Orff Kodaly Essay Andrew Foote

As a freshman, so much of this first academic year has been learning about the real

world, and changing my mindset to be better equipped for adult life. Along with this mindset

adjustment, I had questioned my choices and decisions, wondering if Music Education was my

true passion, as one does so often when faced with increasing adversity. However, as I began my

second semester here at JMU, and enrolled in MUED 482, I found a place in which I could

properly demonstrate and cultivate my desire to teach, and therefore increase my understanding

of what an educator truly is. This increased understanding came through two experiences in this

class: 1) Learning about the pedagogy and methodology behind the Kodaly and Orff approaches

to early music education, and 2) gaining a practical understanding of the real difficulties in

teaching through the ensemble of children. The methodology and practical skills I have acquired

in MUED 482 Orff Kodaly Ensemble have allowed me to clearly realize my intentions as an

educator, and better equip myself via actual teaching experience.

Carl Orff and Zoltan Kodaly shared many teaching philosophies, which work in

conjunction with the differing methods to produce a well-rounded curriculum for students,

primarily at the elementary level (aged 7-11). One similarity is the emphasis on note introduction

based on age. Kodaly noted that the musical intervals of a major second, minor third, and perfect

fourth (represented in solfege by ‘sol, mi, & la’) were found in many contexts. These particular

relations of notes, in different orders and rhythmic figures, were found in young children in

Hungary (Kodaly’s homeland), the USA, and Japan. This “universal music vocabulary” formed

the basis for the Kodaly Method. Orff also recognized this fact, and structured his teachings

around this fact. The notes are introduced to children in a very specific order, resulting in the
construction initially of a pentatonic scale (Solfege: do-re-mi-sol-la-Do). The diatonic scale, a

staple feature of most western music (Solfege: do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-Do), is introduced in the

final years, after a firm understanding of the pentatonic is established.

One of the trademarks of the Kodaly method is the “child developmental” approach to

instruction. This means that the introduction of material is centered on students’ predispositions

and natural tendencies. For example, a “subject logic” approach is introduction of rhythms based

on their values, first beginning with the whole note, followed by the half, and so on. The major

problem with this system lies in the counterintuitive nature of note value introduction. As Kodaly

points out, children rarely experience “whole note” lengths of time in their daily lives. Instead

their world is filled with many brisk and fast actions and durations of actions. It is for this reason

that Kodaly begins with quarter notes and eighth notes, as they are more relatable and applicable

to the child’s everyday life. A child can relate these values to walking and running, two

movements that make up a majority of their play and free time. This focus on childhood beyond

the classroom is one of the cornerstones of the Kodaly method, and is one of the factors that

contributes to its widespread implementation and success.

Kodaly rose to significance when he began teaching at the Zeneakademia, the premier

Hungarian music school. Here, he was appalled at the ill-preparedness of so many students

entering the academy, as many were not only incapable of writing music, but of even reading it.

However, the biggest failing to Kodaly was the lack of knowledge among these students of the

traditional Hungarian folk songs that made up a bulk of the countries music. This sleight was

coupled with the fact that instead, a majority of students were very familiar with the popular and

classic western music of the day, primarily Viennese and German, all of which had been deemed

“good” by the musical elite of the time. Kodaly believed that, much like language, one must have
a good understanding of their homeland’s musical traditions and practices, and then build upon

that to include the music of other nations. This fundamental belief in the power of folk music is

what led Kodaly to partner with famous ethnomusicologist Bela Bartok in the collection of

children’s songs, eventually enumerating over 1000. From this collection, Kodaly began to build

his curriculum to educate the students, and eventually, form the basis for the Method.

Carl Orff gained popularity as a composer, best known as the composer of O, Fortuna!

