Charlotte White’s Musical Fight

After a devastating accident, young Charlotte White struggled with severe disability and lack of motivation until she found the right type of music therapy.

A teenage girl sits in a dimly-lit room wearing sunglasses playing the prelude to Bach’s cello suite. A clip of this performance is posted up on the internet.

There is nothing remarkable about this until you learn that she is playing every crotchet and quaver using only the slightest movements of her head and thumbs.

At the age of 11, Charlotte White suffered a blow to the head which caused her to lose all movement in her body.

She spent five years in and out of hospital and eventually went into a period of rehabilitation, regaining movement in her head and then gradually her fingers.

‘Patronising’ therapies

But she became very withdrawn: “All I was expected to do was get physically stronger which wasn’t happening so that was quite depressing. I only saw people who were meant to make my life better but it never seemed to happen.”

At 16, Charlotte began attending St Rose’s School in Stroud and initially did not respond well to some of the activities on offer.

She says, “Music therapy is somebody sitting in front of you banging a drum or playing a guitar and you’re meant to tell them all your worries about life. It’s incredibly patronising and very boring.”

Then she was introduced to the Drake Music project, an organisation that uses technology to help people with disabilities participate in music.

There she starting working with Doug Bott and learned how to use very small head movements to break a magnetic beam, which triggers the notes.

Using thumb switches, she can control the configuration of notes available, much like a guitarist changes chord shapes.

Recognition

Charlotte’s interest in classical music was unusual, and her performances of Grieg and Bach quickly attracted attention.

This also raised questions about how musical talent and achievement are assessed. Questions that have yet to be answered.

“I really wanted to pursue grades but establishments who grade musicians wouldn’t recognise it and therefore I couldn’t progress.”

However Charlotte’s achievements were recognised when she received a Bronze Arts Award from Trinity College London.

The music examining boards are consistent in their approach in as far as they don’t accredit music performed electronically, but they are working with Drake Music to find ways of developing this area and for Doug Bott, it is early days:

“We’re discussing ways of accrediting the quality of the music performance in a way that it’s not linked to the particular instrument a person is playing.”

David Ashworth is a freelance educational consultant who specialises in music and technology and saw the potential in Charlotte’s performance:

“She was playing a mainstream piece of music which you normally associate being accessed by a mainstream musician. She’s been the catalyst to get this debate going and I’m sure she’ll feel rightly proud of that achievement.”

Enjoying life

Charlotte’s performance gained international recognition when she was asked to compose music for the Northern Lights Festival in Tromso, Norway. The music was recorded by the Tromso Symphony Orchestra and performed in the town square.

Charlotte White chose to pursue her academic studies and gained a place at university, studying social policy and criminology.

This is an incredible feat of will and determination for someone who had been largely written off by mainstream society, and music was key to Charlotte’s rehabilitation:

“Music inspired me in the belief that I could achieve anything. I became more enthusiastic and had much more of a drive, and break the barriers rather than just being bracketed as a disabled person.

“I started to enjoy life and experience things that the average teenager does.”

Charlotte White’s Musical Fight will be broadcast on Sunday 27 March at 1330 BST on BBC Radio 4 and will also be available on the BBC iPlayer.