THE band is called The Fridays and there's nothing on the scene quite like it.

So-called because it rehearses on Friday afternoons, its members include children with additional support needs (ASN) who are pupils at Hazelwood School in Glasgow, as well as former pupils and experienced musicians.

On entering the school there's a palpable buzz in the air. Children and their teachers are spread around what could be a recording studio in Nashville. The warm-up act is known as The Wee Fridays Samba Band, all of whose members are at Hazelwood.

The noise they make as they bang their drums is joyous and infectious. Soon other pupils appear, many with severe disabilities, most with huge smiles on their faces. Looking on are a clutch of taxi drivers who ferry the children from their homes to the school in Bellahouston Park. One student lives in Ayrshire, another in Argyll.

Then it's the turn of The Fridays. There's a trio of singers, all girls. The drummer is a teenager, Adam Hiddleston, whose face is a study in concentration. The aim is not music for music's sake but to produce the best sound possible.

And what a sound. If you didn't know these were young people with ASN you'd think they were just another bunch of gifted musicians setting out on their careers.

As they play, the audience reacts in various ways. One boys puts his fingers in his ears because he's autistic and therefore intolerant of sound. Soon, though, he's squealing in delight and shaking with excitement. He's not alone.

The project, explains Julie McKenzie, teacher and electric piano player, "began in response to a number of pupils who were displaying real talent, and their skills in drumming, singing and percussion were improving all the time. It became obvious they needed a band to play with and so, over a few months, The Fridays was formed."

In addition to The Fridays and The Wee Fridays there's The Free Fridays Improvisation Group. The benefits, says Jane Eyre, Hazelwood's acting head teacher, are incalculable but obvious.

"We're noticing these positive effects throughout the school as well. The skills learnt are transferring to other areas of the curriculum.

"There are reports of increased confidence and self-esteem, improvements in spoken language and social interaction."

Increasingly, too, the bands are in demand. Recently, The Fridays and The Wee Fridays performed in Perth Concert Hall at The Music for Youth National Festival.

They are regularly invited to play in schools whose students don't have ASN, thus changing the perception of disability.

Ms McKenzie added: "The effects are transformational. We are seeing the young people themselves taking an active role in their own learning. Pupils are memorising complex rhythms and musical structures, if they make a mistake they're able to correct it themselves and they're coming back week after week knowing exactly what to do."

Support for The Fridays has come from sources such as Glasgow City Council, the Celtic Foundation and Snow Patrol. It was the council which helped produce the band's first CD, which included covers of Elbow's One Day Like This and The Beatles' Let It Be. "Music," adds Ms Eyre, "can break down barriers and empower people to achieve great things. We would like to see these opportunities become more widely available and sustainable."

Now The Fridays are playing Lady Gaga's You and I , sung beautifully by Lauren Fay, who is visually impaired. "I've always been in love with music," she says after the applause has finally died away.

That much is self-evident. As Ms McKenzie says, "What young person doesn't want play in a band?"