Computer-aided Ear-training

CHAPTER 3

KODÁLY: INNOVATOR IN MUSIC EDUCATION

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the Kodály principles. I will examine the development of Kodály's philosophy and the influence of the Kodály adaptations in music education. Kodály offered an easy way for primary school children to learn to read and write music. He used transposition notation (see Figure 24), rhythmic syllables and solmization and emphasized the importance of practice. Like Kodály, my aim is to teach an easy way, but by using computers. People can learn to read and write music with Web material at home through the Internet.

3.1. Zoltán Kodály and his era

Zoltán Kodály (b. Kecskemét, 16 December 1882 - d. Budapest, 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, folk music researcher and pioneer in music education. Along with Béla Bartók (1881-1945), Kodály created a new form of music based on folk tradition. However, Kodály is best known for his music teaching methods. (Mäkelä 1990: 221.)

Zoltán Kodály recalled his first musical experiences as singing the way he spoke.1

I made my first instrument myself. I was hardly four years old when I took Mother's draining-ladle, threaded strings into its holes and fastened them to the end of the ladle. On these strings I played the guitar and sang improvised songs to this accompaniment. These improvisations made me happy as no later work of mine ever did. (Kodály 1974: 223.)

Kodály's intense desire to learn became evident in early childhood. He started music studies virtually on his own. He was ten years old when he first started playing the violin, and after a few years he was already playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. At the same time his sister taught him to the play the piano. Kodály taught himself Greek while his sister practised Beethoven sonatas in the other room. He memorised these sonatas by ear and taught himself to play the cello when no cellist could be found for the string quartet at his grammar school. To broaden his technical and literary knowledge Kodály examined the scores of great composers preserved in church libraries. In 1895, at the age of 13, he was not only a successful composer, but also had achieved excellent results in all of his school subjects. In 19302 Kodály said he would not dare become a musician because he thought he did not have enough virtuoso talent. (Eosze 1977: 20.)

Kodály made3 the same point in 1964 when he said that in the view of provincial people, a music career meant becoming a cantor or a wandering musician with strolling actors or conducting the band at the local fire department (Eosze 1977: 17).

In the twentieth century Kodály began language and literature studies at the Lóránd Eötvös University and music studies at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest (Houlahan & Tacka 2008). In 1906 he was awarded a doctorate for his research on old and ancient Hungarian folksongs, which formed an important part of Hungarian culture (Mäkelä 1990: 221).

Matti Vainio (2000) has examined the background and the origin of Kodály's doctoral dissertation. The Finnish composer, musicologist and folklorist Ilmari Krohn (1867-1960) and Zoltán Kodály were good friends and corresponded about a number of common problems in folk music research, especially on the issues of classification and analysis. At the time comparative folk music research (ethnomusicology) had not yet developed a suitable system for this task. Kodály's teachings featured largely in Krohn's doctoral dissertation (1899), and this work had a remarkable influence on Hungarian musicology. Krohn and Kodály's basic queries in their dissertations were similar in principle. Krohn's interest was the genres and types of Finnish folk melodies (1899), while Kodály's was the strophic structure of Hungarian folk melodies (1906). An Eastern type of folk music - the Kalevala melody- was first identified by Kodály. Researchers in Europe at the time were concerned about the most suitable method for analysing and classifying the storehouse of melodies that were being collected. As there was no classification system available for Ilmari Krohn's analyses, he developed his own. It was later referred to as the lexicographic method. Kodály recommend Krohn's theory and proposed that "all the melodies published should be classified in the form of a dictionary as Ilmari Krohn has done in Finland." (Vainio 2000: 5.)

Kodály continued his music studies in Berlin and Paris. He returned to Hungary in 1907 and was appointed a music theory specialist and later, professor of composition at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Kodály's style, which was based on the Viennese-Classical and German-Romantic styles, is said to have evolved in his later years of study. His style was also influenced by folk music and by Debussy, while his personal Hungarian style was decisively influenced by Bach, Palestrina and Gregorian chant. In 1919 Kodály became the new vice-rector of the Music Academy in Budapest. From 1925 he focused on Hungarian youth education and was tireless in writing music for educational purposes. In his articles and lectures Kodály often criticised traditional music education. (Mäkelä 1990: 222.)

At the beginning of the twentieth century he participated in the rebellious and intellectual movements as a music activist (Thália, Nyugat, Nyolcak), and contributed to the 1918/19 revolutions as much as he could. His achievements in research for more than 32 years are summarised in A magyar népzene [A Collection of Hungarian Folk Music]. (Breuer 1982: 10.)

From the end of the Second World War until his death, Zoltán Kodály's life was closely connected with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. After 1946, he became president of the Academy for three years and directed the editorial board of the Corpus Musicae Popularis Hungaricae and the Folk Music Research Group whose staff quintupled within a few years. (Vikár 1995: 25.)

In 1964 the Radio Society of Brema made a television documentary about Kodály. Luts Besch met the master and published five interviews he conducted with Kodály. In the last part, Mein Weg zur Musik, Kodály outlined the essence4 of his life's work.

The most important issue for me has always been to make the voice of my people be heard. That is why I have always had to make efforts to search for the old songs and melodies, and to try to work in their spirit. In other words: to follow the old traditions. (Kodály 1972: 94.)

3.2. Kodály Principles

In Music, Mind and Education Keith Swanwick (1988) wrote about the preservation of culture. He explained that the oldest and most accepted theory of music education is the one advocating that pupils form a link that carries forward a nation's cultural values and practices. Children need to know their nation's cultural history and the practices and skills and music that form its core. They especially need music with which to participate in the musical world of their culture. (Swanwick 1988: 10.)

Swanwick (1988) explained that this theory suggests that the task of the music educator is primarily to initiate students into recognisable musical traditions. Swanwick referred to Kodály's highly structured sequential approach as a fine example, intended primarily to develop musicianship through singing and especially sight singing. Every child should learn to read music and articulate it vocally. For Kodály, pupils should be initiated into music through folk traditions and in time be able to appreciate the best of the European classical tradition. (Swanwick 1988: 11.)

In the 1950s, an alternative perspective on music education gained ground - a theory that emphasises the qualities of expression, feeling and involvement. The theory shifted attention from the student as the heir of a great tradition to the student as an explorer and discoverer of enjoyment. (Swanwick 1988: 13.)

According to Klára Kokas (1972), the basic tenets of modern pedagogy are, on the one hand, the artistic and scientific value in a given material and, on the other hand, the material itself providing creativity opportunities for the children. The task of education is to help children discover the science as well as the art. The pleasure of discovery must be recognised in the interactive process of teaching and learning. We can show the tools, but the child has to bring the music to life. It is not enough to impart knowledge in music education; the educator has to be a partner in the child's discovery of new experiences. The pedagogue who teaches music also has to be acquainted with the levels and connections of childhood development to discover the best and most effective ways of teaching music. (Kokas 1972: 6.)

Erzsébet Szonyi (1988) calls attention to the dangers of modern ideas in music education and emphasises the importance of having teachers with a high level of specialised knowledge. The problem of music pedagogy is that traditional music education was usually the result of tiring and steadfast work. This is primarily the reason why the tendency of creativity has appeared, and this places the process of learning music on a new footing. This tendency rejects the importance of acquaintance...