(a rumination, for Kodály-based music teachers, by Nikhil Dally)
I love Kodály. To put it more clearly, I love the approach, and the techniques which the approach embraces. By the approach, I mean the conviction that learning music should happen gradually, moving from the internal to the external, from the subconscious to the conscious; step by step, one small layer at a time, every new thing building upon what has been introduced and practised before; respecting the natural physical, intellectual, and emotional development rates of children; and emphasising the importance of deeply felt, deeply understood musicianship, which is the key to all music making. The techniques I particularly love – which follow, of course, from the general approach – include the use of the voice to lead the hand and the mind, which enables the continuous practical cross-relating of pulse, rhythm and pitch; and the use of rhythm syllables and relative solfa to clarify and anchor musicianship. Specifically, relative solfa is a work of genius, in my opinion the best ever means for developing the inner ear and thereby teaching sight-singing and tuning. The Kodály emphasis on learning through singing is, therefore, life-changingly insightful.
Over the
past few decades, we British Kodály-based teachers have worked hard to counter our
often stuffy reputation, becoming generally more broad-minded, both in regard
to the type of repertoire we admit into the classroom (see this article: https://steppingnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/bka-2017-issue-2-pp15-16.pdf ), and also in regard to our
attitude to the use of movement. We now extol the virtue of the latter,
recognising that singing and movement are complementary, and doing our best to
include “movement” in our classes and courses. This is undoubtedly a good thing.
However, in
our enthusiasm to embrace movement we are faced with a triple challenge. First,
we need to ensure that we know what movement actually is, so that we do
not make the very common mistake of thinking we are doing movement when we are
not. Second, we must make sure that we genuinely understand what the value
of movement is – otherwise we may miss out on some of its greatest benefits.
And third, we need to know how to incorporate movement into our practice
in a manner which is as deeply embedded and carefully thought through as our
use of singing.
Hence the triple title of this article. In sum, we need to (1) know what movement really is, so that (2) we really know what it is for, and therefore (3) we know how to use it to its maximum effectiveness.
What is movement, really?
So, what is
movement? Movement is not the same thing as actions. Movement is what
happens to, and derives from, our core, our torso, our centre. The Oxford
English Dictionary defines movement as:
a change of physical location … the action or
process of moving … passage from place to place
As that
wonderful Dalcroze expert Karin Greenhead has explained to me, it’s not
movement unless “the whole body is moving – through space”! We create movement,
therefore, not by merely moving our limbs (clapping, tapping, clicking etc.), but
by moving from our centre. In fact, all the best musical impulses originate in
the centre: that is, after all, where our singing originates; and that is
where, metaphorically at least (“in our hearts”), our creative imagination
resides. Therefore, that is where all movement should derive.
The
commonly used phrase “music and movement” can mislead us, implying that
movement is something which in the classroom we may add to music for decorative
or clarificative purposes, but which is not part of music itself. Thus, British
music teachers often ask me, “How do you choose what actions to add to a song?”
However, in many cultures in the world, the question would seem nonsensical,
because it is taken for granted that movement is part of the music, not an
add-on. Consider: we would never use the phrase “music and singing”, because
we know that singing is not “added” on to music, but is an essential way to embody,
to express and to grow our inner musicianship. We need to develop the same depth
and clarity of thinking about movement. Just as singing is music, so is
movement.
Have a look
at this little video clip. The faired-haired girl on the left is waving her
arms around a lot; but her torso is largely rigid. By contrast, the dark-haired
girl on the right is moving her body, her core. They are both waving their
arms; but only one of them is really doing movement:
Why is this
so important? Because the subconscious learning of musicality, so essential
especially in the early years, develops through feeling what is happening to,
and proceeding from, the core of our body: that, after all, is why we train
early-years musicianship through singing! Did I “add actions” to the song
above? No, I was asking the children to express aspects of the musical essence
of the song, specifically phrasing and pace, through the movement of their
bodies.
