This is bullshit, sorry. This is pure chance- the correlation between music in schools and musicians in the charts is limited. Public schools have always offered more musical opportunities, so the point is null and void.

Singers have natural talent- granted, it may be honed by a music teacher, but passion for music is an individual's personal development, not something a government can force, and bands are formed in bedrooms and basements, not in Common Rooms and quadrangles.

Anyone who looks at the charts can see from the tunes and lyrics that most of modern music is just one rhythm-pounding dance buzz after another, and most modern ''artists'' come across as borderline retarded in their interviews anyway.

Real music is still out there, it just doesn't get airplay. Using popular music as an example of actual musical talent is a poor misconception- anyone with a grain of music interest beyond what the radio plays and over the age of 14 will tell you there are decent artists out there- and if they produce quality, original music, there upbringing is superfluous information.

Buy your kid a cheap accoustic guitar and make sure you play the stuff that 'grooves', (refer to previous post). They need to listen to the good stuff to be able to know what music is!

I never went to public school, and hated most sport [AUG birthday] except cricket and swimming,in fact I was considered quite a nerd, a title I enjoyed!
Nevertheless at age 10, I could strip and rebuild a 4 stroke motorcycle engine, and had held the paraffin lamp for our local vet to calve a cow. Complete mysteries to the other pupils. At our local council primary school, everyone had to read before the class, soon builds confidence,as does knowing that if you put the Ram into a flock of ewes in November, there will be lambs in late March, and an ability to drive a tractor properly at age 11,even being 'lent' to a neighbour to plough a field for him as he was ill, got paid too!

i think this is more of a role model problem. i know of at least one youngish working class male, who hates dance music and would like to try playing the guitar, i leant him a steve earle cd, and he loved it, but the bimbo pop culture of radio one has created a vacuum. so young working class men (sorry, don't mean to be sexist, but it is such a male dominated industry) don't actually have any role models, whereas the beatles did. while currently most "bands" are very middle class and so its easy for students at private school to see themselves in that role, and therefore copy people who appear to be so like themselves.

and this very middle class soft rock music is very popular with the bbc, so the perception is created that its middle class young males from private schools who do this.

we.................i'll probably get banned from this website for saying this, but country music is a much more working class music, and better access to it would probably encourage greater more working class people to participate, but while its either bimbo pop dance music or middle class rock bands the impression is created that its not a working class music, although its roots certainly are.

also to further disagree with the solution offered here, the other issue is that popular music has become institutionalised, and is now taught at higher education establishments across the land, which are more commonly the home of middle class students, so again access is made easier through this for middle class children.

It does not matter if public school kids dominate the charts since singles are irrelevant to the modern popular music.Many important young artists have been educated at state schools as illustrated by this years winners of the Mecury Music Prize : The XX . Most of the best artists in rock come from the United States or Canada . Arcade fire are currently the most creative band in the world . The great song writers are in the united states . The problem for Uk. Music is the limited number of small labels that are prepared to invest in young dynamic artists. The Internet has facillitated the demise of the singles chart and records sales .this has subsequently lead to record companies unwilling to invest in genuine musical talent. The commercial music charts have never been so poor as they are in 2010. However the number of great albums been released has been impressive . Look at Uncut magazine or Mojo to see the great artists recording in the 21st century .

Aged 12 my daughter went to join a local 'Silver Band' playing tenor horn, by age 16 she was lead TH. Whilst with the band had 4 free tours of Europe! You don't need to be rich to play.Took a music hons degree at Birmingham University, now sings professionally.

Appropriate name, Anal...etc, because you sound like a real arsehole.

Probably more to do with connections and opportunity than talent. I would assume that most of the Dubstep, R&B talent in this country has had formal music lessons. Kids wanting to make music will do so, as they have done for the last 60 years or so now. Its happened before with punk (here's a guitar, here's three chords, go form a band) and some outstanding music was created and in many underground scenes since, so don't despair just yet. Most of the great bands were too cool for music lessons

I call bullshit. I went through the present top 20 and I only found 3 who went to private school.

Actually Paul, dubstep is MASSIVELY posh! Last dubstep DJ I spoke to went to some international school in Switzerland after Winchester. And yes, he was a total dick. Dubstep is THE anthemn of BoBo 20somethings.

As ever, an excellent post from Duncan on education, a real strong suit of his.

This is about to whom are the arts and so reserved. A lot of people have worked extremely hard to bring these things within public grasp. That trend is now in decline.

As with everything, the lower classes are relgated to a class of cultural consumption instead of production. Why make music when you can buy it from a nice bunch of lads from Ampleforth?

We have to ask ourselves whether anyone from Bedales actually has anything to sing about worth listening to.

So many pupils, particularly ones with average acheivement, now waste time chasing NVQs that are "worth" several GCSEs instead of talking a language, arts or other, proper, non-core subject where they might shine (good for targets, bad for the pupil). No public school debases its pupils in this way.