De Viggiani, N., Daykin, N., Moriarty, Y. and Pilkington, P. and ...

In all of the programmes, the musicians took care to provide clear, uncomplicated instruction, and
most participants showed that they could follow their instruction. However, avoidance behaviour
was common across the programmes; even the most responsive groups contained individuals who
seemed to resist the musicians’ advice and instruction, evidently finding learning engagement
personally challenging.
When trying to explain the theory behind the music, a couple of participants seem
distracted. Boyd is taking a good look at the instruments but he appears bored, huffing and
fidgeting a lot … (Site A)
For some younger participants, staff commented that it was a significant achievement that they
even turned up and remained for the duration of the sessions. Concentration levels for some, even
for a very short time, was challenging. The musicians therefore had to develop strategies to engage
those who were easily distracted, unable to keep up, ready to give up or who frequently
complained about the process being too difficult or the environment being uncomfortable.
Boyd seems to be getting fed up ... He is still taking part, but he keeps looking at the walls.
He says he has a sore shoulder … Most of the participants are listening during the short
theory talk, but seem slightly confused by it. Some seem intrigued by the goat’s skin and fur
used on the drums, and ask what other instruments are made using animal parts. Some are
joking among themselves while this is going on and are clearly not engaging at all. One
participant gets up and goes to the toilet; when he returns, he starts distracting the others
with a toilet story. (Site A)
Some participants needed intensive one-to-one attention to keep them focused and motivated.
Such individuals were easily distracted, appeared bored and would smirk, giggle, make comments,
make excuses for not joining in, ignore the process, and do their own thing; in some cases,
individuals just got up and left the room midway through a session. Despite this, most programmes
had a core group who actively engaged with the musicians once they had overcome initial
uncertainties or apprehensions. These participants became increasingly involved and absorbed by
the process, and began to pick new skills and confidence. Several groups became very clearly
engaged to the point that they insisted on working through their scheduled breaks.
Making Progress
For some of the young people, progress was slow and required intensive one-to-one support. These
individuals often had difficulty recalling the progress that had been made during the previous
session, and what had been agreed. This meant a lot of time was devoted to recapping or, for those
who had missed a session, catching up. On the other hand, some participants – particularly within
the older groups – were eager to keep things moving and were building on their learning and
progress, session by session. The end goal of the recorded CD was very important to most
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