The Kodaly Method

For
Older Beginners

Starting with the

basics for grades 3-6

Copyright, Lindsay Jervis 2013

 Table of Contents
* Where to start
* Developing the singing voice
* Steady Beat
* Rhythm
* Melody
* 6 songs and Teaching Ideas for
Older Beginners
 Where to Start
 I will begin by saying I am NOT the expert on older
beginners. I was only in my second year of teaching
when I started at a new school with grades 1-5 where
the teacher before me was not a Kodaly inspired teacher
and music literacy was not a priority. When I came into
this school my students had no method of counting
rhythms and had never heard of solfege. I had just
completed my level 1 training and during my first year
teaching I only saw grades K-2. I started searching for
best practices for teaching older beginners. This is a
collection of some of the things that have been
successful with my kids.

 I think a good starting place is one that lays a foundation

for future concepts through games, nurtures the singing
voice, and develops a sense of steady beat.

* I have also found that m-r-d is a better starting place for

older beginners than sol-mi since more of the age appro-
priate music begins and ends with m-r-d.
 Developing the
Singing Voice
*Warm ups
- Descending scales
- Funny tongue twisters
 Mommy made me mash my M&M’s (ss ss sf mr d)
Red Leather, Yellow Leather (sung on one pitch)
*Slide whistle—Use a slide whistle for students to echo
*Sighs, sirens, and rollercoasters
*Frisbee—Follow the Frisbee with your voice
*Beach ball—Follow the ball with your voice
*Flashlight—Turn the lights down and follow flashlight with
your voice.
*Draw a vocal exploration path on the board for students to
follow with their voices. Let them draw paths for each other
to follow.
*Echo singing
- “The Water Is Wide” is a really lovely song to have the
kids echo.

* Check out Dollar Tree or the dollar aisle at Target for

things that can be used for vocal exploration!
 Steady Beat
* Rocky Mountain
* Great Big House in New Orleans
* Mighty Pretty Motion
* Oliver Twist
- Ball Bouncing Game
* Skipping Rope Song
- Jump Rope Game
* Deedle Deedle Dumpling
* Dinah
* Long Legged Sailor
* Sailor, Sailor on the Sea
 Rhythm
* Ta and Titi
- Closet Key
- Frosty Weather
* Ta Rest
- Frog in the Meadow
- Great Big House in New Orleans
* Games:
 Have one student keep a steady beat and other stu-
dents echo your rhythms either on neutral syllables or
rhythm syllables
 King of the Mountain Game—found in American
Methodology
 Post Office Game—found in American Methodology
 I Have/ Who Has Game


 Melody
* Begin with mi– re– do (instead of sol-mi)
- Closet Key
- Hot Cross Buns
- Merrily We Roll Along
- Sailor, Sailor on the Sea
- Long Legged Sailor
- Frog in the Meadow
- Au Claire de la Lune
-The Boatman
- Fed My Horse in a Poplar Trough
* Sol
- That’s a Mighty Pretty Motion
- Dinah
- Deedle Deedle Dumpling
- Kansas Boys
*La
- Pizza, Pizza
- Frosty Weather
- Rocky Mountain
- Great Big House in New Orleans
- Hill and Gully Rider
* Fa (Kodaly Today suggests moving to fa next since many
patterns end sfmrd.)
- Alabama Gal
- Old Woman
K Concepts: Steady Beat, Rhythm as the “way the words go”
Rhythm: Isolate xccc You can come back to this song for sxc
New melodic element: so
Previously known melodic elements: drm

Beat/ Rhythm Activities:

1. Icons on the board for steady beat. My older kids still like to point at icons if
I use cool pointers or if I am letting them point with my pointers.
2. Step to the steady beat.
3. Step to the steady beat with one shoe off
4. Shoe passing game to steady beat. Seated in a circle, students start
practicing without a shoe or with just one shoe. Chant “left, right left, pass”
or “grab, right, left, pass”. Eventually add in one shoe per person!
5. Step the “way the words go”/rhythm (with both shoes on and then with one
shoe off)
6. Bucket drums– my kids really enjoyed playing the rhythm of “Deedle
Deedle Dumpling” on our bucket drums. Actually, I don’t think they care
WHAT they are playing when they get to play on the bucket drums!

Melodic Activities:
1. Mystery song — My kids got to xccc before sol, so we used this as a mystery
song that I would sign or sing on solfege to see if they knew the name of the
song.
2. Icons for melodic contour.
3. Put the song in order. Manipulatives for each phrase. Students work together
or individually to put the song in the correct order.
K Concepts: Steady Beat, Rhythm as the “way the words go”
Rhythms: Isolate qsd
New melodic element(s): drm

Beat/ Rhythm Activities:

1 Introduce song by having students keep a steady beat in their lap
while you sing.
2. Icons on the board for steady beat.
2. Step to the steady beat.
3. Step to the rhythm
4. Play rhythm on non-pitched percussion
5. Divide class in half, half can play steady beat half play rhythm then
switch.

