Zoltan Kodaly was a Hungarian composer, educator, and ethnomusicologist. His philosophy of music education led to a highly sequential system of teaching music. The system was developed by those influenced by Kodaly’s vision of music education. Varied pedagogical tools are utilized to reach the central philosophical objective; “Music belongs to everyone and is necessary for health human development” (Online, http://home.earthlink.net/~bluesman1/Kodaly.htm)

I. Life

• 1882 Born in Kecskemet, a town in central Hungary.
• 1892 family moved to Nagyszombat, north-west part of Hungary where Kodály became proficient at the piano, violin, and cello without any help from formal teachers.
• 1898 wrote an overture for school orchestra which received good notice - "a dynamic talent"; went to Budapest where he enrolled at the University of Philosophy, Hungarian and German language and literature, and the Academy of Music; received his Diploma in Composition.
• 1900-04 attended Eotvos College where he perfected his knowledge of English, French, and German; composed a lot of music.
• 1905 received his teacher's diploma; became life-long friends of Bartók; went on tour to collect Hungarian folk music; received his Ph.D. with his dissertation on "The Stanzaic Structure of Hungarian Folk Song."
• 1907 appointed as teacher at the Academy of Music; composed a lot.
• 1910 Kodály and Bartók put on joint concerts with young musicians, critics scorned it (now the dates of these concerts are celebrated as the birth of modern Hungarian music); married Emma Sandor, she was a gifted musician and translator approximately 20 years older than Kodály.
• 1917-19 worked as a music critic, wrote many articles and composed much music.
• Aug 1919 old guard came back to power after the short-lived revolution and Kodály was suspended from his position as Deputy Director of the National Academy of Music of Hungary; endured 12 hearings but eventually charges were dropped.
• 1923 In honor of Budapest's celebration of its 50th anniversary Kodály writes the Psalmus Hungaricus which laments the fate that has befallen his country, it was the first time he received unanimous praise from critics; began to write much music for children: The Straw Guy, See, the Gypsy Munching Cheese ; renowned for being a wonderful teacher.
• 1924 continued work on Háry János, his masterpiece; became an enormous success.
• 1927 continued writing children's choral works, went on folk music collecting trips, and wrote many articles on folk music; developed friendship with Toscanini.
• 1932-36 wrote much music: Spinning Room, Dances of Galanta, Te Deum of Budavar; conducted, lectured, founded a school of Hungarian folk music at the Academy.
• 1940 involved in many educational activities; developed a periodical devoted to the promotion of musical education of the young.
• 1942 National Federation of Choral Societies proclaimed this year as "Kodály year."
• 1943 wrote Missa Brevis, dedicated to his wife; wrote many choral works.
• 1945 received many honors, traveled, conducted, lectured, wrote articles.
• 1958 his wife died.
• 1959 married a 19-year-old student!
• 1960 received an honorary degree from Oxford; kept composing mostly choral works until his death.
• 1967 died as a national treasure to the Hungarian people. 

II. Pedagogy 

None of the practices associated with Kodaly originated with him. Solfa was invented in Italy and tonic solfa came from England; rhythm syllables were the invention of Cheve in France, and many of the solfa techniques employed were taken from the work of Dalcroze; hand-singing was adapted from John Curwen’s approach in England and the teaching process was basically Pestalozzian.

The uniqueness of the Kodaly Method came in the way in which these previously separate techniques were combined into one unified approach, which itself supported a viable philosophy of music education.

In 1950 the first singing primary school was established in Kesckemet under the direction of his longtime friend. Here children received music instruction every day of the school week, and the method was further developed and refined. As a result of this school’s success, the next years saw a rapid rise in the development and dissemination of the method, from the nursery school level to the conservatories. Today the method has spread all over the world. Classes trained in the principles of Kodaly exist in everywhere.

lBasic philosophy

1.All people capable of lingual literacy are also capable of musical literacy

2.Singing is the best foundation for musicianship

3.Music education to be most effective must begin with the very young child

4.The folk songs of a child’s own linguistic heritage constitute a musical mother tongue and should therefore be the vehicle for all early instruction

5.Only music of the highest artistic value, both folk and composed, should be used in teaching

6.Music should be at the heart of the curriculum, a core subject used as a basis for education

lObjectives

1.Sing, play instruments and dance from memory, a large number of traditional singing games, chants, and folk songs, drawn first from the child’s own heritage of folk song material and later expanded to include music of other cultures and countries.

