In 2001, the government in England pledged in the white paper Schools Achieving Success that all primary school pupils who wanted to should have the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument. The research reported here aimed to establish what contributed to the success of the implementation of this policy. The findings showed that success…

There is increasing international evidence that playing a musical instrument has a positive impact on attainment at school but little research has been undertaken in the UK. This study addresses this drawing on data on attainment at age 11 and 16 relating to 608 students, 115 of whom played a musical instrument. The fndings showed that the young…

Musical scores constitute a key element in the development of expertise in musicians from western tonal traditions, since they act as a mediator between the performer and the music itself. Our aim was to study the role of musical scores in instrumental performance practice by analysing the process of learning a new piece of music, as well as the…