Action
songs, clapping patterns and similar limb exercises are – like playing
instruments – good ways for children to express their musical sense once it
is already secure and deeply grounded; but they do not in the early years particularly
help that sense to develop – any more than playing instruments does. Musicality
should be developed first, subconsciously, through singing, whole-body movement
and the imagination; then it can be relied upon to express itself in
actions, body percussion, and instruments.
What is movement for, really?
Pulse: For example, a child develops a
good sense of pulse by feeling his or her core bouncing up and down with the
music. If we jump, skip, or bounce, the organs of our body rise and fall
naturally with gravity: we feel them do so, and that feeling gradually inculcates
in our bodies a growing, instinctive sense of pulse. If we do not spend our
time bouncing our torsos up and down, we deprive ourselves of that physical,
centred, pulse-engendering feeling. The little children in the following clip
are not just doing a silly anatine version of a traditional nursery rhyme; they
are inculcating in their torsos a deeply physical sense of pulse, which in the
fullness of time will express itself in how they play instruments in an
ensemble:
Metre: A child develops a good sense of
metre by feeling his or her centre change direction while swaying or leaning or
reaching from side to side or forward and back. If we perform such patterns of
body movement, the organs of our body move similarly – and we feel it, and gradually
internalise that feeling. Notice how in the following video clip the motion of
the children’s torsos expresses the weight and pattern of the 4/4 metre. If
they were not bending their knees, or reaching laterally, but merely performing
a clapping pattern with stationary torsos, the exercise would not be anywhere
near as useful in inculcating a deeply felt sense of that metre:
Phrasing: A child develops a good sense of
musical phrasing by feeling his or her core change direction in space,
in the course of moving the body forward and backward, or up and down, or side
to side. These changes of direction or movement style inculcate a subconscious
sense of musical phrasing. This video clip uses a song divided into two
eight-beat phrases. Keep an eye on the girl in the dark blue school sweatshirt
and the pair of ponytails; notice how her impeccable sense of the start and end
of each phrase is anchored by the sense of pulse she has developed by having a
bouncy torso throughout:
Therefore,
movement – effective movement, which really causes the body (and therefore the
imagination) to subconsciously feel fundamental elements of music such as pulse,
metre and phrasing – must, from the beginning, involve the entire body,
especially the centre, the torso, the core. For these skills, which lie at the
root of all good musicianship, to be internalised, they must be learnt internally.
By contrast, actions (clapping, tapping, clicking etc.) which operate only on
the extremities do not impose on the body those patterns of movement which, in
a subconscious and profound way, inculcate these fundamental aspects of
musicality.
What
about props?
Kodály
practitioners will be used to the phenomenon of the visiting Dalcroze teacher
appearing on the course or summer school, opening up a magic holdall full of
scarves, tennis balls, skipping ropes, bean bags etc. – engendering a great
deal of joy for all. In the hands of a skilful practitioner these props can
help to encourage good movement and build musicianship. However, what we must
not forget is that their main objective is to get our bodies (meaning,
remember: our cores) moving through space. Waving scarves around counts as body
movement only if said scarves encourage our torsos to bend, twist, curl, sway, rise
and fall, and change direction. The dark-haired girl in the Swallows
video above does not need scarves to help her feel the phrasing, because she is
expressing it from her centre; and the mere presence of scarves would not transform
the blond girl’s limb actions into genuine movement – because she is only
moving her peripheries, not her core.
The same
can be said for throwing and catching balls. If, with a flexible torso, I bend,
stretch, reach with my full body in order to throw or catch on the beat, I thereby
give my body the internalised signals which conduce to learning to feel the
approach (anacrusis), the arrival (crusis) and the follow-through (metacrusis)
of that beat, which are essential to developing a sense of musical timing. But
if I stand still and stiff, using only my arms to catch, I am doing nothing to
develop a good sense of pulse. At worst, I might be anchoring in a stiffness in
my body which would militate against developing that sense of musical timing.
In this light,
have a look at the following photograph, and assess for yourself: is useful
effective movement taking place here?
