Musical Literacy in Elementary Schools

A Comparison of Three European Pedagogical Approaches

Jul 24, 2009

Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Zoltan Kodaly, and Carl Orff are well known for their methods of teaching music literacy in elementary schools.

The three predominant European methods for teaching develomental music in elementary schools are Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Zoltan Kodaly, and Carl Orff. Each composer focuses on the skill of music literacy, they place a different level of importance on this ability and incorporate it differently into their respective pedagogy.

Musical Literacy

Musical Literacy incorporates the ability for students to not only read music, but to also understand how to make the notes on the page audible (through singing or playing an instrument). This term can also be used to refer to the skill of writing music and/or creating a multi-part piece of music for others to play and enjoy. Often times, aural skills and musical literacy are closely associated (especially for those who learn how to sight-sing/sight-read).

Zoltan Kodaly

Zoltan Kodaly regards musical literacy almost as equally important as aural skills. It is not his top priority, but he does stress it with the idea that “music reading skills [were] to be developed in elementary grades" (Wheeler xx). The students begin by learning concepts through singing before seeing the notation. Ultimately, a child was expected to read and write music through singing.

Emile-Jacques Dalcroze

Music literacy, though important to the Dalcroze approach, it is the least accented. Musical notation is the last part of any of his lessons. Students first express music through their bodies, then they vocalize it (these are eurhythmic and dictation exercises). Notation is later provided for the concept they have learned. Students learn notation only as “a means of storing and communicating musical ideas, and is not the heart of the subject” (Landis 24).

Carl Orff

Carl Orff's approach has lack of concern for musical literacy. Like Dalcroze, Orff introduces notation only when it's absolutely necessary to store communicate musical ideas, which doesn't necessarily mean he enforces standard notation. With the Orff approach, “the ability to read pitch notation is not absolutely necessary, as it can be taught along with the recorder pitches” (Warner 110). Students learn recorder in 4th grade by playing by rote (from the teacher) or through improvisation.

Zoltan Kodaly places the most emphasis on musical literacy than the other two composers. They also interpret the idea of musical literacy differently. Even though their approaches are drasticlaly different, they both agree. Although they have different approaches to musical literacy, it is still an important aspect of being a musician.

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The copyright of the article Musical Literacy in Elementary Schools in Music Education is owned by Jaclyna Perez. Permission to republish Musical Literacy in Elementary Schools in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.