How can aspects of the Kodály philosophy and methodology be integrated into instrumental education?

Mieke van Dael

Name: Mieke van Dael Main Subject: Music Education According to the Kodály Concept Research Supervisor: Renee Jonker Title of Research: Integrating aspects of the Kodály philosophy and methodology into instrumental education. Research Question: How can aspects of the Kodály philosophy and methodology be integrated into instrumental education? Summary of Results: I started this Master's study and Research while searching for tools which would allow me to develop my students' inner hearing, and while also being aware that instrumental education has remained the same for a long time even though the world around us is changing. In addition, I realised that during my career as a performing bassoonist I have seen changes which I did not understand. My study has opened the door to a wide range of possibilities and follow-up steps for me to take. I now understand why I found a number of things difficult in classical music performance. As far as I am concerned that is closely related to the fact that I was trained to reproduce music from notation, whereas I think that making music is much more than merely reproducing something. Splendid masterworks have been composed throughout musical history and I can thoroughly enjoy them if I am given the chance to play them. However, for me, that is not the only way to make my musical voice heard. I also need to speak a living musical language with my pupils and colleague musicians. If self-expression is an important part of the new learning, then I think that it is essential I develop musical expression with my pupils in order to speak a living musical language. It would be extremely interesting in a follow-up study to investigate how the language develops and then to see what is necessary to develop a living musical language-one in which you learn to listen, speak, read, write and interpret. By doing this research I have come to understand how aspects from the Kodály philosophy and methodology can be integrated into instrumental education and I can see that this is enriching. It has given me many insights and a broad palette of tools which I can use to work in the profession in a more creative and innovative manner. Biography: I studied bassoon, contrabassoon and chamber music at the conservatories of Maastricht and Amsterdam at the end of the 1980s. I began my career in the Dutch musical landscape at the start of the 1990s. I have been a bassoonist and contrabassoonist for more than 20 years and have given concerts in the Netherlands and abroad, including a number of years intensive involvement with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. My career as a bassoon teacher has also covered more than 20 years, and is nowadays at Scholen in de Kunst in Amersfoort and at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague.

Research Method

My investigation into how aspects of the Kodály philosophy and methodology can be integrated into instrumental education consisted of a number of steps:

A study of the Kodály philosophy and methodology

- November 2012. Participated in an international Kodály study weekend at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague

- in February 2013. Participated in an educational trip to Budapest/Hungary organised by the BKA(British Kodály Academy)

- 2013/2014 academic year. Participated in the Saturday training course “Music as a Professional Study” at the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague. This course also involved an educational trip, this time to Kecskemet/ Hungary and included lessons at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemet

- The period 2014 to the present. Master’s Degree Course “Music education according to the Kodály concept”, including participation in an educational trip to Hungary and lessons at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemet.

- Participated in an Expertise Weekend “Music from within” 30 and 31 January 2016

- Talked to Jane Cutler, director of Da Capo, in May 2015, and also attended a lesson she gave at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.

- Studied materials made by Da Capo .

A study of CMM: Creative Music Making, an addition to existing methods in music education that brings the collaborative and creative aspects of learning to the forefront.

- Participated in studieLABs organised by puntComp in May and October 2015, and in January and May 2016.

Within my work domain I have undertaken the following steps in order to work on my Research Question

- Added Kodály aspects to my individual lessons and started my own methodology for use with young bassoon beginners in September 2013. The lessons I give to pupils of all age groups and levels can be regarded as one big Research Field.

- Took the initiative to set up extra group lessons for beginning Wind Players at the Muziekschool Amersfoort. This “ Blazersplus” programme began in September 2013

- In September 2013, as a result of an initiative introduced by the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, I worked with a team to develop a new lesson methodology known as “ BASIS” for young wind players at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague.

- Took the initiative to set up a Kodály training course for teachers at the Muziekschool in Amersfoort. This began in September 2014.

- Gave a workshop during the international study weekend “Kodály and instrumental teaching” at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, 21 and 22 November 2015.

- Organised CMM weekend at the Muziekschool Amersfoort, 6 and 7 February 2016 for 75 pupils from the School for Talent and teachers at the Scholen in de Kunst music school

- Gave Workshop for bassoon students at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, 15 March 2016

All these activities together resulted in too much material for my Master’s research, so for this purpose I have limited myself to just three contexts, namely:

BASIS Instrumental method for beginning wind players at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague. Learning to play an instrument in the context of a broad musical development. I would like to see how these aspects could be integrated into the development of instrumental methodology.

CMM (Creative Music Making) workshop weekend, 6 and 7 February 2016 at the Scholen in de Kunst Amersfoort. Learning to compose for instruments; learning to work with instruments in a group. I would like to see how these aspects could influence the forms of education which emphasise the development of an active approach to musical creativity.

Workshop with the bassoon students from the Royal Conservatoire, 15 March 2016

Reproducing, rehearsing and studying traditional repertoire on instruments. I would like to see how these three aspects could be further developed at the level of professional instrumental education.

I used the following research methods to investigate the above:

a literature study
Practice-Based Research by observing/describing what happens in practice, to analyse this, and to apply the results to lesson-giving, and subsequently to observe/describe and analyse once more in order to discover to what extent my own interventions have had some influence. These stages form a cycle.

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