Kodaly Method Article

ChapterV:Approachesto Curriculum 69
THE KODAIYRPPNOACH
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The Kod61yapproachis a vocal approachto music literacy: the ability to read,hear, folk music,this programbeganin Hungaryin andthink music.Basedon Hungarian the 1930sunder the guidanceof the composerand musicologistZolt6n Kod6ly (with cotnAs a young man,Kod6ly beganfield studies (,.KOH-dye")(1882-1967). (Magyar) folk poser Bdla Bart6k) to collect, record, and notate native Hungarian music. Finding very little music literacy,Koddly saw the needto makemusic education availableto everyone-and not just the talentedfew. Using musicalideashe discoveredin Magyar music, he beganto composefor children'svoices,and to put togetherthe curriculum that is known and used throughoutthe world as the Kodr{ly approach. Singing a cappellais the foundationof the approach.Kod{ly believedthat could be musicallyliterateif instructionbeganearly and usedthe musical everyone "mother tongue" (folk song)and other music of the "highest"quality. Singing,listening, movement,ear training, and creatingare developedat every grade level; of qualitiesand the other elements eachlessonalso includeswork with expressive music. As studentswork with rhythm and pitch, they are introducedto notation through syllablesfor speakingrhythms, and tonic sol-fa syllableswith the Curwen handsigns. developed eventuallygainedstate The curriculumthat Kod6ly andhis colleagues that music education supportand becamecompulsory.His curiculum recommends school,and that begin in nurseryschooland continuethroughprimary and secondary special(public) music schoolsbe providedfor gifted students.
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RhythmSyllables
Rhythm syllables(seeAppendix A) areusedfrom the outset.At first, notationis presentedwithout note heads, and syllables approximatingthe rhythms are chanted. Shorter durations (eighth and quarter notes) are presentedbefore longer durations on the music used.For example, (half and whole notes).The specific order depends (and pitches) in different waysthanHungarianfolk rhythms Americanfolk musicuses presentation. of order modify the teachers music does,so American
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and CurwenHand Signs TonicSol-Fa

In the tonic sol-/rzsystem,syllablesare usedfor pitchesof the scaleand are movsimAs a result,do-re-miin C Major alwayssounds ablefrom one scaleto another. the tonic (or tonal center)in ilar to do-re-miin F Major. In the Koddly approach, la.The syllableswere developedbySarah major scalesis do andin minor scales, Glover (English,1786-1867)but havegenerallybeenattributedto her countryman JohnCurwen.
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Section One: Backgrounds for Teaching N4usic
The physical hand signs used by curwen (see Appendix A) to accompany the tonic sol-fa were adapted by Koddly for Hungarian schools and were further revised for American schools. Both the syllables and the hand signs help students develop inner hearing-the ability to hear the melody in one's head while looking at music notation. (The hand signs are performed by positioning one's hands to sLow high and low. For example, low do is performed at about waist level, sol in front of the face. and high do just above the head.)
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Folk songsthat use a pentatonic scale(do-re-mi-sol-ta) are taught first, and form the basis for beginning music-reading experiences.The syllabTesfor and rl are introduced later fa because they create half-step intervals that may be diffrcult to sing in'tune. The letter names for notes are also leamed. After children have had considerable experience with the pentatonic scale, the complete major scale is introduced, as are minor scales and modes. Although the exact order of introduction of sol-fa syllables dependson the music used, one possible sequencefollows: sol, mi, la, re, do, low lq,low sol, high do, high re, thenfa, ti, si. This sequenceis cumulative. Studentssing many different combinations of syllables, learning tones in relation to each other (not single tones). For example, the first three syllables learned (sol, mi, la) are sung in many combinations: sol-mi_lct, sol-la-mi, mi-sol-la, mi-la-sol, la-sol-mi, and la-mi-sol, and in many songs.
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AdaptingKodiilyfor AmericanSchools
Kod6ly practicein America varies somewhat. For example,insteadof Hungarian folk music, teachers in differentregionsusefolk music that reflectstheir students' multicultural heritage.Some American teachers incorporateKoddly ideas into an eclecticcurriculum similar to that found in the elementary music seriestextbooks (and in TheMusical classroom).In fact, Kodr{ly'sapproach is eclectic,because he usestools and ideasfrom music educators in England,France,and Germany. After developing his basic philosophy,Koddly incorporatedtonic sol-fa (Johncurwen), rhythm syllables (Emile-Joseph chevd), andthe basicteaching p-."r, of pestalozzi (Carder, 1990:56). Optimumconditions for using the Koddly approach includea relativelystable schoolpopulation andtime in the curriculumfor two to five lessons per weekoverthe course of several years. With theguidance of capable teachers, students taughtaccording to Koddly principleswill readmusic as fluently as they read language and will be ableto transfertheir music readingfrom voice to instruments.
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P ROI ECTS FORCOLLEC E, STU DENIS

