Sing ‘Frere Jacques’ out loud. Easy, right? Now try it again, singing every other note silently in your head; still with me?
Can you sing the whole thing in your head? How about in canon?
Inner hearing is a key concept in the Kodály Method of music education; it allows  us to use our imagination to ‘visualise’ music in our heads. When we can do this, we can understand music to the fullest degree. It allows us to improvise, perform, compose, sing and much more.
I’m privileged to have just returned from the annual British Kodály Academy’s Summer School; this year at the University of Nottingham. I have spent the week learning mind bending singing games, solfa handsigns, vocal techniques and choral conducting, with a view to completing the BKA’s Level 1 certificate programme by this time next year.
The Kodály method is nothing particularly new; it was developed in the middle part of the last century by the eponymous Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodály. It allows us to perceive music in a different way, thinking more about the function of each note rather than just its name.
For example, in the key of F major, A is a major third from F. Using the Kodály Solfege system, F would be Do and A would be Mi. If we were then to move the example up a tone into G major, B natural would be the major third. In Solfege, G would again be Do and B would still be Mi. Teaching children to sing in this manner allows them to conceptualise music more effectively and think ‘What is that note doing?’ instead of merely, ‘What is that note?’. Handsigns are also used for each different note, adding an important visualisation of the pitch when singing.
The Kodály method is also a child-developmental approach, meaning that each step follows a clear progression that takes into account a child’s musical cognitive development. Every time something is achieved there’s always a way of making it even more challenging and building upon the foundations previously laid. Concepts are regularly taught as games; every time we managed to keep up with a game this week, the teacher would then make it harder, forcing us to internalise what we had just learnt in order to add another layer.
Singing is obviously a core part of the Kodály methodology with the rationale that it is the most efficient way of training the ear and encouraging the development of audiation. Mozart’s ability to ‘hear’ his compositions in his head was almost certainly an exaggerated form of audiation and it’s clear today that this skill is the cornerstone of musical ability and is often mistakenly referred to as ‘innate talent’. Teaching children to sing first in unison and later in harmony is a priority. It can help with all types of music and communication, not to mention things like confidence!
The way I experience music has been revolutionised this last week and I can’t wait to bring what I’ve learnt to the classroom! The benefits of this method are far-reaching and I can’t wait to see what kind of effect it has a few years down the line! I shall keep you posted…
Meanwhile, this is the kind of thing we were getting up to last week;