About the Program

The Kodály method of music education was developed by composer, ethnomusicologist and music educator, Zoltan Kodály. The key points of the philosophy are:

1. Music is the core of the curriculum.
2. The body (the singing voice, body idiophones and movement) is the best medium for making music.
3. Traditional music leading to world musics is the best material for learning western music literacy.
4. Music literacy is as universally possible as linguistic literacy.
5. Experiencing music – hearing, developing skills, preparing to derive concepts, can not begin too early.
6. Only well-trained musicians should teach music to even the youngest children.

My Program:

I teach children ages 2 and up in classes of no more than 10. I place children in classes according to age and experience. A class for older students (ages 7 and up) who have no previous musical experience can be made available.

Goals and Tools:

First and foremost, I want to teach children to love music. I want to teach them to appreciate quality music, from traditional music, to world music, to the music of the masters! Children will learn to love and appreciate music when they understand it. The program is designed to have children understand basic musical concepts, such as: beat, meter, tempo, dynamics, rhythm, pitch (melody), form, timbre and harmony. These concepts will be taught using rhythm syllables (ta, ti-ti, too-oo,etc.), solfege (do-re-mi etc.) and hand signs. Children learn musical concepts through the singing of traditional songs and games, and listening to traditional, world and Western art music. I want children to be able to read and write music, to be able to improvise and compose their own work.