Fun beginner recorder lessons for children aged 4 and up
The Kodály Approach and what to expect in recorder lessons
I am an experienced Early Years music teacher with training in the Kodály Approach to music education. My main instrument is clarinet, and I also teach recorder as a starter instrument.
I incorporate some core principles of the Kodály Approach into my instrumental teaching work. Parental involvement/observation of lessons is encouraged as this can help you with ideas for bringing the piano into your home and as part of your family routine. The more you can play the songs and games from class at home, the more deeply the music will enrich your family´s life.
You may observe some of the following in your child´s recorder lessons:
- Singing melodies as well as playing (Kodály believed the voice was our most important instrument and so inner tuning should be taught before instrumental playing)
- Body percussion – Tapping/clapping/stamping/dancing the pulse/rhythm of a song or rhyme before playing (helps to engage the body and muscle memory, children under 7 in particular are experiencing learning through the body)
- Inner hearing – the development of the thinking voice, very important for ensemble work and a ´mastery´ skill (e.g. if a song has a rest somewhere in it, we might add a nod to help us ´think´ the note in our heads)
- Music Mind Games are simple, age-appropriate theory games which I introduce alongside piano playing to develop aural abilities
- Preparation – Presentation – Practice is key to Kodály education and affects the musical language I will use around your child. i.e. I won´t use the words ´pitch´, ´rhythm´, ´pulse´ until I can tell that your child has understood how to recognise and perform these elements accurately first using lots of preparation songs. When I am sure they are ready, I will present the element and then we will practice it to reinforce learning.
- Whilst we use a children´s recorder book and various theory resources, my lessons are always child-led. I focus on your child´s interests and follow their ideas, going with their flow and ocassionally adding in structures to help them settle into the lesson. This means, particularly for the younger children, sometimes the lesson goes off on a tangent, depending on your child´s mood. I love the variety that children come up with. I have had children create musical stories based on leitmotifs of their favourite animals as well as children who want to work out how to sight-read a simple piece of music backwards!
- Most importantly, Kodály music must be enjoyable! You will only see me praise your child, and use positive language. Kodály believed that the child must develop their own sense of internal relationship with music, such that it becomes a treat or a game, rather than a chore. So, I don´t usually set ´homework´ that ´has´ to be done by next week, but might ask the children to play a piece they already know at the beginning of the lesson from memory/without help etc. This reinforces past learning without the ´I forgot to practice´ guilt element, a bit like in the Scandinavian countries where children don´t get set homework but of course they are free to play or practice for pleasure any time they like. An actively musical household is encouraged, so you as the parent could however play their songs on the recorder and invite them to join you, only if they want to.
Message from Carolyn
There is currently a waiting list for recorder lessons. If you would like to go on the waiting list, I can let you know when anything becomes available. It would be lovely to hear from you!
Music at Heart 