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=963803958880013&set=p.963803958880013
Compare
with the following picture. Here, the child’s torso follows the ball down,
knees bending, and then straightens while catching it, so that she is genuinely
moving, and developing a sense of timing in her body:
And this is how to catch something thrown towards you. Notice the reach,
the stretch taking place in the body. These are bodies which are using their
natural flexibility to feel and judge the space and time between beats, so as
to time how they come into contact with a prop:
Finally,
have a look at the following picture. Note the bend of the knees which enables
the forward lunge of the whole torso: this in turn will enable these two girls
to use the full movement range of their bodies to pull in, in this case, an
imaginary kite on a rope. It is that fullness of movement which enables them to
feel the approach, the arrival, and the follow-through of the “ta-a” pulse required.
They do not need props; indeed, a real rope might make the movement more
elusive. Their rope is imaginary; but their movement is real, and fully felt.
Do scarves
and balls engender movement? Is clapping movement? Is tapping knees movement? Are
patterns of body percussion, or action songs, movement? Only if these actions derive
from and involve the core of the body – for that is the only way that the body
learns to internally feel musical timing. But if the torso is rigid, then we
are fooling ourselves if we think we are improving our students’ musicianship
by all these activities. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to teach music –
especially for the youngest children (up to c. age 8 at least) – through full body
movement as well as through singing, imaginative play etc. And, if it
matters to us – as it should – that our curricula be carefully designed to
build up skills and knowledge step by step, one layer at a time, progressing
from the subconscious through the semi-conscious through to the conscious, then
we need to carefully and profoundly integrate body movement into those
curricula.
How, really,
should we integrate movement into our curricula?
Why is this
essential? For the same reason that singing needs to be carefully and
profoundly integrated into our curricula: because it subconsciously, and at a
very deep level, develops children’s musicality. Therefore, just as Kodály
practitioners do not randomly chuck in bits of singing for the fun of it, but
think carefully about how a child’s musicianship develops through a carefully planned
progression of competence in singing, we must think equally carefully about how
our students’ musicianship will develop through a similarly carefully planned
progression of body movement work.
For me to
list all the ways one can do this would make this article prohibitively long.
But here are a few examples:
Pulse: For children up to at least the age
of 6, the most important thing they need to learn is how to actually keep a
steady pulse in their bodies – without which all future music making
(particularly ensemble playing) will be fatally flawed. Therefore, the vast
majority of what they do in music class should be underpinned by whole-body
movement: bouncing on flexible knees (whether standing or squatting), jumping,
stamping, hopping, skipping, swaying, galloping – all on the beat. These
movements should be performed always whilst singing, so that the rhythmic relationships
between pulse and melody are gradually anchored in the subconscious. The Yankee
Doodle and Wind
the Bobbin Up video
clips above are a couple of examples.
Here is a little girl who is absolutely primed for movement:
her knees bent, her feet flexed, her head focussed on where she is aiming for.
When she jumps, her whole body will feel the timing, and gradually progress
towards musical accuracy:
The
children in the following video clip have had a bit more practice. Judge for
yourself how flexible their knees are, and therefore how accurate their timing
is when, at c. 21 seconds in, they sing, “Ready, steady, jump!” The “ready,
steady” is part of the anacrusis to the beat, and that anacrusis, with its
attendant bending and straightening of knees, is as essential to their musical
accuracy as the instant when they land. Pulse is learnt at least as much by the
spaces in-between the beats as the beats themselves: this is where body
movement is an essential tutor.
Rhythm: Pulse is the foundation stone for rhythm.
If a child’s rhythmic sense is to develop securely, then it must be always
linked with a physical sense of pulse in the core of the body. Therefore, all
clapping patterns – such a common, and useful way of teaching rhythmic
understanding – should always be underpinned by whole-body pulse movements. The
pulse felt in the moving body (in the core, remember) is the anchor for any
rhythmic patterns which may be expressed in the limbs.
Here is a
picture of three girls who are simultaneously singing a song, clapping the
rhythm of that song, and lightly stepping (prancing) the pulse. Look at the
shape of their feet and legs: you can tell they are all in time with the beat,
can’t you? That will stay with them for life!
