Zoltán Kodály (1882-1967) was a Hungarian composer who revolutionised music education. In a nutshell he believed that the only way to truly learn and embrace music is through the instrument that nature gives us for free: the voice.
While we can read books on music theory and learn to read, write and play music, it is through vocalisation that music is most rapidly internalised, promoting deep understanding of musical concepts.
Kodály claimed that music “must not be approached from its intellectual, rational side, nor should it be conveyed [to the student] as a system of algebraic symbols, or as the secret writing of a language with which he has no connection”.
There are a number of tools associated with the Kodály philosophy, the most common of which are the use of tonic solfa and rhythm syllables.
A Kodály approach to learning music is renowned and respected all over the world. In the words of the British Kodály Academy, “the training… is one of the finest approaches to music education yet devised and therefore suited to all ages and stages of musical development”.