A DRUMMER who played in one of the world's biggest rock bands gave children a lesson in live music.

Former Status Quo member Jeff Rich visited Intack Primary School in Blackburn to deliver a ‘drum masterclass.’

Armed with a medley of percussion instruments, Jeff gave the keystage one and two pupils the chance to grab an instrument and join him in a jam.

The 64-year-old said he has visited more than 6,000 schools to encourage children to pursue music.

He said: “Music has been squashed so much by the government.

“They are totally bypassing the arts in favour of traditional academic subjects, which are obviously important, so a lot of schools are having to think outside the box to give kids a proper musical education.

“Music is so important, it’s a huge part of our culture and history and it needs to be celebrated in schools.

“Hopefully the kids I visit will be inspired to learn an instrument themselves and help preserve the culture.”

Headteacher Rachel Cairney said the school was working towards achieving their Arts Mark award.

She said: “We received a phone call asking if we would like a visit from Jeff because he would be in the area and we jumped at the opportunity.

“The visit is part of our enriched curriculum, away from the core subjects and also work we are undertaking towards our Arts Mark.

“Some children can find core subject learning hard to access, so all this enrichment is part of an appreciation of different types of learning.

“It is hard to get to live music events for some families so we try to provide opportunities within school.”

Music co-ordinator Lindsay Byrne said: “It was a great experience for the children. Jeff was talking about where he started and how he used to play on a sauce pan at home.

“It’s inspirational for the children to see how someone who started with nothing can get to this level with hard work.

“I hope they can go home and talk about with their families and think, ‘I really enjoyed that, I might have a go myself’.”