Engaging, fun and successful musicianship classes following the inspirational and highly effective Hungarian style of music teaching instigated by Zoltán Kodály. The level of each class is tailored to suit the age and experience of the members. Classes are offered for age 6 upwards including classes to help support GCSE, A-level and degree students as well as adults ranging from beginner to professional level.
My story:
I am a professional musician performing with 14 years of teaching experience. In 2015, I completed my MA degree in Kodály pedagogy at the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. Here I was inspired by the fantastic music teaching I observed. Students showed impressive aural skills and were musically confident and knowledgeable. I am excited to be teaching using these techniques now that I have returned to London. In the summer of 2016 I was a tutor on the British Kodály Academy summer school, teaching daily musicianship classes to music teachers. I have worked as a cover teacher for Kodály musicianship at the Junior Guildhall School of Music and at the Blackheath Centre for Singing.
I was inspired to study Kodály pedagogy because, like Kodály, I believe that good quality music should be available to everybody.
Why should you choose this class for your child?
Participation in these musicianship classes will have a huge, positive impact on instrumental development. Strong musicianship skills are an essential requirement for those wishing to play an instrument. Developing a keen sense of rhythm, pulse, pitch, phrasing etc provides a solid foundation so that instrumental lessons can then focus on specific techniques.
Classes are of course useful to non-instrumentalists too, challenging memory, concentration and the ability to multi-task. Countless studies have shown that effective music teaching dramatically improves skills in math, language, logical thinking, co-ordination, social interaction, empathy and self-confidence. The classes also give room for self-expression and encourage creative thinking.
This concept of music teaching is used at Chetham’s School of Music, Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Voices Foundation and many other institutions in the UK as well as worldwide.
What to expect during a class:
Classes contain lots of singing, movement, games, reading and writing and of course music making! Bring a pencil, rubber and a small manuscript book.
Children’s classes are yet to be fully timetabled. If you are interested in hosting a class in your area, please do get in touch.
Children’s classes last for 40 minutes and contain work on: pulse, rhythm, melodic motifs, phrasing, pitching, reading and writing music, sight-reading, songs and games. Groups will be set by age, the youngest being age 6.
Musicianship classes will teach students to sight-read from the stave, write and compose music, transpose and read in different clefs as well as improving singing skills, pitch awareness, developing a strong sense of rhythm and enabling music with several musical lines to be internalised and reproduced (useful for pianists and any instrumentalist/singer who will play in an ensemble).
Adult musicianship classes last one hour and contain: analysis of chords, form and style which are experienced in practical ways making the learning much deeper than a theoretical approach and far more enjoyable. Repertoire is taken from all eras of Classical art music. Class members have the opportunity to select pieces for class study. The current professional level class have selected Mozart’s Dissonance Quartet.
Classes include:
Aural dictation
Two part listening
Chord sequences
Memorisation
Please contact me for details of lesson times and venues.
I am a member of the British Kodály Academy and the International Kodály Society.