Metre: Patterns of beat-stress create
metre, and therefore any internal sense of metre (and later, as children’s
intellectual understanding develops, time signature) will build most securely
upon the internal feeling of relationships between types of beats – stronger/weaker,
first/following. Therefore, children can learn to feel different types of metre
by associating different weights of body movement with different beats within
those metres. The Welcome Everybody video clip above demonstrates this
for 4/4, as does the following for compound duple time (slow 6/8):
Phrasing: The movement counterpart of musical
phrasing is change of direction. When the core of the body feels itself moving
in a new direction, it subconsciously registers the beat on which it changes
direction as the start of a new musical period, a phrase. Doing this in a group
setting, with people holding hands in moving circles or curved shapes, helps
children to feel the subliminal phrasing signals given off by others in the
group as they move. I recommend not using intermediary props such as giant scrunchies
etc.: the mutual physical distancing engendered by such props make it harder for
the children to feel, and be instinctively led by, each other’s body movement.
Holding hands, by contrast, helps children to feel the movement of the group –
particularly the timing of the anacrusis to each bodily change of direction. Holding
hands in a circle or curved line also helps children to maintain good body
flexibility, as can be seen in the following picture:
This is a
learning process which the following group of children are just beginning.
Notice what is happening to their body shapes from c. 35 seconds in:
Many
traditional English nursery rhymes provide excellent contexts for anchoring the
relationships between body movement and phrasing. Contrast the phrasing
patterns implicit in songs like London Bridge / Mary Had a Little
Lamb (i.e. 8 + 8 beats: look for the marker words ‘London’ or ‘Mary’, respectively)
with, say, Polly Put the Kettle On / Hickory Dickory Dock (i.e. 4
+ 4 + 8), or Jack and Jill (8 + 4 + 4) – and you have a treasure-trove of
musical material to use in working with children on phrasing. Because the
parallel of musical phrasing is change of direction, English historical
(Playford) dance, its phrasing delineated by simple but graceful floor patterns,
provides a wonderful context from which to learn about the phrasing patterns embedded
in such nursery rhymes.
And therefore…
Where do we
go from here? If you are a music teacher, then my meaning is probably clear by
now: we need to teach musicality and musicianship to young children, from the
subconscious to the conscious, in a carefully-planned step-by-step curriculum,
using whole-body movement, which makes the torso bend, stretch, curl, feel,
sway, bounce, jump through space; as well as through singing, playing and – in
the appropriate context – instruments.
However, we
cannot let ourselves off the hook as teachers, for we too need as much (or
more) training in movement as children. They have the challenge of being young
and inexperienced in music; we have the challenge of being older and more
tired, our bodies increasingly in danger of losing their flexibility and
sensitivity. Therefore we too need to be continually trained and retrained in
being musical by moving our bodies through space. We should not be fooled into
thinking we can do this online – any more than we would ever be fooled into
thinking that we can learn to sing well together online. We must not forget
that we, just like our children, are hard-wired to learn things in real life, over
time, through the physical and active presence of and connection with each
other. If we are to become better teachers of music through movement, then we
too need to feel the physical and human environment acting upon us as children
do: starting from the subconscious, we too need to be profoundly transformed,
from the inside out. If we want to understand better how to lead children on their
musical journeys, then we too need to experience movement as they do,
first-hand, together, in real time, in real space, with our whole bodies, our
centres, our torsos, bouncing, jumping, bending, curving, swaying, whilst we
sing and imagine and play together from those same cores of our being.
If you
are interested in learning more about movement in the teaching of music, please
join us on one of my teacher training courses at Stepping Notes Music School.
Alternatively,
here are some brilliant teachers of children’s musicianship from whom I have learnt
so much about movement:
Maureen Murphy
Karin Greenhead
Vincent Iyengar
Jimmy Rotheram
And here
are some organisations I recommend:
Dalcroze
Society UK
Margaret Morris Movement
Alexander Technique
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