l . In Level II model experiences,find an example of the use of rhythm syllables to speakand perform rhythms and an exampleof the use of curwen hand sisns to ac_ c o mp a n y l o n a lp a l terns 2. Read and report on an article or a book from the resourceslist found in Appendix F, "Kod61y Approach." In small groups,developthree lists of songsthat include only the pitchesla_sol_mi, mi-re-do, andla-sol-mi-(re)-do. Use SectionFour as your source.
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ChapterV:Approachesto Curriculum 71
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Bosuron4 R. (October 1991)."LessonPlanning the Kod61y Way." Music Educators Journal 79(2):30-34. Canoln, P. (1990). "Zoltdn Kodrily." In The Eclectic Curriculum in American Music Education: Contributions of Dalcroze, Koddly, and Orff. 2nd ed., Polly Carder, ed., 53-106. Reston, VA: Music EducatorsNational Conference. Cirorsv, L. (1998). The Kodtily Method I: Comprehensive Music Education. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. DEVRIES, P. (November 2001). "ReEvaluatins Common Koddly Practices."Music Educal tors Journal 88(5):23-30. Fonnar,K., and J. SrNon, trans.(1995).Music in Preschool.Boosey & Hawkes. Out of print. Organization of American Kodrily Educators (OAKE) (www.oake.org). Zswxn, SrsrenL. (1977).The Koddly Concept: Its History, Philosophy and Development.Champaign, IL: Mark FosterMusic. Out of print. See also Appendix F: "Kodrily Approach,', "Multicultural Music."
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T H EOR Y OF MU S ICIE A R N ING: EDW INE.GORDON

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TheAmericanEdwin E. Gordon'smusic-leaming theoryis a systematic studyof how we learnmusic.It is based on the theoryof audiation (innerhearing). To audiate is to "hear,' andto comprehend musicfor which the sound may (or may not) be present. Audiationis to music what thoughtis to language. Gordon'stheory explainswhat a studentmust know to be ableto audiate, andit provides techniques for teaching audiation. The theory canhelpteachers to plan musicinstruction in a logical,sequential way.
Discrimination and lnference Learning

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Gordon'seight-step hierarchyof his learningsequence is dividedinto two categoriesdiscrimination learningand inferencelearning.Discriminationlearning,or learningby rote,precedes inference learning.To learnby inference is to think for oneselfor to perform tasksthat havenot been learnedby rote. There are five levels of discriminaiion learningandthreelevelsof inference leaming.The following list identiflesthe discriminationandinference learninglevelsin sequence andbriefly interprets each. 1. Auravoral.
children listen to and repeattonal rhythm patternsperformed by the teacher.Thesepatternsare to music what words are to language.when studentscan sing in tune a variety of tonal patterns and can chant rhythmic patternswhile keeping a steadybeat, they are ready to work with verbal association.
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2. verbal association. Children sing the previously-learnedtonal patternswith syllables (do, re, mi, etc.) and chant the previously learnedrhythmic patternswith speechsyllablessuchas "du," "da," "di," and so on. They learn to associate "proper" terms with thesepatterns.
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ChapterV:Approachesto Curriculum 69

p 6e sisns, iil[T#'i]Ll;l'". Hand gs IrTi: p 7o schoors, ffXtl3ifiJ,.oo,"".,.an

and CurwenHand Signs TonicSol-Fa

Section One: Backgrounds for Teaching N4usic

P ROI ECTS FORCOLLEC E, STU DENIS

T H EOR Y OF MU S ICIE A R N ING: EDW INE.GORDON

Discr im inat ionand I nf er enc eLear ni n g ,p . Implic at ionsf or M us ic Lear ning,p. 7 2

Discrimination and lnference Learning

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