IRP Technique
🎵 Unlocking Musical Potential: How the IRP Technique Helps Children with Disabilities play Music
At OK Music School, set up by The Otakar Kraus Music Trust in 2012, we believe every child should have the chance to express themselves through music — regardless of ability. Below, our OK Music School Director, Edison Carolino,describes how he devised the IRP (Improvisation, Rhythm, Performance) Technique, which has helped hundreds of children and young people with disabilities to flourish through music:
“I arrived in London from Brazil in 1992 and after completing a master’s degree in music therapy at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, I joined OKMT in 1998. I saw how music therapy could help children with additional needs develop a love for music and a desire to play instruments, inspiring me to investigate teaching them music.
After many years researching methods used by special needs teachers and therapists, I realised the importance of visual support, which led to me to develop the IRP Technique:
🎶 1. Improvisation
Students begin by using images of animals, nature, and faces as inspiration to “play what they see”, sparking creativity and a musical connection between teacher and student.
🥁 2. Rhythm
The second stage uses the same images to help them develop a sense of rhythm, understanding how sounds and beats fit together to create music’s foundation.
🌟 3. Performance
In the final stage, students start to perform what they have learned and eventually gain the confidence to showcase their incredible musical talents in our Summer and Christmas concerts.
All our OK Music School therapists and teachers have been trained in the IRP Technique, enabling hundreds of children and young people with disabilities to learn to play music with confidence and pride. We currently have 80 students, have held 25 public concerts, and 28 students have passed 57 music exams, demonstrating their talent.
I am proud to celebrate the accomplishments of our students and their personal growth. But the most fulfilling achievement is instilling hope in the parents of these children for their future.”
Thank you to Edison and all our amazing therapists and teachers for their commitment to changing lives through music.
Find out more about OK Music School and the IRP Technique here: https://www.okmtrust.org.uk/what-we-do/music-school/
