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Music School Based on the Philosophy of Zoltan Kodaly
With this in mind, at Music Works Magic we believe that music education is the quintessential cornerstone for successful life-long learning. We base our teaching on the philosophies of Zoltan Kodaly, Dr Edwin Gordon, Dr Beth Bolton, Dr John Feierabend, Dr Sinichi Suzuki and Carl Orff. According to Kodaly our first instrument is our voice, and at Music Works Magic we take onboard the African proverb: If you can talk, you can sing, if you can walk, you can dance! Together we create the space and time for all to develop the self confidence to make music together.
Orff agreed that it is so important to learn to play instruments, and all types of instruments, but that we all need to sing tunefully, experience the beat and rhythmic elements in many ways through our bodies. Feierabend says we must work to develop tuneful, ‘beatful’ and artful students.
Immersion in music begins before your children are even born. We don’t wait until they are ‘old enough’ before we start talking to them, so why do we defer singing with them? Babies are known to have musical memory from as young as 22 weeks in-utero. Gordon acknowledged that even the youngest babies can sing and vocally respond without words. At Music Works Magic you can enjoy the wonderful musical journey together with your child whilst being part of a community that sings and moves together, interacting through music.
Our teachers work from our home studio base or out at your centre.
You will learn to:
- Create meaningful, sequential, developmentally appropriate music programs for young children with evaluation criteria
- Develop confidence in your own musical ability and mindfulness of sound
- Extend your song and game repertoire
- Understand the role of music literacy
- Use instruments appropriately and learn how to effectively use a range of props to help engage children
- Understand VOCAL PLAY
- Evoke musical responses and help children sing in tune with confidence
- Understand music and the EYLF
- Understand how to deliver a 100% organic music program
Course Requirements
A willingness to actively participate
No musical experience necessary
Also suitable for music teachers with a wealth of experience
Presentation of 3 musical items to the group demonstrating a thorough understanding of teaching points explored.
Our 10 Points of Difference
1. Our teachers sing live
Recordings can be fun to listen to but in a music class it is vital that the teacher can be a good model for the children. The children need to hear their teacher sing and hear their own voices. The teacher must be able to guide young children through a range of activities that include warming up, vocalising and exploring the range of the voice. Our children are encouraged to listen to their take home CD’s throughout the week to support the in class learning and to help them sing more accurately.
2. Our teachers help children explore their voices
Our teachers help children explore their voices with lots of vocalisation activities and solo singing opportunities. This helps children become comfortable with their voices.
If adults sing in an adult friendly pitch, down low, this is not going to serve your child best. In order to best engage the side of the brain that engages when we sing, we must sing in higher pitches. Children do this very naturally given a good model. They need opportunity to explore the full range of the voice. The best programs have the teacher singing up high and exploring the whole range of the voice not just the lowest notes we can produce. Singing low generally engages the language receptive side of the brain. The children do not hear the tune and focus on the words alone. This will serve to turn your toddlers into droners. They will confuse their singing and talking voices.
3. Our program includes a range of traditional children’s songs
Our program includes a range of traditional children’s songs as well as songs specifically written for children.
4. Our program includes movement
creative, non-prescribed and folk dances.
5. Our program provides the opportunity to develop a strong sense of beat
Our program provides the opportunity to develop a strong sense of beat from birth and to develop rhythmic skills for older children.
6. The children are encouraged to be good listeners.
Good listeners become good learners and with the right experiences good musicians.
7. Our program provides opportunities for audiation or inner hearing.
This is a process where we hear the sounds in our heads. this process ensures that the children hear the sounds they will produce in their heads before sounding them out. This helps to develop greater accuracy in singing.
8. Our program uses instruments in a carefully guided fashion and only once the children have a repertoire of song to play along to and then with focus and purpose.
If making more and more noise is the sole purpose of the instruments then one would have to ask what’s the point?
9. Our program helps children identify different timbres or sounds of the various instruments.
At Music Works Magic we want the children to use their listening and audiation skills to play the instruments with greater awareness of sound produced, sensitivity and accuracy.
10. Our program takes account of the diversity of the children.
It’s important to remember that each child learns differently at a different pace. Many children need to explore a room and feel comfortable and familiar in a space and with a group and repertoire of songs before they will interact and participate.