A major change has taken place in the philosophy of music education during the last 30 years.While the so called aesthetic approach sees it relevant to offer extended musical studies only for the most talented (Reimer 1989, Swanwick 1981, Scruton 2007), the recent socio-cultural approaches (e.g. Elliott 1995, Green 2008, Regelski 2009, Karlsen & Westerlund 2010, Odendaal & al. 2014) promote music education as a human right for all and find active participation in music making or “musicking” (Small 1998) as a component of good life and active citizenship.

In this paper I ask: To what extent is music education for all? If we are to support every child’s musical participation in schools, is it possible to offer also tuition in playing musical instruments for all?

In Finland, active music making by playing instruments is an essential part of the general music curriculum in schools. However, the comprehensive schools concentrate on Orff instruments in the lower grades and rock band instruments in the upper grades, while Western classical instruments, as well as folk and rock band instruments, are taught in music schools. Also, the amount of music lessons in comprehensive schools is very small for learning to master any instrument.

A wide network of municipal music schools was created in 1960’s and 70´s in Finland, to enhance access to musical studies all over the country. In those decades, tuition fees in the music schools were strongly supported by the state to enable music as a hobby for any child independent of the economical status of the family. Also, music specialized classes were founded in schools, and students in these classes were offered also some instrumental tuition for free by the nearest music school. The students for both the music schools and music specialized classes were selected through entrance exams. In the early years for the music specialized classes, in addition to musical aptitude, also good skills in academic subjects were expected. That lead to a debate about specialized classes being elitistic.

Change in philosophical foundations has already lead to changes in student selection criteria as well as in programme contents in both music schools and music specialized classes. In addition to financially supported “Extended programmes” to which students are selected through entrance exams, many music schools offer also “Open programmes” where anyone can study, with a higher fee covering the real costs of tuition. Students for music specialized classes are currently selected only on musical basis.

At the same time, however, due to the economical crises in 1990’s and 2000’s, the support for music schools and comprehensive schools has decreased. The fees at the music schools have got higher, and the music specialized students are not offered free lessons in music schools any more. Also, the range of family incomes has got wider.

I work as a music teacher in a comprehensive school, located in an urban area. The students come from various social, cultural and economical backgrounds. One third of the students are first or second generation immigrants; more than in other schools of the city. In this school, although a music specialized line is offered, only few of the students get after school tuition in musical instruments; fewer than in the other schools of the city. Many of the parents tell, that the main reason is the costs that are beyond their reach. The other possible reason are the cultural differences: While immigrant families favor music specialized classes, they may not be aware of the possibilities of getting instrumental lessons. 

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