Dame Evelyn Glennie: We must make sure that every child has the opportunity to benefit from a musical education

The question I am asked the most is why did I choose music and in particular, percussion.

My choice was hugely influenced by the excellent music education I had at a small primary school north of Aberdeen. I had the opportunity to experience the wonders of learning and playing music. Every child left my primary school able to read music. How many schools today can lay claim to this?

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My school had two teachers and 38 pupils. Every Friday afternoon we were fed a diet of music from a visiting music teacher. We had the chance to perform at every opportunity. By the time I entered secondary school I had spent one year playing the clarinet, reached Grade 5 on piano, sang, and was taking part in county festivals on recorder. I was not alone. My journey continued at secondary school under the auspices of a brilliant head teacher who ensured every child was given the opportunity to participate in music making with the chance to learn an instrument free of charge.

Over the years, governments and parents have debated issues in education. And yet we still have poorly paid teachers, poor results and school closures. We have an abundance of young people with learning difficulties, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, mental problems and some caught up in custodial sentences.

But what does this have to do with music, I hear you ask?

My performances have been described as a feast of courses delivered and savoured. Consider a meal and how it tastes. Does it taste different when you gulp it down? If eaten too quickly, do you really taste it and does it have a positive impact on your well-being? It's a short-term fix but it can cause problems later. This isn't the investment I want to make on my well-being. I want to sit down and experience the delights of each flavour, savouring the juices of something exquisitely cooked and served.

For me, music is my daily medicine. I invite you to say those words to yourself slowly, feel their shape, experience their sound as they vibrate through your body. Taste the words. Spend time digesting this phrase. Sit down on your own or with your family and listen to one piece of music and consider how it makes you feel. Have that internal conversation with yourself or share it with your family. We are all entitled to our own feelings towards music and it's fun sharing this!

The Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly said: "What is spoiled or omitted at this age (pre-school) cannot be put right later on. In these years man's future is decided practically for his whole lifetime". I see the need for urgency to redress the balance and restore our investment in music education.

We have seen amazing results through a clear action plan from Jamie Oliver's School Dinners. Here is a template we can also use to feed our youngsters a healthy diet of music. Perhaps I should say a healthy diet of "sound" appreciation. Consider too the importance of feeding a baby with sound and music while it's still in the womb.

I am concerned we are leaving out one of the most fundamental aspects of learning from our national curriculum. Parents are forced to make decisions about their children's music education according to their own financial circumstances, through private tuition. What happens to those children whose parents cannot afford to pay? The peripatetic percussion teacher from my secondary school retired 15 years ago and has not been replaced. I receive an average of 30 e-mails and letters a week from parents, teachers and youngsters all crying out for advice and guidance on music education.

I appeal to anyone who sees the starvation of music in schools to take it upon themselves to make sure every child has the opportunity to benefit from music education. My journey as a solo percussionist would simply not have existed if my music education had depended on my parent's ability to pay. The careers of so many who have followed in my footsteps would not have transpired.

Walk into any bookstore and you'll find shelves of advice on parenting. I'm no expert but I guarantee you will make a difference to your child if you ask for Meet the Instruments of the Orchestra!. Sit down and feed it to your child and when they come home from school ask them what musical influences have they had that day. If they answer, "none", what are you going to do about it? I know what I would do!

Dame Evelyn Glennie, DBE, is an international solo percussionist. 'Meet the Instruments of the Orchestra' by Genevieve Helsby featuring Evelyn Glennie (Naxos Books £14.99) is out now.