mrfrederickmusic (2012, August, 3). Interview with Zoltan Kodály [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dow-m3BuuNk
Organization of American Kodály Educators (2018). The Kodály concept. Retrieved from https://www.oake.org/about- us/the-kodaly-concept/ J.I M (2015, July 7). Kodály summer school [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=VrTshUY1oko. Zoltan Kodály was a famous music composer and conductor. In 1906, after an intense study of Hungarian music, he published 20 Hungarian folk songs. He created what is now known as the Kodaly approach because he believed that music is meant for everyone and wanted to make what was known as “high-brow” music more accessible to a larger amount of people. His approach is the Kodály approach and it emphasizes singing as the primary tool to experience music, rather than through an instrument. Key components of his approach are that it progresses from simple to complex using small, attainable steps, it enables everyone the skills to do music, and focuses on the use of solfege to teach music. The aim of this approach is for students to learn basic musical skills aurally and then through reading and writing. The process of this approach is to sequentially teach materials starting with simple task and then developing skills through more complex experiences. Activities often associated with Kodály’s approach are simple melodies using solfege pattern sets (i.e. so, la, mi, do) that are then sung and played in conjunction with an activity. Some practical uses of Kodály's approach are being able to use the different tunes he collected and have classroom activities that go along with the songs sung. Another practical use is the emphasis of solfege and learning songs aurally, so learning new songs is easier during class period. Students also have improved pitch when singing together and in parts because this approach emphasizes singing. Some advantages of this approach is that the student always has a way to feel successful because it is broken into such simple tasks; in addition to this, the teacher will generally not move on to a more complex task in this approach until the student has accomplished the previous step. Another advantage is that the learner is always composing in some way because they have a set of pitches that are at their disposal and can easily sing through them, even though their compositions may be simple. A challenge of this approach is that the teacher must be good at sequencing and knowing when a student is prepared for the next step; it can be also be a long process because there is a decent amount of sequencing involved. Another challenge is that because of this amount of sequencing it can be difficult to fit all this knowledge into the little class time designated for music instruction. The teacher must also feel confident in their ability to sing and guide the class using their voice. If you were to adapt Kodály's approach to be sensitive to contemporary contexts, you would have to address the issues of nationalism and classicism. He took these songs used in his approach from Hungarian folk tunes, which was music of the more “lower class” people. As a teacher, you would have to address the backgrounds of these songs and that these songs were originally just intended for a Hungarian background. As a result, when we want to sing these songs in foreign countries, we must be respectful and understand the songs’ origins, as well as recognize that we must collect and sing our own country’s musical motives and background to be more well-rounded and aware musicians. Comments are closed.
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Davina MiawOn this page, I will present examples of my scholarship in the form of reflective essays and philosophical assignments. Archives
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