Why Kodaly?

Multicultural

A few weeks ago I talked to music ed students at a local university about Kodaly and I was thinking about this. There are a bunch of music “methodologies” and not only that, but many people choose to teach using a mix (which is a good thing!). I definitely operate heavily Kodaly but I was trying to identify when this became “my thing”. I think it’s a number of reasons but here are a few that led me to become a Kodaly teacher.

This is a huge one for me. Kodaly teaching doesn’t rely on pre-set song lists so you can seamlessly bring in materials to highlight other cultures. If you find a new song or learn one at a workshop, pick the concepts it works for and add it to that concept’s song list. If you have students that are solely Spanish speakers, or have a high population from a specific background, tailor your lessons to include a higher number of songs from that culture. You set the curriculum. You set the materials. You make the choices of what you want to include.

When the Questionable Songs list came out and people started rightly removing some of these songs from their classroom literature, this should have been an easy adapt. Go to your Song List for the concept. Remove it, and pick another one to fit in its place because you have more than just 5 songs you use for a concept.

No Budget No Problem

I’ve never had a budget and I’ve talked about this extensively. Kodaly teaching was easy to come by lesson plans because all I needed was songs and there are tons of resources online for folk songs. I didn’t need instruments, printed things, or even fun things like stretchy bands. If I was using materials, I could adapt it to what the school had. Anything I bought was my own budget so I made the most of what money I did put in for materials and got song collections.

If You Don’t Have Materials

When I was in 4 schools over 2 districts, not only was I without a budget but that’s a lot to coordinate. The less I had to take with me, the better. Kodaly teaching worked very well with minimal materials or things I could easily print and leave at each school. I didn’t have to bring lots and in most cases, as long as I had a few pieces of paper, a dry erase marker, and a few songs, I could make it work.

I’d like to point out that I know Orff can be done without instruments but especially in a situation like mine where different schools had different levels of materials (read: some had absolutely nothing and a few had a few instruments), trying to adapt for multi-age classrooms that varied between schools (EX: 1-2 at one school may be 1-3 at another and another had K-2 with preschoolers in the mix), adapt what materials students had to use, and adapt as a fairly new teacher while traveling between 3-4 schools doesn’t make that realistic. I had no planning time and as much as I could reuse between age levels was what I needed.

Fits Your Students

Where they are at. What they are able to do. It’s student led learning. You don’t move on if they aren’t able to use the concept. Prepare is only finished when they can identify the concept aurally, physically, and visually (without knowing the name). Present can’t happen until they are ready. Practice moves at the pace they are able to do. Students show they understand by being able to read, inner hear, write, and USE the concept.

Adaptability to Multi-age Classrooms

I’ve done it. If you have 2 grade levels a class, you can focus on rhythm one year, and melody the next, rotating back and forth so that students go through the process of learning all of them instead of trying to differentiate for two grade levels at a time. The songs and games are not specific to an age level so this keeps all your students engaged but also allows them to continue conceptual learning with active music making the entire class period.

Other Stuff

There is still time in a Kodaly curriculum to add in other things. Books, music history, composition (because it really is just part of practice!!), and movement. Saying I’m a Kodaly teacher doesn’t mean I don’t do those things. and I think it’s a misconception that has somehow perpetuated.

Not only this but Kodaly teaching does NOT have to be stand alone! It mixes with other methods! You can still incorporate elements of those methods into the structure of rhythmic and melodic work.

It’s Personal

And this is true for a lot of the “methods” that you might take. It fits me. This is the “method” that spoke to me. It works with how my brain works. Would my students still learn in another classroom? Or course. But they are going to learn best from me the way that works best for me to teach. If I attempted to do lots of exploratory movement and make it musical, they aren’t going to get the same takeaways as a great Orff teacher. I’m not comfortable with exploratory movement. You have to teach the way that works best for you.