2.Perform, listen to, and analyze the great art music of the world.

3.Achieve mastery of musical skills, such as musical reading and writing, singing and part-singing.

4.Improvise and compose, using their known musical vocabulary at each developmental level.

lTools 

1.Tonic solfa

do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do
do is considered to be the keynote or tonal center in all major keys

la is considered to be the keynote or tonal center in all minor key

it focuses on the relationship among pitches. E.g. if you learn do to so in any key, you will know the sound of the perfect 5^th.
children are begun with relatively do, once they are secure in that easier way of singing, reading, and writing music, letter names for the notes are introduced and are then sung interchangeable with solfa until they are secure.

benefit: songs and singing games of early childhood, the folk music, and much of the art music of the western world is tonal in character

drawback: it is not useful for studying music that is not tonal in character (e.g. music of some non-western societies and some music of the 20^th century.)

---solfa combined with a system of hand signs appears to make that tonal memory both more quickly accomplished and more secure.

2. Rhythmic duration syllables

---rhythm is taught by pattern and by relative duration over the beat expressed in a serious of syllables                adapted from those invented by Cheve in the 1800s and still used in French conservatories.

lSequential Approach (child-developmental base)

The Kodaly method is highly structured and sequenced, with well-defined skill and concept hierarchies in every element of music. These sequences are closely related to child development—the way in which young children progress naturally in music. The major body of teaching material must lie within children’s capabilities. However, at all times some musical materials must be included that are designed to expand those capabilities. As the child develops physically, socially, emotionally aesthetically, and intellectually, they are also led to develop musically in the acquisition of increasingly complex skills and more involved concepts.

1.Melody--- 3-note songs and chants (la-so-mi), tetra-tonic (so- mi-re-do), and pentatonic (la-so-mi-re-do) songs comprise most of the earliest melodic teaching materials. As voices mature and musical abilities increase, musical materials are extended to include more songs in diatonic major and minor keys, modes, and altered scales.

2.Rhythm---the meter of young children’s movements (walking, running, skipping, swaying, bouncing) is duple, either simple or compound

3.Form, harmony, tempo, and dynamics are also sequenced into hierarchies so that the young children may experience all aspects of music at their own level.

4.Aural learning and then attach labels

5.Spiral learning. Each level builds upon the previous. Mastery is important before moving on to the next level.

6.It if important to introduce only one new concept at a time

lThe application at middle/high school level

By the time students enter this level in a Kodaly program they are able to

nSing at sight with ease

nSing fluently in movable-do solfa and in absolutes

nSwitching from one to the other at a given signal

nSing in two and three parts from score

nIdentify binary and ternary forms, both in songs and in larger works

nAurally identify the modes; aeolian, dorian, ionian, mixolydian, lydian, phrygian

nTake melodic and rhythmic dictation from voice or piano

nPerform two or three musical ideas simultaneously; singing a melody, tapping an ostinato, stepping a beat

nIdentify some art music by style and period

nImprovise within known scales, meters, and rhythms

nCompose in small forms within known musical vocabulary

nHarmonize known melodies with I, IV, and V chords/ also inversions

nIdentify and sing intervals

III. Lesson Plans/Activities 

C..Sing chords. (I and inversions, IV and inversions, and V and inversions; then sing I-IV-V-I)

D.Use I, IV, and V to accompany Oh, Susanna, ask them to analyze what form it is.

E.Sing rounds Sumer is icumen in –introduce medieval polyphonic vocal music.

It is an ingenious composition. The independent character of its two melodies is apparent when one realizes that, in performance, no voice part forms parallel octaves or unisons with the lower voice the Pes. It is conjectured that the composition dates from c. 1250. Sumer is icumen in is the only known six-voice composition prior to the fifteen c. and the only known composition that combines rondellus (duple or triple voice exchange; i.e. phrase exchange) and rota (canon or round) techniques. The composition is a motet. It is polyphonic. It is based on liturgical chant and is bi-textual. It is one of those rare motets in which duplum and triplum texts are in different languages. This is a 4-voice rota, superimposed on a duplex Pes. The Pes is a 2-measure rondellus that is repeated until the piece concludes.

