Music Makers 'Learn to Play' programme returns to Derry this autumn

UK charity ‘Music for All’ have announced that their highly anticipated annual flagship event Learn to Play is returning this Autumn, and are opening the opportunity for anyone interested in music-making a chance to take part in the biggest free music making weekend of the year!

The event will be held in Londonderry Bands Forum at New Gate Arts and Culture Centre in Derry on October 9-12 and is open to everyone; regardless of age, experience and background and provides opportunities for participants to experience a free taster music making lesson.

Running for over a decade, Learn to Play aims to inspire, encourage and enable both new and lapsed music makers to enjoy the huge benefits of music making, as well as connecting and championing UK music providers.

Recent research shows that listening to music and playing a musical instrument can have profound positive benefits on brain health from childhood through to late adulthood.

In a 2024 report published by the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, more than 1,100 people with an average age of 68 were studied practising and reading music to help sustain good memory and the ability to solve complex tasks. The results showed that people who played musical instruments benefitted the most because of the "multiple cognitive demands" of the activity. They concluded music should be considered as part of a lifestyle approach to maintain the brain as we age.

Similarly, taking up a musical instrument in childhood is associated with improved thinking skills in older age. A 2022 study, funded by Age UK and the Economic and Social Research Council tested the cognitive ability of children at age 11 and repeated again at age 70 – this included questions requiring verbal reasoning, spatial awareness, and numerical analysis. Out of the 366 study participants, 117 reported having experience of playing a musical instrument during their childhood.

Sonali Banerjee, Music for All’s General Manager explains: “Engagement with performance-based art, particularly participation in music, has been very well documented over the years as being linked to reductions in depression, anxiety and pain and improved quality of life for many people.

“Learn to Play activities are needed now more than ever and through our regional music making events, we aim to support and inspire as many people as possible in experiencing the unique joys and benefits of music making.

“Learn to Play arrives at a time where music making opportunities are difficult to access due to current continued real terms cuts to arts education - resulting in many primary schools failing to meet basic music curriculum needs for young people.

“These cuts impact the future of the UK arts scene, and the creative potential of the next generation as well as the people who deliver quality arts education in the UK. At Music for All we make it our mission to support disadvantaged music makers with financial resources to access music making, and Learn to Play is a fundamental part of this work.”

Interested in experiencing the joys of music-making and taking part in Learn to Play ’25 with a free music lesson? It couldn’t be easier, simply visit the Learn to Play ‘25 website, select your closest venue using the interactive map and register interest directly with the venue.

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The Learn to Play ’25 event is generously supported by the NAMM Foundation and The Foyle Foundation. Partners include Music Industries Association, Making Music, Black Lives in Music, Take it Away, and Yamaha Music London.