Necessary methods and systems for teaching

What methods and systems would you feel necessary to know to develop your own teaching system?

In my opinion, the Suzuki method and the Kodaly method are necessary to know to develop my own teaching system.

The Suzuki Method was developed in the mid-20th century by Shinichi Suzuki, a Japanese violinist who wanted to contribute to the renewal of hope and courage after stirred deeply by the suffering and privation of Japanese children after the World War 2. The method was based on Suzuki’s observation of children are able to learn their mother tongue with no difficulty. Therefore he concluded that a child’s environment influences his/her development greatly. He observes, “Education begins from the day of birth. We must recognize the amazing power of the infant who absorbs everything in his surroundings and adds to his knowledge. If attention is not given to early infancy, how can the child’s original power be develop?”[i]

He modeled his method, which he called "Talent Education", after his theories of natural language acquisition.  The philosophy of Talent Education is as follows:

1. The human being is a product of his environment. Suzuki believes that if we present the young child with musical sound impressions on a regular basis, then certainly the desire to express itself musically will gradually be awakened. [ii]
2. The earlier, the better—not only music, but all learning. The method emphasize on playing from a very young age, sometimes beginning formal instruction between the ages of 3and 5 years old.
3. Repetition of experiences is important for learning. As a prerequisite for the group instruction, repetition provides the opportunity to polish violin-playing techniques, to refine musical taste and to build up a proper repertoire.
4. The idea of combining individual and group instructions. The children very much enjoy playing in unison, and it encourages a noticeable improvement in their abilities.
5. Tonalization, understood as the principle of constant work on the quality of the violin tone. The creation of a beautiful tone is a special goal of violin practice. The starting point is the sound of the plucked, freely-vibrating open string. From the beginning, scales and triads are practiced with this goal in mind.
6. Teacher and parents (adult human environment) must be at a high level and continue to grow to provide a better learning situation for the child.
7. The system or method must involve illustrations for the child based on the teacher’s understanding of when, what and how.

The Kodàly method is an approach to music education that was developed in Hungary during the mid-twentieth century. Although it’s named after Hungarian composer and educator Zoltàn Kodàly, the method itself was not created by him. His music education philosophy served as inspiration for the method.

The principle of the Kodàly method is in essence extremely simple. Kodàly was convinced that singing is the most direct means to a musical education. Singing requires the rapid internalization of sound and provides immediate participation in the musical experience. Kodàly’s intent was to lead students to a deep appreciation of art music. Since the human voice is the most intimate of all instruments and the inner ear is more easily developed through this personal medium, the voice is the most logical starting point. “A child who plays before he sings may remain unmusical for a lifetime…”[iii]

There are three stages of the learning process, as Kodàly identified:

1. The Unconscious Experience (preparation)
2. The Making Conscious (Presentation)
3. Reinforcement (Practice)

At the beginning of their learning process, children learn through singing games with folk dancing (physical movements). “Children’s singing games allow a more profound insight than anything else into the primeval age of folk music. Singing connected with movement and action is a much more ancient and, at the same time, more complex phenomenon than is a simple song. It offers much more hitherto untouched material to science for all kinds of investigation than any other branch of folk music, on which its thorough examination can also throw new light.”[iv] Gradually what they have assimilated unconsciously is made conscious and children learn both the appropriate vocabulary to describe their experience and the written symbol that represents it. Through this way, musical literacy is taught in a practical and logical sequence.

The reasons why I choose these two music education methods are as follows:

1. These two methods go from the simple to the complex in a series of small logical steps, which means that success, is guaranteed. Success produces confidence and the desire to learn more.
2. Children taught music with the kodàly method are confident with singing and performing on their own. Their intonation becomes secure and their sense of pulse is strong. They become joyful, rounded, confident musicians.
3. Children taught with the Suzuki method learn music in the most natural way and develop beautiful tones and sounds musicianship.
4. “If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart.”----Shinichi Suzuki. Therefore, this method not only helps a child to develop into a fine musician, but also a fine person.
5. Whereas the Suzuki method focuses on children at very young age, the Kodàly method could apply to teach musicianship skills to older individuals.
6. Both these two methods will be able to help children to develop into rounded musicians who can stand on their own feet and make music with freedom which I think is the most important in playing an instrument.

Concerning repertoire, for both young beginners and adult beginners, I aim at giving the greatest possible variety and versatility and at having the student cover works of all styles, types, and periods. The repertoire should be well rounded for all students in order that any one-sided development may be avoided.

For both groups of beginners, I would like to focus on song playing over technical exercise at the beginning of their learning process. Allow students to make music from the beginning. The songs to choose must be of the highest musical quality and have a musical appeal. The text of the song and the music should complement each other; the rhythmic accent and melodic inflection should match the structure of the language. The songs should be developmentally appropriate and should be relevant for specific age groups.

In putting together a general repertoire for adult beginners, a similar approach to that used for young beginners may be used, but at a more sophisticated level. For instance, with young beginners, the pieces chosen may be simpler in the sense of catchy tunes or compositions lacking in any kind of real conceptual depth. Younger listeners are often satisfied with music of a more superficial nature because they have less experience of life and of music. Older beginners might not find this kind of music satisfying. It is not necessarily a matter of the complexity of the music itself, so that it is any more difficult to play, but a matter of the type of music it is. Younger people are more attracted to tunes, whereas older beginners do not necessarily need the lure of a simple melody to interest them in the piece. This is because they have had more years of listening experience and are less naive in their tastes. With age comes increasing sophistication of taste. Therefore, young beginners and adult beginners require music which appeals to their different levels of maturity. This does not need to mean that the playing of the pieces is technically any more difficult for the adults. But it is a fundamental fact which needs to be recognised that adults do not share the same tastes in music as children or young people. This recognition needs to be embodied in the choice of repertoire. If an adult beginner is asked to play 'kiddie pieces', he or she will not be attracted by learning the instrument and may give it up because the music will seem uninteresting or in some cases even ridiculous. In choice of repertoire for introductory instruction, therefore, age differences must be taken into account. After all, it is not merely a matter of technical training which is involved. The student must wish to engage with the music itself. An adult cannot be expected to want to learn an instrument if he or she is expected to start by playing nursery rhyme music. On the other hand, a child might be discouraged if faced only with beginners' reduced versions of symphonic themes. The choice of the music for teaching can often be as important as the teaching itself. Learning to play is not just a matter of learning how to play an instrument, but of learning how to relate to music as a whole. Musical training is not just instrumental training, or of acquiring manual skills. It is a matter of entering the magic world of music, of taking the first steps towards being able to produce those sounds which so enchant those of us who love music. To be a beginner is to have your hand on the door handle. You want to learn more than how to turn the handle, in order to enter. You want to hear the music which is on the other side of the door and wish to reach it, to hear it better, and eventually to be able to produce it yourself. Music teaching must always be more than merely technical tutelage. It must always be also the invocation of magic. That is why the variations in choice of repertoire can be so important. And the differences do not arise only between children and adults. The differences can apply also to different personality types. The teacher must be creative and flexible, and try to find the pieces that will most engage the attention and interest of the pupil. The most important thing for any pupil is motivation. It is the teacher's duty to increase and encourage that in every way possible, and flexibility with repertoire is a fundamental tool for that purpose. Above all, the teacher's task is to inspire.