Perspectives on Kodály Cello Teaching

Wiesje van Eersel

Name: Wiesje van Eersel Main Subject: Music Education According to the Kodály Concept Research Coach: Patrick van Deurzen Title of Research: Perspectives on Kodály Cello Teaching Research Question: In which way can the Kodály concept form an integrated part of a cello teaching curriculum for children? Summary of Results: In search of a suitable method to educate my pupils towards comprehensive cello playing, I came across the Kodály concept. My first encounter was promising and I decided to pursue this further. My research investigates possible ways to integrate the Kodály concept in cello teaching for children. In my research paper, first the Kodály concept is defined, and on that basis, existing methods and practices are analysed and examined. In addition to the study of the written sources I have also observed lessons and experimented with the materials myself. Alongside this investigation I have been integrating the Kodály concept in my own teaching for three years. The reflection on that experience, together with my findings from the existing methods results in the conclusion that there are many possible ways to integrate (elements of) the Kodály concept in cello teaching. In the analysed methods, and in my own teaching, choices on how to integrate the concept depend on several factors. The initial perception of the concept is of influence, but also the practical reality of a particular teaching practice. I came to the conclusion that a structural, full implementation of the concept would have implications for the practical arrangement of my teaching. In my presentation I want to show the different perspectives, give practical examples and share my thoughts on a possible way to realise the concept in my teaching practice. Biography Wiesje van Eersel is cello teacher at the PI, Junior and Young Talent Department of the Royal Conservatoire, where she teaches children between 5 and 12 years old. She also teaches cello methodology at the Royal Conservatoire and the Conservatoire of Amsterdam, and teaches in a public music school.

Introduction

What I want to achieve with my cello teaching is an authentic musicianship in the pupil or student. A pupil who knows what he is doing on a comprehensive level: 'knowing' not only in the cognitive sense, but in an experience-based, intrinsic sense: an understanding of the music he is playing. This covers inner hearing, but also inner feeling of beat, rhythm and metre, and logic of form and phrasing. This would mean an understanding of (notated) music in a way, that would result in a direct and authentic playing, like singing, on the cello.

Hereby I want to foster the pleasure of making music, ensuring a long-lasting commitment to playing the cello.

My interest is to find a way in helping the young pupil to develop, right from the start, into this complete musician/cellist. Motivated by the fact that I do not recognise this interest in traditional instrumental teaching, or in the traditional teaching methods available for cello, I have chosen to focus my research on this quest.

From working with children at PI (1) for more than ten years, I have always been busy working out ways to establish inner hearing, and an overall general musical understanding from the age of 5, developing hand in hand with technical, or cellistic, skills. In the school year of 2013/2014 I followed the course Muziek als Vak (2), where I discovered tools that would fit the purpose of developing musicianship skills. From then on I started applying Kodály tools to achieve those goals, and approached these subjects more and more structural. In this research I take the opportunity to study this deeper to gain more expertise.

Apart from PI and its continuations in Junior and the Young Talent Department of the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, I am also (and have always been) teaching children in various ‘ordinary’ music schools. From this perspective the desirability, or rightly put: the absolute necessity to include musicianship is even stronger. In these music schools, children mostly do not get extra solfeggio lessons, there are no preparatory classes, and a large part of them have no significant musical background from home. Their often poorly developed musicianship skills cause great obstacles in their instrumental development and keep them in many cases from comprehensive and true music making. On a wider stage, it is relevant to start bringing in options and solutions on how to meet this deplorable condition.

In studying the Kodály concept in the Master “Music Education according to the Kodály Concept” (3), I found the concept a very promising way to integrate musicianship into the instrumental lesson.

At the outset of this research project I was considering to design a method for cello or developing a curriculum for string teaching according to the Kodály concept. In studying historical methods, I ran into this quote from Sebastian Lee:

“Um eine gute Schule zu schreiben, ist das Talent als Componist vielleicht weniger nothwendig, als eine vertständige Beurtheilungsgabe, grosse Erfahrung im Lehrfach und gründliches Studium aller vorhandenen Werke die in dieser Art existieren.” (Sebastian Lee, Einleitung Violoncello-Schule, 1845) (4)

Thus, after this good advice, and humbled by the magnitude of the task, I decided to start with his last recommendation: thorough study of all available works that exist of this nature. I leave the development of a method or curriculum to be done in the future. I started to search for existing Kodály inspired methods and teachers applying the Kodály concept in their lessons. This brought me in 2015 to London, where I observed the Kodály based Colourstrings method (5) in practice.

I found other methods as well, for example The Essential String Method (6), with explicit use of Kodály associated principles and tools. In total I found five methods: three cello methods, one piano method and one recorder method. I decided to analyse the materials to have a good view on what is already done, and on how it is done.

Structure of the paper

Before I come to analyse these methods, I will sketch in chapter one of this paper a framework on the Kodály methodology. In the description of the Kodály concept I will touch upon the historical and the more contemporary conception, and I will bring in my personal experience with the concept.

In chapter one I will also review literature published on Kodály and instrumental teaching, and I will address some problems involved in music education today in The Netherlands.

At the end of this chapter I will abstract a practicable concept to measure the methods I chose to investigate.

In the second chapter I will provide a short framework on traditional cello methods, to alert the reader to the differences in approach. Thereafter I will summarize my findings of studying various methods, compare them and list their characteristics. I will share my observations of the lessons I visited, and report of my own experimental lessons with those methods.

In the third chapter I will describe the way I have implemented the Kodály concept so far in my own multifaceted teaching practice, and give practical examples. I will then measure the data by the same standard, to be able to compare my practice and the analysed methodologies, and draw conclusions from this.

At the end I will come back to my research question (see below) and reflect on the meaning of the research outcomes for implementing the Kodály concept in cello teaching and instrumental teaching in general. As mentioned before, this research will not produce a method, but it will certainly sketch the broad outlines for a break with conventional music education, and might unveil new ways towards teaching music.

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