IV. Resources

Biography

ML410.K732E582 1962a

Eosze, L.Zoltan Kodaly: His Life and Work

ML410.K732A332

Kodaly,Z. The Selected Writings of Zoltan Kodaly (1974)

ML410.K732Y7

Young, P.Zoltan Kodaly: Hungarian Musician (1964)

ML3593.K49521971

Kodaly. Z. Folk Music of Hungary

Teaching Materials

MT1.Z4

Zemke, L. The Kodaly concept: its history, philosophy, and development

MT3.U5L331990

Landis, B.The Electric Curriculum in American Music Education: contributions of Dalcroze, Kodaly, and Orff.

MT7.R526T5 1964

Richards, M. Threshold to Music

MT870.H235

Hegyi, E. Solfege According to the Kodaly Concept (1975)

MT870. K726 1963

Kodaly, Z. 333 Elementary Exercise in Sight Singing (Choral method)

MT875.K677

Kodaly, Z. Pentatonic Music, 2 Vols. (1969-70)

MT857.K682

Kodaly, Z. Two-Part Singing Exercises, 7 Vols.

MT925.D24

Daniel, K.S. Kodaly in Kindergarten: 50 lesson plans, curriculum, song

collection

 MT930.S56x1990

Tacka, P.V. Denuse Bacon, Musician and Educator: contributions to the adaptation of the Kodaly concept in the U.S. [microform]

 MT935.D282

Darazs, A. Sight and Sound: Visual Aid to Melody and Harmony (1965)

Teaching Method

LD179.I51968.U86

Uphaus, D.L. A Study of the Harmonic Derivations of Bartok and Kodaly in the Settings of                                    Selected Hungarian Folksongs [Thesis M.Mus--Arizona StateUniversity 1968]

MT1.C536

Choksy, L. The Kodaly Context: Creating an Environment for Musical Learning (1981)

MT1.C537K6

Choksy, L. The Kodaly Method: Comprehensive Musicianship from Infant to Adult (1974)

MT1.I72

Bray, K. "Canadian Adaptation of Kodaly's Music Education Principles" in Challenges in Music Education, pp.261-267 (1976)

MT1.K63

Kodaly Institute. Teaching Music at Beginning Levels through the Kodaly Concept,v.1-2 (1974)

VIDEO MT1.K4V.3

Kodaly-A Music Education Method (1991)

MT1.S99 1974

Szonyi, E. Kodaly's Principles in Practice: an approach to music education through the Kodaly method.

MT3.H85253

Sandor, F. Musical Education in Hungary (1966)

MT3.R8V44

Veis, P. Kodaly: Questions of Adaptation and the Pedagogy of Rhythm (1977)

MT3.U5K6

Kodaly Musical Training Institute. Teaching music at beginning levels through the Kodaly concept

MT3.U5M813

Richards, M. "The Legacy from Kodaly" in Perspectives in Music Education, pp.402-407.

VIDEO MT32.W52

What is Kodaly Music Education? (1992)

MT925.D24

Daniel, K. Kodaly in Kindergarten (1981)

MT930.L3

Lawrence, M. What? Me Teach Music? A Classroom Teacher's Guide to Music (1982)

Websites:

http://cnet.unb.ca/achn/kodaly

nThe Kodaly society of Canada. You can find more Internet resources related to music education here.

http://home.earthlink.net/~bluesman1/kodaly.html

nMusic, the universal language. This site offers music games, lessons, a newsletter with many teachers' input, information about composers, blues, jazz, audio files, and so on. Kodaly method and philosophy is included.

http://toltec.lib.utk.edu/~music/guides/methods.html

nProvide general information on music education, methods of Dalcroze, Kodaly, and Orff, and related music education library guides.

http://www.britishkodalyac.demon.co.uk

nThis website is working for the improvement of British music education through courses, workshops and demonstrations relating the philosophy and practice of Zoltan Kodaly to British musical heritage.

http://www.kodaly.org.au

nAn educational body established to promote excellence in music education and to support and resource Australian music teachers.

http://www.kodaly-inst.hu

nCool! Kodaly in Hungary! Kodaly Institute Kecskemet, Hungary.

http://www.oake.org/kony

nKONY provides a forum for music teachers who wish to teach according to the Kodaly concept.

http://www.emeory.edu/music/arnold/kodaly_ context.html

nThis includes the life and work of Kodaly.