From his massive cantata, Carmina Burana. However, as a pedagogue Orff is well respected and

recognized. In 1923, he founded an institute in Munich devoted to enhancing students

understanding and appreciation of music through a combination with dance, known as the

Guntherschule. The philosophies and experiences of the Guntherschule formed the basis of his

original teachings and methods, known as the Orff-Schulwerk, which is the Orff equivalent of

Kodaly’s method. Orff’s teaching philosophy can be summarized in four steps: Imitation,

Exploration, Literacy, and Improvisation, all of which were put into practice through the use of

five forms of media: speech, movement, song, instruments, and listening. The result was a

teaching method that integrated well with children, resulting in the transfer of the philosophies to

early education after their rediscovery in the late 1940s.

Through the combination of these two teaching systems, our class developed a well-

rounded approach to elementary education, and had the opportunity to put these principles into

practice. Immediately after we met and began to work with the children, we began to understand

some of the difficulties presented by the reality of teaching ten and eleven year olds. The

aforementioned readings and pedagogy provided us with a good foundation from which to begin

with the children. Our class emphasized the Orff method, as we were incorporating the Orff

instruments into our program for the year. We noticed immediately when teaching that all the
students were at varying levels of familiarity with the instruments, especially the recorder. The

children were separated out into three groups of 10-12 each, with either four or five JMU

students working with each. In my group, we had a significant disparity between students and

their recorder skills, with some having played less than a year, and others being able to play the

National Anthem with little to no effort. This presented a difficult challenge, in that we wanted to

bring the les experienced students up to a performance-ready skill level, while not boring or

ignoring the more advanced students. As I was the ‘helper’ designated to focus on recorder with

our group, I decided to begin each session with Remembered imitation, a component of the Orff

pedagogy, in which I would play a series of four or five notes on the recorder (all of which were

part of the G-pentatonic scale) in a simple rhythm, and ask the students to replay it to me as a

group. This gave me the opportunity to address some general tips in a musical context, such as

proper breath control, correct finger technique, and appropriate articulation of notes. After

addressing these fundamentals, I watched the students as they replaed the patterns to me, and

noticed the nature of some common issues. However, some students had individual issues that

needed more direct attention. One student placed her hands inverted on the recorder, with her

right hand closer to her mouth, and the left hand underneath. After the group worked on warm-up

patterns, I pulled her aside and helped her correct the issue. I believe this was caused by the

common problem associated with imitative teaching known as “mirroring,” in which a student

mimics exactly the movements of the teacher. This is an easily solvable problem when working

on the Orff instruments, as the teacher can rotate the instrument so it faces backward for

themselves, but correct to the students in front of them (to the teacher, the low bars would be on

the left, and the higher bars on the right). This issue is not easily corrected in such a fashion

when working with recorders, as hand placement is crucial for production of sound, therefore
preventing the teacher from altering their own hold on the instrument. I resolved the issue by

standing next to the student, and demonstrating to her the correct placement, while holding the

instrument in front of her as if she was playing. The additional benefit of the Remembered

Imitation style is that it allowed me to introduce melodic elements of the song we would be

performing. For my warm-up patterns in the later sessions, I directly quoted the piece, including

rhythmic details as opposed to strictly melodic. This allowed the students the benefit of isolating

sections of the piece and working many times on perfecting their timing and tone.

The problem faced by the girl in our group, and the subsequent analysis of this problem,

taught me an important lesson about teaching a group: individuals will be different in their

difficulties, and consequently will require differing approaches to learning the same material.

This is an important conclusion to draw from the class, as it prevents a teacher from falling into a

proverbial rut, and simply repeating the same exercises and utilizing the same approaches over

and over. Along with this realization, I noticed that efficient teaching will address multiple

concepts simultaneously, instead of through individual exercises. By incorporating melodic and

rhythmic features of the piece in our warm-up, we allowed the students to begin “learning the

piece” after already mastering several of the passages. This allowed us (the ‘helpers’) to assess

and evaluate different problems and struggles among the students, which could further be

addressed in detailed work.

The combined methods of Carl Orff and Zoltan Kodaly result in a strong yet varied

musical base for the students that participated in the program. The concrete lessons learned this

semester, through the literature and practical experience have provided me with a good base from

which I can develop an in-depth understanding of elementary methods in the coming years, and I

hope to be able to pursue further Orff and Kodaly training as my education progresses.