes a revitalized feel of self and network, in turn underpinning the improvement of a number of transferable talents and abilities (Creech et al., 2013).

According to Hallam (2015), the switch of getting to know can involve the spontaneous switch of computerized capabilities, or rather may additionally contain an extra deliberate, aware, and reflective manner. This latter form of ‘high street transfer' (Salomon and Perkins, 1989) can be applied in knowledge how abilities acquired thru song instrumental getting to know and participation may be implemented inside different contexts. Examples of capabilities transferred through high avenue switch consist of ‘being able to realise personal strengths and weaknesses, being aware of a variety of feasible techniques (challenge related and private regarding motivation, awareness), monitoring progress and evaluating effects' (Hallam, 2015, p. 27).

Collaborative practices

Music is inherently social and creative which means that music is either performed in a group or is influenced by an audience. For this reason, collaborative practices are important for enhancing performance; to enable the performers to adapt to unexpected performance conditions and to improvise new materials. Creativity in an ensemble is distributed across the performance and therefore the need for collaborative practices. Research looking at the social nature of creativity and identity in music has emerged. In Burnard and Murphy, (2017): Cremata and Powell (2017) the authors show the importance of social interactions and on creativity identity of performers. The pedagogical advantages of collaborative learning in higher training are evidently experienced in these institutions (Clarke and Doffman, 2017), however much training in these institutions still employs isolated learning (Warner et al., 2016) and this is especially the case in most music training ensembles where computer-based workstations comprise of the major technology for skills development and improvement. Regardless of a scholar's desire for musical creative engagement and style, skills development is greatly comprised of individual work. (e.g in composition, blending, or mastering) , an inclination recognized in Stige (2017). And notwithstanding a collaborative ethos composed of many types of famous music production, the position titles of ‘producer’ and ‘artist’ help in demarcating the technologists from the rest of them. In music, the possibility to make a tune in an ensemble is broadly recognized as important in developing students’ knowledge of music, creativity, and musical lifestyle, as well as crucial communication skills (Gruenhagen, 2017).

Minors et al., (2017) has recognized a dynamic connection present in the creative ‘self’, and externally going through social practices. It is clear that creativity, including compositional creativity, is formed by way of ‘shared know-how practices’ (Cook, 2017). The creative identity of a person and their social experiences in musical activities are intertwined (Hargreaves et al. 2012) and mastering contexts display interconnectedness (O’Neill 2012). Ensembles thrive when there is an established trust among a team of workers and students (Clarke and Doffman, 2017), and this can simplest be nurtured over a prolonged time frame. Similarly, ongoing dedication through individuals over a number of years permits the ensemble to bolster and mature, growing the capacity for peer studying a position between experienced and amateur individuals (Cremata and Powell, 2017). Attending the ensemble can shape how a student is perceived based on skills and experiences they can demonstrate, and this will elicit scepticism and anxiety on strange approaches. Curiosity and self-motivation ought to win over these anxieties for students to acquire creativity and knowledge needed in their studies. As soon as students start attending an ensemble may be difficult to make a certain dedication. Changes on the staffing arrangements are inevitable and any ensemble depending closely on one member of staff may additionally locate itself in a precarious position. A student-managed self-sustaining is the most suitable to deal with the issue of staffing changes, in practice, this is extremely difficult to establish because of the aforementioned troubles. The multitude of methods and substantially changing conditions characterise contemporary compositional practice which calls for a revised form of musical creativities (Clarke and Doffman, 2017).

Limited research

Communal music-making or community music as defined by Rimmer: 'a small number of musicians working with groups of varying sizes to enable them to develop active and creative involvement in music making and music-related activity‘(Rimmer, 2009 p. 72), is very complex to evaluate and even harder to quantify its impact for the community because of its many variables and multidisciplinary structure. Snowden (2003) in her extensive review of literature in community arts education and policy-making, suggests that there is a need for a shared philosophical framework that will support continuous, inclusive and interlinked experiences and will embrace a more holistic approach in the development of the child and the community. She argues that 'Rising expectations in student achievement, school performance, and accountability spawned by new research linking academic achievement to musical aptitude has led to the gross misconception of what music (arts) education should look like‘(Snowden, 2003 p.31) Similarly, research and impact measurement of community music-making which focuses on isolating discrete variables and is less concerned with the wider social and cultural influences on music perception can be counterproductive. For example, Rimmer (2009) looked at three community music programmes in the UK for young people considered at risk of social exclusion. The programmes were funded by Youth Music, one of the UK's children's music charity. Through a close ethnographic approach, interviews, group discussions and observations, Rimmer aimed to identify the implications of the governmental cultural policy at that time. Through his findings, he argued that the programmes failed to engage the less musically confident but competent and open young people because of focusing more on the artistic product rather than the process of creating art. This, he claimed, was a result of the need to produce short-term evaluation results that demonstrated the wider impact and provided justifications of the government's investment, a difficult task given the programme's complexity. Also, there was a prioritization of structured music-making activities and the development of musical skills as goals required by the funding bodies at the expense of unstructured, student-led musical activities (Rimmer, 2009).

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