I’ve talked before about how visuals are the late part of the prepare stage when following the Kodaly “Method” in music class. But how do you know when “late prepare” is? Let’s talk about 3 signs to know your students are ready for visuals in the prepare stage.
Without knowing the NAME of the target concept (or the sound we use to represent it),
1. Students can properly perform the target concept. That means they can sing it on a neutral syllable, or clap the pattern.
2. Students can identify where in the piece they hear the target concept.
Questions like “What are the words where there are 2 sounds on the beat?” or “What is the word where we hear that new note (that we don’t know the name of yet)?”.
Words like “long and short” can help students describe the pattern. EX: Where is the long-short-short pattern in a beat (This would be Ti-Tika).
3. Students have shown proficiency in previous concepts. This means they can read them, write, perform, and use them. We don’t want to start presenting La if students are still struggling to write sol-mi patterns correctly on the lines or improvise with them.
Why Wait on Visuals?
- Students won’t rely on the visual to tell them what they hear.
- Students have a chance to develop their ear before they rely on their eyes.
- Students develop a better sense of intonation or internal beat.
- Students must prove they can use the tools before reading them off the page. This really tells you that they are proficient with the concept even though they haven’t learned the name of it yet. Their aural and kinesthetic skills have shown they can perform it, use it, decode it, etc. Visuals prove they can read it but not decode, inner hear, etc.
Hope this gives you a good idea of when to include visuals in the prepare stage of a concept!
