Kodály inspired teachers use tools, like rhythm and solfege syllables and hand signs as an aid for teaching music literacy In elementary school music class, many young musicians read and perform rhythm patterns containing “ta” and “ti-ti.” This is another example of a fundamental element, in this case rhythmic, by which many Kodály inspired teachers begin their spiral curriculum 3. What do you hear children sing or call on playgrounds all over? “Na, na, na, boo, boo.” Found in many children’s songs, that three-note motive makes up the fundamental call from which many Kodály inspired teachers build. The folk song repertoire dictates the pedagogical spiral curriculum, beginning with the simple and building toward the complex.
This became the basis for Kodály’s pedagogical sequence.Ī Kodály sequence in America functions much the same way. As they collected songs from near and far, they were able to analyze and categorize them by rhythmic and melodic elements (among others). The cultural context Kodály and Bartók were interested in, was their own “mother tongue”, Hungarian. Ethnomusicology is the cultural context of music. Without going into too much historical context (that’s a Bela Bartok using a gramophone to record folk songs sung by Czech peasants.Ĭompletely different article), Kodály and his friend Béla Bartók were ethnomusicologists as well as composers and educators.
The Kodály approach was developed by Zoltan Kodály, in Hungary, post war era, when the country was trying to rebuild its identity. Kodály inspired teachers use repertoire from the folk song tradition. Without the foundation of a steady beat, it would be very difficult to do any of these things, or any other musical activity. Once a student has mastered steady beat, they can go on to read, perform and create rhythm patterns, melodic patterns, purposeful and creative movement, and play an instrument alone and with others. In a Kodály inspired sequence, one of the very first concepts introduced in Kindergarten is “steady beat.” It is the fundamental musical concept by which all other music learning is built upon. Music education functions very much the same way. Think of it in terms of a staircase: without the bottom step, you would not have a place to put the second, and so on and so forth. Essentially, each concept builds upon one another, with early learning serving as the foundation for more complex concepts. The spiral curriculum, based on a cognitive theory by Jerome Bruner, is another way to think about a sequential approach. One of my great Kodály mentors says, “sequence is life, life is sequence.” This is particularly true when it comes to education, and is to essential music education. First and foremost, the Kodály approach is sequential The inspiration Kodály teachers find in Zoltan’s teachings is a starting point for facilitating students’ music learning in each and every individual, situated, learning environment 1. Often confused as “the one with the hand signs” (that weren’t even developed by Kodály, more on that later), there is so much more to this approach.
There are many preconceived notions about “The Kodály Method” and how it is used in music classrooms by music teachers. There are many pedagogues elementary music teachers draw inspiration from for music teaching and learning. What our memories don’t often reveal is the training and pedagogical approaches by which our elementary and early childhood music teachers taught us. Those memories could be filled with costumed performances, recorders, games and dances, and a myriad of other things. When thinking back on early music experiences, we often reminisce about the elementary school days.