Ivan Cammarata, Continuous Improvement Lead for the South of England at the National Autistic Society, explains how he taught autistic participants to read and play music using colours and shapes.   

The journey into a new music method started by creating a ‘Music Lab’ for the people attending the National Autistic Society’s West London Centre. The aim was and still is to promote music as a medium for emotional release and creative expression, since music can help autistic individuals release stress, engage and build social connections. 

The session was initially for participants to familiarise themselves with percussion instruments and music concepts. It later became a more creative environment where they were guided to follow rhythmic patterns and instructions.  

Early stages

The opportunity to engage with someone playing music and play percussion instruments slowly built attendees’ interest. At the beginning of the Music Lab, we had two to three attendees, but this increased and it was obvious that music was of interest. It was very pleasant for me to see, for instance, that no verbal prompt was needed to remind them of the session. We then looked for a way to deliver better-structured sessions. 

A method using colours and shapes

I started to explore the possibility of using colours and shapes (circles), with verbal instructions or prompts, to teach music. Each coloured circle corresponds to a percussion instrument and the percussion instrument subsequently has the same colour used for the drawn circle. This helps people to identify the instruments. Over time, this system allows the learner to match the colour-coded circles to the corresponding percussion instrument and facilitates the learning process. 

Various colours can be combined, representing different percussion instruments or parts of a drum kit. As a result, diverse rhythmic patterns and combinations can be created.
This visual representation helps learners to grasp the concepts of rhythm, sounds and pauses. 

Combining all these aspects made the transition from recognising coloured circles to understanding musical notes much easier and quicker since participants had already gained confidence in interacting with a coded system. 

I initially introduced musical notes using simple and prolonged notes. This helped participants gradually become more confident with the system, enabling more complex patterns to be introduced. 

This method provided learners with: 

• bespoke visual, verbal and object reference communication
• a higher level of engagement and commitment 
• enablement of cognitive flexibility 
• and, most importantly, helped them learn how to play a musical instrument and read music simultaneously. 

This method demonstrates how a tailored approach that considers the needs of autistic learners with learning difficulties can make a difference and sustain their ability to understand and internalise complex skills such as reading music. 

The difficulties in introducing it revolved around introducing music notes without creating frustrations or disruptions to their enjoyment. This required careful session planning and we often had to step back and analyse how to proceed with different steps.

Showcasing skills

We organised a live performance to showcase the attendees’ achievements. Three learners played and read music together as a group while performing in front of an audience. Their parents were pleasantly surprised and very happy to see their progress. 

Future plans

The immediate goal is to enhance the music-reading skills of all participants and introduce more complex rhythmic patterns. Ultimately, the aim is to see these skills transferred to other areas of their lives, promoting greater independence and social interaction.
In the future, I hope to explore the potential of teaching music reading more broadly and develop techniques for teaching music writing.