Can instrumental music be truly inclusive if playing in ensembles demands a certain standard of note reading ability and instrumental skill?

​How can we accommodate the range of skills levels and experience often found amongst instrumentalists?

Are we really nurturing the ‘whole musician’ if learning and performing comes from reading the notes?

On Cue is the Musical Futures approach to creative music-making. New resources combined with non-formal pedagogies (and practices) make On Cue suitable for use with any ensemble.

Music is initially learned by ear and basic melodic ideas are then developed through improvisation and collaborative composition. Developed in partnership with Freelance musician and composer Adam Saunders, the approach consists of 7 steps to learning musical content through use of body percussion, vocalising, singing, playing by ear and improvising to build, create, develop and perform a new piece of music as a large group.

The On Cue resource consists of:
  • A powerpoint resource to aid teaching
  • Relevant notations
  • Relevant backing tracks
  • Key charts
  • Seating plans
  • Teacher notes​​

An introduction to On Cue