If Stephen Hawking was a musician…

Disabled people face many barriers to participation in the world of music. Accreditation is arguably the thorniest barrier of all, not least because some approaches that enable better disabled access music also challenge the more traditional structures of music education in the UK. Exam boards state that they are accessible as required under the Special Educational Needs Disability Act legislation, but few pathways are tried and tested across a broad spectrum of disabled people. Consequently, it often unclear how access is actually to be afforded. Where pathways have been tested, it’s often in a bespoke manner that’s not necessarily transferable, applicable to or re-useable by other (differently) disabled students.

Many disabled people rely on technology or other alternative means of communication to compose, perform and learn about music – from blind people using Braille scores, to physically disabled people using assistive technology to control computers. Assistive technology can range from the lo-tech (such as joysticks or switches instead of a mouse) to the hi-tech (such as motion sensors that can harness any physical gesture, however large or small). Recent developments in electroencephalography have even enabled Mick Grierson of Goldsmiths College, University of London to play musical notes just by thinking of them.

While adapted forms of musical notation, such as Braille, sit reasonably comfortably within existing accreditation frameworks, assistive music technology sometimes turns the traditional relationship between musician and musical instrument upside down. A conventional musical instrument exam assesses the musician’s ability to manipulate an instrument’s pre-existing musical characteristics – the musician is subordinate to the requirements of that instrument and its repertoire. Conversely, Assistive Music Technology takes the unique challenges faced by each individual as the blueprint for a new, bespoke musical instrument – the instrument is subordinate to the requirements of the musician. This presents two major issues in terms of musical accreditation: firstly, to what extent is the assistive technology assistive, and secondly, how can you comparatively accredit different students playing different bespoke instruments?

Since 2008, the Drake Music ‘Curriculum Development Initiative’ has been grappling with these issues and many more, in an attempt to identify and break down disabling barriers to accreditation in music. Now, we are beginning to achieve clarity in a number of areas. Some barriers require fairly straightforward, practical solutions. For example, timetabling presents major problems for disabled students and their teachers in both Special Educational Needs and ‘mainstream’ schools. There needs to be a better understanding that it simply takes longer to prepare for and teach most disabled students than their non-disabled peers. There is also much more that can be done to support teachers in terms of resources and training. Drake Music is creating, piloting and will soon be distributing accessible, re-useable learning and assessment resources for BTEC music as well as our own National Open College Network Music course, supported by accessible curriculum training.
The solution to other barriers requires a more significant shift in thinking. For example, we’re beginning to investigate the issues around accrediting musical performance using Assistive Music Technology in discussion with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and Bath Spa University. In moving away from a preoccupation with the traditions of the instrument on which the student is assessed, we hope to find a way to accredit the quality of the musical outcome in relation to the potential of the different kinds of musical equipment used to produce it.
Common to all barriers is the need for a greater awareness of the potential of disabled musicians, especially considering the ever-improving access afforded by advances in technology. Many people enjoy the music of disabled musicians such as Stevie Wonder or Evelyn Glennie. Who is to say that in 20 years time there won’t be disabled musicians who are to music what Professor Stephen Hawking is to physics.