Held annually in November at Birmingham 's National Exhibition Centre, Music Live has become something of a must-visit event for keen musos over the last five years. Held this year between 2-4 November, Music Live 2007 again saw the first day of the show given over to visitors from educational establishments around the UK .

A sell-out crowd this year meant in excess of 8,000 school and college students arriving for Education Day at Music Live, and partaking of a wide variety of features designed to inspire the next generation of music-makers. Central to the experience is the exhibition area, where the UK 's largest collection of (primarily pop and rock) instruments are available for visitors to get their hands on. Electric guitars and basses, drums and synthesizers from well-known brands including Fender, Gibson, Yamaha and Roland held great appeal for youngsters keen to try instruments often always found in local music stores.

Dotted around the show floor were also to be found a wide variety of seminars and demos amongst the equipment displays. Roland's ever-popular V-Drum electronic percussion area saw queues forming to take part in (thankfully headphone-equipped) masterclass tuition sessions, and hi-tech sections allowed students interested in music production a chance to learn from experts about the latest software and production techniques.

Music Education providers make up a sizeable minority of Music Live exhibitors and participants, perhaps the highest-profile being Access To Music (AToM). AToM ran its first Music Training Classroom in conjunction with Apple Computers at Music Live. Affording teachers a welcome respite from the more hectic aspects of Music Live, the AToM Classroom was buzzing throughout the day, with visitors offered free training on Apple's latest Logic Studio software.