Research Short: Melodic Minds and Rhythm Sticks

This week, I’m speaking to Nathaniel Ford-Francis about his doctoral project ‘Melodic minds and rhythm sticks: the stories of disabled musicians’. His research investigates the experiences of disabled musicians through interviews with those musicians and organisations who provide activities for them.

Nathaniel explained how he carried out his research:

‘I conducted narrative interviews with twelve disabled musicians. These were detailed, in-depth interviews, typically lasting around an hour, where the participants were encouraged to describe their experiences of playing music. I am currently interviewing representatives from music education organisations to learn about their perceptions/expectations/concerns etc. about teaching disabled students.’

His interviews revealed the importance of the body to disabled musicians, either as a barrier or a creative resource. Participants also noted the restrictions of performances, such as accessing physical setups, social arrangements, and the behaviour of other acts backstage.

Nathaniel described the need for new performance and rehearsal expectations, which differ greatly across genres, taking into account the speed of rehearsals, navigating bespoke scores, fatigue, and dependence on musical notation. He explained the need for organisations to work with their performers, disabled or otherwise, to create a suitable environment rather than continuing to adopt the longstanding protocol.

Nathaniel hopes his research is useful for educators who teaching (or are planning to teach) disabled music students and highlighted the potential guidance for venues and those who run ensembles and concerts.

Nathaniel is a doctoral candidate at University of Leeds with supervisors Professor Roger Slee and Professor Karen Burland. Nathaniel hopes to continue his research into both the experiences of disabled people and the experiences of musicians.

We wish Nathaniel the best with the final stage of his thesis and look forward to seeing the outcomes.

Find out more:

Follow Nathaniel’s progress at his LinkedIn page.

• If you represent an organisation which provides activities for disabled musicians or if you are just interested in having a chat about his topic, his email address is ss17nff@leeds.ac.uk.

Written by Kerry Bunkhall – Research Manager for Music Mark