HUNDREDS of musical instruments are being provided for children in North Yorkshire in an effort to keep the full range of sounds alive for schools.

Experts at North Yorkshire County Council fear that without appropriate guidance, children will opt for mainstream instruments like the flute, the guitar or keyboards.

They are concerned that school orchestras could be limited in their musical repertoire because they do not have the necessary instruments for the full spectrum of works.

To try and prevent that happening, the authority's music service has now secured £14,000 in funding to provide more than 300 of the more unusual instruments including the French horn, bassoon, tuba, cello and trombone.

The county's executive member for education Chris Metcalfe said: "North Yorkshire already boasts a high take-up of musical instruments, about five per cent more than the national average, with over 9,000 children receiving lessons.

"The additional funding we have secured from the National Foundation For Youth Music means that we can offer them a greater variety of instruments to play and even those who opt for the more mainstream ones will get the chance to play a broader range of music."

The head of the music service David Morgan said there were many benefits to learning to play an instrument.

He said it had great history and required tremendous physical co-ordination, dexterity and skill. But most of all it was an art form which allowed the children to express themselves in a creative way.

He added: "There is lots of research which shows that children who play musical instruments achieve well in academic areas."