Music programmes facilitated by music therapists are becoming more popular for vulnerable young people in mainstream and alternative school settings, however evaluation strategies have been sparsely documented within the music therapy literature. This article contributes eight interview topics for use in evaluating music programmes with adolescents. A rationale is provided for the need for such a tool with particular reference to the challenges of understanding how helpful a programme has been for young people based only on their behavioural responses. The limitations of using unstructured interviews are also explored because of the tendency to solicit a limited number of perspectives, rather than a more complete and integrated view. Eight topics for shaping evaluation interviews with young people are proposed that are informed by Ken Wilber's conceptual map of four quadrants with inside and outside views - labelled in this paper as eight perspectives. A brief overview of Wilber's quadrant thinking is provided and the rationale for each of the eight topics is then detailed. The responses of six young people are used to illustrate the types of answers that might be anticipated, including descriptions of: emotional engagement in music, feeling understood, expressing identity, safety and intimacy, feeling better, musical and non-musical achievements, relationship changes and musical connections with others. The relevance of the topics is then discussed in context of the music therapy literature and possibilities for adapting the topics to suit the local context are recommended.
