Former Blur frontman Damon Albarn says children interested in music should be “forced” to learn how to read it.

"If you don't learn to read music, then there's a whole tradition that becomes very exclusive and shouldn't be," Albarn told a BBC magazine.

His comments come in response to a report that suggested children could obtain an A-grade in GCSE music without knowing staff notation.

"The idea of it being completely absent from the most important exams of your childhood is disgraceful," Albarn, who recently staged his Opera, Monkey, at the Royal Opera House in London, said.

"I used to write for small orchestras when I was 15. I sold my soul to the devil and became a pop star and forgot about it, but in the past few years I have got back into orchestration after an almost 20-year hiatus.

“I'm so slow now, and if I'd just kept it [up]. I think anyone interested in music should be forced to learn that discipline.”

Teachers have argued that staff notation is less important for the increasing number of children who are keen to learn less traditional instruments.

(by Jason Gregory)