Kodaly Approach

Source: https://theartfulmusician.com/about/ 

The Kodály approach makes use of singing to teach music with focus on active music-making and building of aural skills. Using songs of cultural heritage of high quality, the approach is ‘highly structured, sequential and student-centred, including performance, musical literacy, critical thinking, creativity, listening and stewardship of musical and culture heritage’. (STAR, 2020)

WHAT

The main principles of the Kodály Method include (i) Learning of music by singing, typically using sung solfege supplemented by handsigns; (ii) sight-reading of rhythmic patterns; (iii) activities involving creativity and collaboration; and (iv) emphasis on cultural connection with the music. (Cary, 2012)

How this Approach Links to Inventive Thinking

1. Dispositions of (i) Being open-minded, creative and imaginative to consider different possibilities; and (ii) Being courageous to take calculated risks.

• For students to experience music through exploration and imitation, they would need to keep an open-mind to learn something new, at the same time be curious and receptive to new ideas being introduced throughout the lesson.

• Activities for students to improvise and create music will allow them to exercise their creativity and imagination to consider different possibilities.

• When students are asked to share their musical ideas with their peers, they will need to be confident in themselves to do so, exhibiting courage in so doing within the relative safety of the music classroom with a positive and safe learning environment.

2. Socio-emotional skills of situation analysis: 

• When learning with the Kodály Approach, students will nurture social awareness and learn to manage the different dynamics involved when working with their peers. (STAR, 2020)

3. CAIT5: Explores possibilities and generates novel and useful ideas

• Through the structured approach to the teaching and learning process of the Kodály method, students will gain knowledge and understanding of the musical concepts being explored. The musical foundation will enable students to generate different ideas, perspectives and responses through divergent thinking.

4. CAIT6: Evaluates and refines ideas to formulate novel and useful solutions

• The listening skills developed through the Kodály approach will allow students to listen critically to their own musical ideas in order to evaluate and refine them.

Suggested Strategies for Using in the Music Classroom

• Use of Singing Games: Singing games which encourage students to come up with their own ideas and play around with musical patterns are excellent for helping students be open-minded, creative and imaginative to consider different possibilities - these are dispositions and values associated with inventive thinking. 

• Listening: Using solfege to teach students helps them develop their listening skills and inner hearing, thereby activating their musical imagination to create novel musical patterns. Students can also make use of their listening skills to evaluate and refine their music. 

• Improvising, Creating and Performing: With the music vocabulary built up through their music experiences over time, students will be able to make use of what they have learnt to participate meaningfully in improvisation, creating and performing activities.

More on Kodály Approach

• Video: How can we reach every child in the Kodály inspired classroom? - KMEIA 2016 Keynote by Lucinda Goeghan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BH5VUFmjNs) 

• Videos: Singing Games from Active Music (https://www.youtube.com/@ActiveMusic1/videos) 

• Website: Resources from Kodály Australia (https://kodaly.org.au/resources/)

• Website: Kodály Music Activities for Elementary Music Class (https://www.singplaycreate.com/2022/08/kodaly-music-activities.html) 

• Website: Music with Mrs Hays (https://mrskatiehays.weebly.com/lessons.html) 

Lesson Ideas on Kodaly