What will I learn and do during my two weeks at MSU?

Each day will run approximately from 8:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. CST. Expect several hours of homework each evening. (A Kodály course is a lot of work, but we promise it will be well worth it!) Special Topics will be taught Saturday, June 21. Time is TBA.

Solfège/Musicianship

Course participants will have 2 hours each day of personal musicianship teaching, using solfège, rhythm syllables, and other tools. Some students come in never having learned solfège before, so if you haven't read in solfège or if you're shaky, don't worry! Our instructors start at ground zero.

If you're already an excellent sight-reader and very experienced in solfège, you will still be challenged in Solfège I. You will be asked to take your skills to new and deeper levels. Also, you will find the methods and activities at this level very valuable in terms of teaching solfège to your own students.

• Level I Solfège is based primarily, but not completely, on pentatonic music.

• Level II Solfège deals with diatonic music and begins work on modes.

• Level III Solfège deals with diatonic, modal, and chromatic music.

Pedagogy/Teaching Process

You will have 2 hours each day of instruction in Kodály-inspired Pedagogy, tailored to your individual teaching situation.

• Level I focuses on beginning students in your program.

• In Levels II and III, you will continue to develop a spiral curriculum that meets the needs of your students as they progress.

MSU instructors will also discuss the integration of other pedagogical approaches such as Music Learning Theory and Orff-Schulwerk.

General music and secondary choral/instrumental teachers have all found this instruction to be extremely valuable!

Pedagogy instruction includes:

• philosophy and history of the Kodály approach

• singing

• moving (games, dances, free and creative movement)

• reading and notating music

• playing instruments

• audiating

• improvising and composing

• lesson planning

• long-range planning

• differentiating

• winding

• developing artistry

Materials/Music Literature

You will have 90 minutes of Materials instruction each day. During Materials you will learn about choosing excellent quality, appealing songs and other materials for your students, authentic and responsible collection of song material, and analyzing songs so that they become more useful as teaching materials. You will also begin the process of organizing your collected song material in a retrieval system based on the musical concepts you teach.

You will be amazed at the time this will save you in lesson planning and how much more effective you can become as a teacher when your materials are well organized!

As you can probably guess, Pedagogy and Materials courses are closely related.

Other experiences and topics in Materials:

• folk dancing

• folk instruments

• multi-cultural music

Conducting

You will have 60 minutes of Conducting each day. Here at MSU we offer two conducting classes to allow you to customize your experience.

Conducting Introduction & Technique
This class is designed with a focus on conducting patterns and gestures. Students select pieces relating to concepts covered in their Kodály level and receive advanced coaching in the art of conducting. 

Conducting Technique & Score Preparation
This class is designed with a focus on score study and analysis utilizing a Kodály-inspired approach. After students have analyzed a selection of music, they will take the knowledge acquired and utilize that in creating a streamlined lesson.

This Conducting course is designed to build your conducting skills from your current skill level, wherever that is. Each year our course includes everyone from novice to expert conductors. The atmosphere in class is positive, supportive, and collegial.

Ensemble

You will have 60 minutes of Ensemble each day. This is primarily a choral experience, but often includes recorder and other instruments, depending on the talents of the year's participants. The goals of Ensemble are to share a satisfying musical experience, to learn new repertoire, and to use your developing solfège skills.

Special Topics/Electives

At MSU Kodály, Special Topics/Electives are covered each year. Past topics have included folk dancing, teaching music to students with differences and disabilities, instrumental applications of Kodály, selecting children's choral repertoire, and folk instruments.

• Special Topics/Electives 2025: Autism Spectrum Disorder

Special Topics/Electives will be taught by Dr. Alice Hammel.

"I taught for 10 years before taking Kodály. It challenged my ideas of teaching, and made me a much better teacher. It is a wonderful course for the new or experienced teacher." 

-Sarah Cook,
Wichita Falls High School Choir Director