Melodic Activities:
1. While preparing m-r-d play singing game: Students are seated in a
circle with their hands behind their back. One student is chosen to
be the detective and sits in the center of the circle. Teacher walks
around circle with the key pretending to place it in each student’s
hands. Teacher hides key in one of the hands of one of the
students and the detective has to guess who is holding the key.
2. Icons for melodic contour (both off and on the staff)
3. Play the song on Orff instruments
K Concepts: Steady Beat
New melodic element(s): drm

Singing Game: Students are “farmers” and sit in circle. One student
“sailor” goes around the circle and stops on last word of first verse holding
a number 1-5 or 1-3 above a farmer’s head. At the end of the second
verse the farmer tries to guess how many fingers. If they get it right, they
become the sailor. If not, sailor continues. I usually have some small prize
like a pencil for the person who was the sailor the longest otherwise the
class seems to be annoyed with the sailors who get to keep having a turn.
K Concepts: Steady Beat, Rhythm as the “way the words go”, independent
singing
New Rhythm: xccc
New melodic element: s
Known melodic elements: drm

Independent Singing Activities:

1. Singing game: One student is “it” and faces away from other
students. Teacher selects one student to sing “Dinah, Dinah”. The
student who is it must guess who was the singer.
2. Students sing their name instead of “Dinah” and can improvise what
instruments they would like to play on. Example - “playing on the
old cello”.

Beat/ Rhythm Activities:

1. Introduce song by having students keep a steady beat in their lap
while you sing.
2. Icons on the board for steady beat.
3. Step to the steady beat.
4. Icons for rhythm—four sounds on a beat
5. Step to the rhythm

Melodic Activities:
1. Icons for melodic contour (both off and on the staff)
2. A new note! Is it higher or lower than do? Is it higher or lower than
mi?
3. Name the new note (sol), find out where it lives and what it’s hand
sign looks like.
K Concepts: Steady Beat, independent singing
New Rhythm: Q
New melodic element: la Known melodic elements: drm s

Independent Singing Activities:

Singing game: Students walk in a circle clockwise. One student improvises a new
ending for whatever kind of pie they would like. Example “Filled with chocolate
cream pie”.
Dance: Single circle- boy, girl, boy, girl formation
Verse 1: Circle to the right walking the beat. Drop hands on the rest.
Verse 2: On, ''went down to the old mill stream," girls take four small steps
forward and join hands. On "fetch a pail of water," boys take four small steps
forward, with the palm of their hands together, reach between the shoulders of
two girls and join hands with other boys inside girls circle. On "put one arm
around my wife," the boys raise joined hands over the heads of the girls and
make a circle behind the girls' waists. On "the other round my daughter," girls
do the same, making a circle behind the boy's waists. This makes a basket
weave.
Verse 3: Children go up and down while rotating the circle. Basket moves to the
left as the children use a crossover step (right leg passes in front of left).
Beat/ Rhythm Activities:
1. Introduce song by having students keep a steady beat in their lap while you sing.
2. Icons on the board for steady beat.
3. Step to the steady beat.
4. Step the steady beat while clapping the way the words go.
Melodic Activities:
1. Icons for melodic contour (both off and on the staff)
2. A new note! Is it higher or lower than so? Is it higher or lower than mi?
3. Name the new note (la), find out where it lives and what it’s hand sign looks
like.
K Concepts: Steady Beat
New melodic element: s Known melodic elements: drm
Beat Activities:
1. Introduce song by having students keep a steady beat in their lap while you sing.
Singing Game: Students form a circle around one student who is “it”. They create an
action to the steady beat that the class copies. On the words “Rise, Sugar,
Rise” everyone in the circle raises their arms and the person who is it gives a
“high ten” to someone another student. They are now “it”.
Variation to game: Instead of copying action, bounce catch a beach ball around the
circle. Whoever has ball on first word throws ball to “it” they read the rhythm,
and the student who threw the ball is now “it”.
Melodic Activities:
1. Prepare sol by having students raise their arms on the first “Rise”.
2. Read melodic icons with words and then with known solfa.
3. A new note! Is it higher or lower than mi? Is it higher or lower than do?
4. Name the new note (sol), find out where it lives and what it’s hand sign looks
like.
 A few great resources
for the
Older Beginner

 “Directions to Literacy” Ann Eisen

 “Conversational Solfege” John Feierabend

 “Kodaly Today” Micheal Houlahan and Philip Tacka