Between MMC and CMEA, the past 2 weekends have been a whirlwind of education, planning committee duties, time with friends, and learning. I thought I’d sum up my three big takeaways from the last two weekends.

1. David Frego is delightful and Dalcroze is underrated.

Seriously. I saw David present at the Fall General Music Workshop here in Michigan somewhere over a decade ago (shh, I’m not old). This year we brought him here to be our Pre-Conference headliner to have a day with him and I realized how many things I’ve picked up from him that I didn’t realize were his. Some of these things just stuck in my teaching that I picked up when I was a young impressionable teacher. Musical movement – soundless tapping instead of slamming my hand into my legs to keep the beat, circular instead of lines.

But not only that, I appreciate Dr. Frego because he demystifies Dalcroze. As someone who is NOT a piano player, Dalcroze always felt unattainable. So much of his instruction is piano free. It is wonderful to see how I can incorporate elements of Dalcroze into my teaching without being a piano player.

On my short list of resources to check out is this book by David Marla Butke.

2. Kodaly is not a curriculum, and it’s NOT 1 size fits all.

I heard someone one of these weekends talking junk about Kodaly because we (their words not mine) don’t get to 6/8 until 5th grade or never, and that kids in K-2 aren’t ready for it because we don’t get musical instruction as they do in Hungary, and complaining about the sequence saying whatever is supposed to be in 1st/2nd/whatever grade. There were some other things but truthfully, I think I’ve been talking about the exact opposite for the last decade, so to hear someone say that where I’ve been actively working against Kodaly stereotypes burned my bubbles and I ended up leaving the session. Here’s the thing…

1. Can we be done badmouthing other “methods”? Or making them methods/set curriculums/etc when they actually AREN’T? Orff, Dalcroze, MLT, I’m looking at you. We know you aren’t “methods” either even though AI would say otherwise.
2. Kodaly is not a paper curriculum that you buy. It’s not out of the box. It is NOT one size fits all.
3. In Kodaly style teaching, you move on when the kids are ready. Not because it’s “supposed to be in 1st grade”. This is literally the whole point. It is student led, not teacher led.
4. You are supposed to follow a sequence based on the songs YOU use. If you pick a bunch of songs with 6/8, then put it earlier in your sequence. If you want to start with Do Re Mi instead of Sol Mi La, that’s your prerogative. If you teach somewhere where the local folk songs, and musical language is centered around something totally different, then that should be taken into consideration instead of starting on either of those.
5. Kids are more than capable of learning solfege and rhythm if you prep them correctly because….
6. Maybe a lot of them aren’t getting dedicated music classes at the age of 3. But they are still exposed to music. Sesame Street. Miss Rachel, whatever other things people are having their kids watch. Parents play music at home. Kids sing along. Is it always what we would pick as a music teacher? No, but kids aren’t sitting in a bubble.
7. There’s probably more but I’ll step off the soapbox. Don’t let anyone tell you that this can’t work because of those reasons.
8. I also want to point out that Kodaly is an inclusive way of teaching. Culturally and social-economically. It doesn’t NEED a budget. It can include songs from ANY culture. It encourages using songs of the people (folk songs) in the learning process – representing the cultures that your students are from, using music they know (including pop music!), and using songs from your community. When I started using Kodaly, I had NO budget. ZERO. I’ve talked about this before. It’s important to know that you don’t have to buy ANYTHING to make this work.

3. I’ve Got Amazing Friends

Seriously, if you spend some time learning from your music teacher community, you’ll be blown away. I am continually amazed at what I learn from my colleagues here in Michigan and from my friends across the country. I had the pleasure of presenting with Jen Bailey (Sing to Kids) and Deb Navin and I said something at that presentation I need to repeat since I was on my Kodaly soap box….

I would be honored and thrilled if either of them taught my child. Because they are AMAZING teachers no matter what “method” they use. They both teach very differently from me. But good TEACHING is good teaching.

And it’s not just them. I’ve got AMAZING music teacher friends from across the country that I’ve met in person and some are ‘just’ my internet friends that continually help me grow. If you aren’t learning from your community, or open to learning from your community you’ll stagnate as a teacher.

As musicians, we know there is no perfection, and there is always room to improve. Professionals go for lessons. Teaching is the same. It’s a craft, not exact. It’s not perfect, and there always room to improve as teachers. Seasoned teachers still need to work on their craft! No one has the right answers for everything.

What are your conference takeaways this year?