ABSTRACT
The Working Group for Music in the National Curriculum, set up in 1990 by the Secretary of State for Education and Science, identified the fact that few primary schools used microcomputers for music (DES, 1990, p. 5, para. 2.13). The evidence base for this claim was HMI visits to almost 500 primary schools between 1982 and 1989. The finding was hardly surprising given the infancy of the technology: there has been considerable development in computer hardware and software packages available to schools since that time. Perhaps more surprising is the lack of mention in the HMI evidence of electronic music keyboards in primary schools. These have been available at inexpensive prices since the early-mid 1980s and many children have access to them in their own homes. It is true that, ten years on from the general availability of such music technology, there is still relatively little use of music technology being made in primary schools.
