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BKA Mini-Study Tour to Kecskemét
by Betty Power (from BKA Spring 2004 Newsletter)
Twelve music educators from the UK convened at the Kodály Training Institute
on Monday morning, 16 February 2004, to begin a three-day study tour of the
Institute and the Kodály Primary School, hosted by Éva Vendrei, Deputy
Director of the Kodály Pedagogical Training Institute. The programme
included morning observations of the music classes at the Kodály Primary
School, followed by afternoon sessions at the Institute in sol-fa with
Katalin Szutrély, methodology with Sarolta Platthy, and an introduction to
the Institute’s programme, its current participants and facilities. The tour
culminated in a song recital of Kodály works by professors of the Institute.
It was a dream come true to finally be able to observe the Kodály master teachers and the students in their own environment. My strongest impressions were of the enthusiasm, concentration, and cooperation of all the children throughout each 45-minute class. Classes number 30 students, but the atmosphere is focused, calm and enthusiastic. Expectations are high, but the children are like any other in the world – between classes, they run and chase each other in the wide corridor spaces, chatter noisily with friends, dash to buy a fresh morning bun from the tuck shop. There exists a great sense of purpose, a modest dignity of important work in progress.
We observed three different master teachers and children from ages 6 - 16. My notes cover many pages and I hope to describe some of these lessons in future articles. I have never seen such expert music teaching in my 25 years in music education as I have in Kecskemét.
In Hungary there currently exist 5,000 regular Primary schools and 250 Music Primary schools. Although these are not fee-paying, students are admitted through a process of musical assessment. The Kodály Music Primary Schools began in 1950 when children attended daily music classes.
With the growth of democracy in Hungary, the current global trend against arts funding has taken hold there as well, and these students now have ONLY 3 music classes per week as opposed to every day. However, it has been found those children in the music primaries out-perform their contemporaries in ALL subject areas.
From Years 1- 8 (approx. ages 6-14) the children learn and study Hungarian Folksong, which includes pentatonic, pentachordal, and diatonic melodies in major and minor. They move on to the folksongs of other countries, gradually developing the skill of reading and writing music through the use of sol-fa. Their repertoire grows to include a healthy balance of folksong, music of the baroque, classical, art and 20th century music. Many of these children also participate in the Miraculum Children’s Choir and study instruments.
From Year 9, they may choose music as their major subject. We observed a Year 10 class of approximately 15 students age 16-17 preparing for their exams for entry into the Liszt Academy. The teacher at this age is an "artist", and the atmosphere of the classroom was reverent and subdued as she prepared them for a song from Haydn’s Creation by discussing birth & death and nature’s renewal each Spring.
Of greatest value to me was the "consultation" sessions we had with Éva Andrei, Deputy Director of the Kodály Institute, following each morning of observation. This was an opportunity to discuss in detail the sequence and focus of the lessons we saw, and Éva was always able to shed far greater insight into the lesson’s structure and its place in the overall curriculum.
My hope is that more music educators, administrators and policy makers can witness this Hungarian model of excellence in music education, and take hold of this wonderful opportunity for ALL students in the UK to become as skilful and competent in the "basics" of music. How great the result would be here if Kodály music education was given the same importance the National Curriculum currently assigns to maths, English and science!
Please contact Éva Andrei at the Kodály Institute if you would like to
organise a mini-study tour for music educators and/or administrators in your
area.
Address: H-6001 Kecskemét, PO Box 188, Kecskemét, Hungary.
E-mail: office@kodaly-inst.hu
Note: Special thanks to Gillian Earl for background information from Ildiko Herboly’s talk at BKA Easter Weekend Course
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