- Relative sol-fa: a systematic connection between solmisation and playing is what ties this method together.
Introduction
In the Kodály philosophy playing an instrument should be possible only when a solid musical foundation of aural skills and rhythmic sense has been developed. In Kodály’s vision it is not necessary to learn to play an instrument; musical education that does not evolve into instrumental playing, is still meaningful and necessary because the world needs not only skilled instrumentalists but educated listeners as well.
But when instrumental teaching is introduced, the Kodály concept contributes to comprehensive music making. From the literature it is clear that the played material should be approached first through singing, preferably in solmisation, and then playing.
In an article by Priscilla M. Howard, she states that “the incorporation of Kodály vocal techniques into instrumental teaching, is a new frontier with potential for limitless creativity and flexibility for the teacher. For the student, it can result in increased knowledge and better musicianship.”29.
She also states that nowadays the main problem in music teaching and education lies in the fact that singing and playing are perceived as two separate entities.
The basic principles of the Kodály philosophy can and should be integrated in instrumental teaching by creating a link between the inner hearing and the playing through singing. The students should first feel the music in their own minds and bodies, move to it, sing it, write it and as the final step play it.
Sol-fa syllables can be applied in singing, and this will help create a pitch relationship between sounds both when singing and playing.
Rhythm can be tapped and spoken first before being played.
Some Kodály inspired methods have been created for cello and are nowadays used; worth of mention is the Coloustrings method which is the most renowned Kodály inspired cello method in use at the moment.
- Changes of position: shifting is introduced very early on to teach the child a very relaxed and free handling of the instrument.
- Transposing: the pupil is asked to transpose melodies by ear. In the following video the pupil is transposing a melody that was originally presented to be played in the first position, up high on the G string.
The benefits of practicing this way lie in the improvement of coordination; this way of practicing creates a relationship between the two voices, providing a meaningful context that is perceived and actively experienced by the player. This is the way that pianists actually learn, because combining different rhythms with the two different hands is a task that is presented very early on in piano playing; string players do not lack this ability in coordination, but are traditionally never taught this way.
In my view, these same benefits and more others can be found when combining not only playing and beating rhythm but when singing and playing at the same time on the instrument.
The Colourstrings Method
The Colourstrings method is a child-centred education method that finds his roots in the principles introduced by the Kodály philosophy; the method has been developed in 1977 by the Hungarian brothers Géza and Csaba Szilvay (respectively a violinist and a cellist as well as renowned pedagogues). This method is mostly used in Finland and has brought to fame many cellists. Children use all the senses to develop a solid inner ear and all the musical material is based on traditional folk music.
The Szilvay brothers believed that playing an instrument is not just a matter of technique, but of human expression, therefore not only dexterity should be trained; indeed the musical upbringing of a child should lay its foundations for all aspects of musicianship from the very first lesson. “To enable children to joyfully express what they hear and feel inside – based on adequate technical skills – is the core of our pedagogical thinking.”30.
The very first years of musical education are, according the Szilvay brothers, the most delicate as they are decisive for the entire musical future of the pupil. Therefore it is essential that instrumental teaching is of the highest quality.
Teaching an instrument should accommodate the desires of the child and meet their needs in such a way that learning music can be compared to learning a language and playing an instrument becomes the voice with which the child can speak and express emotions.
“Colourstrings is not limited only to teaching manual dexterity movements made by the two hands but tend also to give the whole music as an “art-package” to the child, where the developing of instrumental technique, the musical hearing (with the help of the relative solmisation), understanding (music theory) and the musical emotions occur in equilibrium all the time.”31.
One very interesting feature of the Colourstrings method is the approach to the way notation is presented. Before introducing more complex notation, colours and pictures are used; this aims to create and keep a connection between seeing and hearing.
Each string on the cello is associated with a colour from the very beginning of the book; this way children can read music and play on different strings before standard staff notation is introduced.
From the very beginning musical writing and reading is connected; this makes learning deeper and more lasting because while “playing and reading movements are connected with intellectual process. Playing an instrument thus develops also to an intellectual activity.”32.
See below the different techniques that are introduced in the beginning; it is interesting to notice that, compared to older cello methods, these techniques are introduced from the very beginning at the same time.
- Numbered pizzicato: to encourage the development of the independence of the fingers of the left hand. The child learns to pluck different strings with different fingers on the left hand before getting to play in positions.
The previous examples are taken from the violin Colourstrings method books; the same principles apply to the cello method.
“To develop the skill of inner hearing, Colourstrings uses relative solmisation, a key feature, recurring on every level, and throughout all the method books. Connecting relative solmisation systematically with playing the instrument enables transposing and transforming the musical material, a regular strategy in the method to enhance also technical flexibility.
Singing is where it all starts: the first songs to be played are derived from children’s songs, carefully selected and sung in the Colourstrings Kindergarten classes; solmisation syllables are meant to be sung, and the method recommends to sing every song on solmisation before playing it. In addition, there are separate ‘cantare’ exercises to prepare for a particular tone set.”33.
Relative solmization functions as a tie to connect all of the technical aspects of the playing to the inner hearing of the child. The pupil hears the sound before having to play it, which promotes the basis for a solid and very good basic intonation.
Natural harmonics come in help to create the connection between sol-mi and playing. Natural harmonics are very easy to play as they do not require the string to be completely pressed and their intonation is fixed to the tuning of open strings, which means they always sound in tune as long as the instrument in tuned correctly. The Colourstrings method makes in fact use of these natural harmonics so that even a kid who has just picked up the instrument is able to play so-mi melodies on the cello (which are introduced before by singing).
Another aspect that the method focuses on is transpoistion. Solmisation serves again as a tie to introduce this new skill. Once you can sing internally a melody and play it on the instrument, you should be able to play the same melody transposed. Since string instruments are tuned in 5th, often melodies can be transposed by moving up or down the fingerboard and keeping the same fingering pattern. The process can be quite mechanic and not conscious if the inner hearing is not trained, but when solmisation has an active role in the kid’s education, it prepares the pupil and develops and active and aware attention of what is happening when transposing. A skilled child will then be able to transpose also when the fingering pattern has to be broken.
Observations
From my analysis of the Colourstrings method I have seen that singing is an important part that, with the help of solmisation, functions as a tie to connect the inner hearing to the playing. Children are asked to sing the whole song before they play, or note by note before they play them.
In the book there are no exercises written for voice and cello on two staffs.
There are exercises that involve playing while beating rhythm, that are written in two staffs. The child is asked to play right hand bow and left hand pizzicato. This method is used to introduce new rhythm figures and put them in relation to the beat.34.
