You can’t always get what you want
Council can’t afford free music tuition
One of my favourite songs is titled “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – instantly recognisable as a classic by The Rolling Stones – though never actually released as a single.
Legend has it that Mick Jagger got the line in his head when he went to buy a Cherry Cola in a drug store in Minnesota during their 1964 US tour .
And when told his favourite flavour was out of stock, the guy behind him said philosophically, “Well, you can’t always get what you want”.
Mick and co- writer Keith Richards turned that single line into an anthem that summed up the angst and disillusionment of life in the early 1960’ s. But it included a glimpse of optimism with the next line, “But if you try, sometime you find, you get what you need”.
“Er . . . where’s this story going?” – I can already hear you asking.
Well caller, my point is that two of the greatest musicians and songwriters of our generation went on to find fame and fortune
. . . without any formal musical education at school.
Like many of South Ayrshire Council schools in 2019 . . . the London Borough of Dartford’s Wentworth Primary School in the 1950’ s didn’t teach musical instruments either!
And yes, maybe they didn’t know any better – but it didn’t do them any real harm either.
Mr Jagger was actually given his first guitar by his father when aged fourteen – and learned his first chords from a “Teach Yourself Guitar” book. Mr Richards was a bit more fortunate. His grandfather was a musician and kept a guitar on top of his old piano. Young Master Richards was promised that “when you’re old enough to reach it, you’ll be old enough to let me teach it”.
But one day, his grandfather found little Keith had used a chair and ladder of books to get to the guitar.
“Well, if you’re that determined
. . .” said the old man. And Keith’s musical education began. While not every child in South Ayrshire has a musically minded relative at hand to help them – the same can be argued that not every family can afford the new £ 200 tuition fees South Ayrshire have introduced. A Scottish Government recommendation says that “music tuition should be provided free of charge in every local community”. But this is slightly . .
. er . . . let’s say out of harmony . . . coming from a Government which continues to reduce their annual subsidy of local councils. Back in the day, “music” might well have been on the curriculum. But from memory, it usually consisted of the class singing “Hearts of Oak” or “Camptown Races” while the music teacher played piano with one hand and checked his watch on the other!
“If the music is in you – it will find its way out” he used to tell us.
Regular readers of this space will tell you that I agree with SAC as often as The MacDonald Brothers have a UK No 1. But if South Ayrshire says the funds simply aren’t there for free musical instrument lessons – I’m prepared to take them at their word.
And if you asked most parents to list what they wanted their child to achieve during their 12 years of free, full- time education – I doubt if being able to make a decent hash of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata would be on any of them. I’m all for inclusion and equality. But as George Orwell nearly said – all families are equal . . . except some are more equal than others It’s just a harsh fact of life that the family at No 24 can afford to take their kids to Benidorm . . . while the family at No 26 can’t. And it’s a shame that same analogy should come down to something as basic as piano lessons.
Music instruction being restricted to those who can afford them isn’t perfect – but it’s taken us on a joyous journey from Mozart to McCartney and Chopin to Sheeran. Yes, we would ALL like free music tuition for EVERY child in South Ayrshire.
But hey . . . . you can’t always get what you want . . .
Music tuition being restricted to those who can afford them isn’t perfect