Mrs. Gabriel and Mrs. Padilla strive to provide a music program at Great Oaks
Elementary School that enriches each student's experience by building on an
extensive repertoire of quality folk music through singing, playing, listening,
and improvising.
The Kodály concept is used at Great Oaks, based on the teaching of Hungarian
composer Zoltan Kodály. Continue reading for more information about this
concept.
The Kodály Concept
Zoltan Kodály (1882-1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist and
music educator. He is given credit for gathering and implementing the Kodály
concept in the first singing schools in Hungary. The success of these schools
has led to this type of music education being implemented all over the world.
In many parts of Europe, this is not called the Kodály method but only sound
music education.
The Kodály concept is based on training the “ear before the eye” and using
the voice as the main instrument for children. Folk songs are used because of
their timeless beauty, developmental appropriateness for children and
connection to the classical repertoire. The Kodály concept teaches children
how to read and notate the rhythms and melodies found in their folk songs and
games. This concept also uses Curwen hand signs and syllables known as
solfége for the various intervals sung in a musical scale. Musical literacy
is one of the goals of Kodály educators; however, developing a love for music
is the ultimate goal.
Our music program sequences music concepts logically, so that by the end of a
child’s musical experience at Great Oaks Elementary, they will have a firm
knowledge and understanding of various rhythms and melodic concepts.
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