Product Description
Designed to provide sample month-by-month and yearly plans for each grade level from one to six, this step-by-step guide features a collection of more than 200 songs—many of which are new to the Third Edition—organized precisely in the sequence of the Kodaly Method. KEY TOPICS:It presents a highly sequential music program in which singing, moving, listening, musical reading and writing, improvising and composing are the means through which children develop skills and acquire knowledge about melody, harmony, rhythm, form, tempo, timbre, and dynamics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

wonderful literature about real music
Here you find a accessible explanation about basic but unknow concepts of learning music.Its worth read each page with atention.

The Kodaly Method I: Comprehensive Music Education (3rd Edition)
a very helpful book especially for inexperience music teacher like me, loads of ideas which stimulate and also help me to create other new ideas.

Key book for the elementary music educator
This book provides a solid foundation for teaching with Kodály method in the United States.As well as curriculum ideas for Kindergarten through grade 6, there are many songs for classroom use.

I think that if you will be teaching Kindergarten you should also own Music in Preschool by K. Forrai.This book gives only passing notice to the Kindergarten year, in my opinion

The Definitive book on the Kodaly Method
I read the first edition of Choksy's "Kodaly Method" after my first year of teaching, and thought, "why didn't they teach me this in college?". The next year, I bought the second edition when it came out, and used it as a guide for teaching for many years. It had become so tattered and worn, but I still referred back to it. I broke down and bought the third edition last summer, while doing my level 2 Kodaly certification. I wasn't sure I wanted to pay that much for the book, but it has been worth it.
For anyone starting out in teaching music, you need this book. It gives grade by grade guidance of what to teach, how to teach it, and suggested materials to use. You might not set up your curriculum exactly as stated in the book, but you will definitely find useful teaching examples for the main concepts at each grade level.
The song anthology in the back has been expanded and is more complete than ever before. There is quite a bit of pedagogical information for each song, that is included in this edition.
My only question is "Why don't American colleges and universities use this method as the basis for preparing its teachers?". It is definitely the most thorough and sound foundation to build upon at the undergraduate level; then procede into Orff-Schulwerk training at the graduate level. Both of these approaches have been so integrated into American music teaching, they deserve more intensive study in teacher preparation than the casual mention or superficial discussion that they seem to currently receive. ... Read more

Product Description
In Kodály Today, Mícheál Houlahan and Philip Tacka offer an expertly-researched, thorough, and - most importantly - practical approach to transforming curriculum goals into tangible, achievable musical objectives and effective lesson plans. Their model - grounded in the latest research in music perception and cognition - outlines the concrete practices behind constructing effective teaching portfolios, selecting engaging music repertoire for the classroom, and teaching musicianship skills successfully to elementary students of all degrees of proficiency. Addressing the most important questions in creating and teaching Kodály-based programs, Houlahan and Tacka write through a practical lens, presenting a clear picture of how the teaching and learning processes go hand-in-hand. Their innovative approach was designed through a close, six-year collaboration between music instructors and researchers, and offers teachers an easily-followed, step-by-step roadmap for developing students' musical understanding and metacognition skills. A comprehensive resource in the realm of elementary music education, this book is a valuable reference for all in-service music educators, music supervisors, and students and instructors in music education. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

Must Have
Phenomenal resource for the elementary music teacher.Thorough in its approach and complete in the plans and structure it offers.This is a must have!

Such a lifesaver!
I'm going to be teaching my first year as an Elementary Music teacher this year, and I had no idea where to begin until I found this book. It lays out every step of the teaching process from creating curriculum goals, to lesson planning, to assessment and more. It contains invaluable information including how to implement your ideas, month-by-month plans, song lists, and more - it's all there. Well written, research-based, and easy to use. I love it!

Excellent Resource for Music Educators
This book is absolutely amazing.I had the opportunity to take a Kodaly course from the authors of this book (Houlahan and Tacka) at a Belmont University summer program and their knowledge of this material (both academic and practical) is stunning.The book lines out the three phases of learning musical information (cognitive, associative, and assimilative) and how to present musical information in that order so that students really master the musical skills.The book also outlines how the process contributes to the multiple dimensions of musicianship (such as students as stewards of their cultural heritage, critical thinkers, creative human beings, informed audience members, and performers.)It also contains plenty of examples, sample lesson plans, and year-by-year curriculum goals.I loved the fact that they also took the time to show how this methodology relates to the national standards for music education.This is a must have volume for all music educators.

Saved my classroom!
My first music teaching job straight out of college ended up being primarily with elementary music, which I was not expecting. I had some experience with Kodaly during college, but not enough to have built a strong resource book. I did, however, have enough knowledge to know where to look.
This book really helped me save my elementary music classes - they loved this approach and and so did I. The book was easy enough to navigate to find what information I needed (and wanted), and get what was necessary to put it to use. When I used materials and approaches from this book, my students were actively engaged, participating, and by the time they left my classroom to return to their homeroom (we had a rotational schedule), they were worn out.
I only read chunks and used what I needed, as the book was excessively detailed and overwhelming to someone with little to no experience with Kodaly methods..and for a first year teacher, time is hard to find to read a huge textbook.

I will say, though I didn't get through it all by the end of the school year, and with little experience in Kodaly, most of my elementary kids could read, recognize, and perform basic music notation.

It is well worth the money.

Kodaly of the Future
"Kodaly Today" articulates a contemporary process of philosophy and pedagogy which started with Zoltan Kodaly. It raises the level of expectation for both the student and the teacher for personal musicianship and artistry. The practical information is an invaluable tool for the teacher to engage and equip the next generation of American musicians. "Kodaly Today" will be considered the definitive work of music education for the 21st century. It will be the Kodaly process of tomorrow. ... Read more

Product Description
This new book serves as the key to study of Kodaly for an English-speaking audience. The volume presents a biographical outline, a catalog of his compositions according to genre, and over 1,400 annotated primary and secondary sources. Three indexes cover listings by author and title, Kodaly's compositions, and proper names. Primary sources include Kodaly's own essays, articles, lectures on folk music and art music, letters and other documents, and his folk music collections and facsimiles. Secondary sources include: biographical and historical studies; theoretic, analytic, stylistic, and aesthetic studies of his music; discussions of folk music influences and art music influences; studies of his compositional process; and discussions of the Kodaly concept. Doctoral dissertations and Masters theses pertaining to Kodaly are included in this guide. This annotated, topically organized book is the first to draw together the most important primary and secondary bibliographic sources that cover his varied activities as composer, ethnomusicologist, linguist, and educator. ... Read more

Product Description
KEYBENEFIT: This book is aimed at Advanced Methods in Music Educationcourses, which address the organization of a curricular framework for upperelementary and secondary school students.Designed to guideolder beginners through the transition from folk songs as the basic vehicle ofinstruction to art music as the core of the music curriculum, this step-by-stepguide features 19 lessons organized precisely in the sequence of the KodalyMethod. Its interactive, outcome-based approach exposes students to the greatmusic of the world, letting them experience its dynamics in a firsthand,meaningful way. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Kids can do more than you think they can.
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. ... Read more

Product Description
A biography of Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly which discusses his life and works, including concert performances. ... Read more

Product Description
Includes yearly plans for each grade level, and a specific core of songs suggested for each new learning point within each grade. This second edition is a greatly revised and augmented version of the first edition. Among the additional material is a detailed section on the preschool years. The teaching repertoire given at the end of the book now contains 172 songs, 80 of which were not in the first edition. ... Read more

Product Description
32 pp. ... Read more