Zoltán Kodály (kō-ˌdī): educator and composer who promoted a method to teach music literacy by using folk songs/games and dances.

 

Literacy: the ability to read fluently in another language. Just like a guitar player reads the notes and pushes at the corresponding fret, a singer reads the intervals and knows what each sounds like without any external assistance or without hearing it first.

 

Folk Songs: the songs of a particular nation that have no composer but have simply existed in various versions and stood the test of time.

Examples: The Eency Weency Spider, Long-Legged Sailor, Looby Loo, There’s a Hole in the Bucket, Hot Cross Buns, Shady Grove, etc.

 

Method: the method is just like method used to teach English - a child first speaks English and has English read to him/her for a few years, then is taught to read books from very simple to complex literature. In music, a child will be taught a body of songs and then how to “see” the sounds via notation progressing from very simple to complex rhythmic and melodic patterns in order to sing great literature.

 

Dances: we teach children to move to music in order to be moved by music. We learn practical skills like personal space, movement across space/time, and how to work with a partner as well as musical skills like being able to move all parts of the body to a beat in a particular meter. What begins as simple fingerplay and clapping games ends up building the skills for community dancing.

 

The final product of all this will be humans who are tuneful, beatful, and artful.