Josh Mercado

W0659575
The Kodaly Method
Zoltan Kodaly was born in Kecskemet, Hungary on December 16, 1882.
He learned violin at a very young age and went on to take German and
Hungarian at Budapest University, then taking musical studies of
composition and teaching at the Academy of Music. In 1905, he began
recording Hungarian folk music and collecting them from many remote
villages around the area in order to support his thesis, which he later wrote in
1906. During this time, he met, who would later become his lifelong friend,
Bela Bartok.
During his adult life, Kodaly was fascinated with the problems that
appeared in the education of music, he later composed music intended for
the use of children and wrote a plentiful amount of teaching material.
Because of geographical changes in the region created by the Great War and
the changing temperament of youth during the time, his methods and
teachings found no major public successes until 1923. By 1935, he started a
long-term project with a friend of his, Jeno Adam. This project was intended
to change and improve music education for lower and middle schools across
Hungary. Later developed in the 1940s, basic principles with no
comprehensive method that Kodaly established were applied to musical
education- prominently after World War II.
Many of these methods were adapted from older strategies used
before and with their use, were improved with the help of educational
techniques used in other parts of the world:
One of the methods Child-developmental approach- was used on
children at a very young age. They would play games and exercises that
would introduce the concepts and only when the child was familiar with them
would they start to notate music. These concepts included rhythmic
sequences based on basic patterns made up of quarter notes and eight notes
which could be easily translated in their own walking or running. Although
the Kodaly Method follows a set sequence, the materials used in teaching
musical concepts varies depending on the age of the student. The sequence
followed may be simplified as: listen - sing - understand - read and write create. Using this method under the guidance of a certified Kodaly teacher,
students can develop listening skills, sight-singing, ear training, learn how to

play instruments, compose, improvise, sing, dance, analyze, read and write
music.
There was also the method of Rhythm Syllables - In this system, note
values are assigned specific syllables that express their durations. Quarter
notes would be introduced as one syllable ta while notes with other
values would be introduced with elongated or shortened variations of the
same syllable based upon their value (ti-ti for eight note pairs, ta-o-o-o for
whole notes, etc.) These syllables were then used to simplify sight-reading
based on rhythms.
Inspired by Swiss music educator, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, a method
was created that involved rhythm and movement- rhythms would be
incorporated to different movements like clapping, walking, running, or
marching and these were used while listening to music or singing. This
method would further reinforce the rhythmic concept.
Later on, the method of a moveable do was created. This was
created to show relationships between pitches and not absolute pitch. This
technique was first exposed in England, which was later adopted for choral
training because the method had improved sight-singing abilities of student,
making them more acquainted with the bar staff.
They discovered that children were struggling in grasping the concept
of half steps in music, so they used the pentatonic scale as a stepping stone,
getting children more acquainted with thirds then when they have developed
the ability to differentiate, they would add the notes in between. To further
support their studies, they provided a visual aid for singers- the hand signs.
Hand signs for each distinct scale degree were used (Closed fist for do,
open palm for soh, etc).
Studies have shown that the Kodly Method improves intonation,
rhythm skills, music literacy, and the ability to sing in increasingly complex
parts. Outside of music, it has been shown to improve perceptual
functioning, concept formation, motor skills, and performance in other
academic areas such as reading and math.
Since then, many organizations have adopted his practice and have
created programs and institutions to further teach his methods and create a
more enjoyable atmosphere for music education. Such organizations are
places like the Kodaly Music Education Institute in Australia and the
Organization of American Kodaly Educators.