Customer Reviews

The Kodaly Method II: Folksong to Masterwork

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In this book, Choksy recounts classroom activities which she has presented in upper elementary elementary school. She dispenses with the usual Surprise Symphony and Persian Market and, instead, performs tasks which are usually confined to the conservatory. Rondos, fugues, sonata movements--you name it, she taught it to upper elementary children.

I have just two questions, though:

Question number one: Can Choksy really assure us that any classroom music teacher can get similar results? My high school orchestra teacher taught a music appreciation class which the school counsellors recommended as an easy class for dumb students. He couldn't get them to recognize the themes in rondos and sonata movements. Was he really incapable of getting better results? Or should he have read this book?

Question number two: On pages 5-6, Choksy tells an interesting story: At the beginning of the year, the sixth-graders came into class carrying an armload of pop records. Her predecessor had given up trying to control those big and tough kids, and was finally reduced to bribing them with a daily fun session as a reward for good behavior.

She repaired the damage by establishing herself as a mean ugly witch. From this point forward, there will be no more pop records. She will make all the decisions and that's that.

This brings up the age-old question of whether learning should be content-centered, student-centered, or an optimum balance of the two. At any time, young people are listening to music which could demonstrate any number of technical terms. Minor modality? Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is a masterpiece, but "Sealed With a Kiss" by Bryan Hyland is kinda nice, too. Ritornello? Monteverdi is great, but the Beatle song "Michelle" isn't so bad either. For a lesson on harmony, compare Schubert's Serenade with "Heart and Soul" and see if you don't find a similarity.

Last I heard Choksy had retired from teaching music and set up a bed-and-breakfast business. I hope that the loss for the music teaching profession has been offset by the gain for the bed-and-breakfast business.