Advantages of Kodály Children Music Class in Kolkata

Children are quickly bored if they are sitting in a place. They always love action, movements, playtime and fun activities. The traditional music classes for Piano, Keyboard, Guitar, Drums, Western Vocals, Bollywood Vocals and Indian Vocals miss out on the areas that children love and enjoy. On the contrary, there are multiple advantages of Kodály Children Music Class in Kolkata is so much fun. Music Schools in Kolkata, like the Academy for Musical Excellence, provide children with music classes in Kolkata from the age of three years. After talking to the teachers from the academy, we learn that the children wait to return for the next class. Zoltán Kodály advised that music education must be joyful and not torture. Children enjoy learning with movements, actions, and mimes. They love group activities while also taking leadership roles. The basic elements of music are beat, pitch, dynamics, tempo and language for songs. Specially created songs and songs from the traditional culture are used as the repertoire in the classroom. In Kolkata, children learn English, Bengali and Hindi. Kodály-inspired music education starts at the tender age of three years. They learn rhymes in duple meters. Each rhyme is accompanied by movements, actions, games or mimes. Ruchika Majumdar, Kodály Teacher Trainer says, “Singing + Games = Musical Masti. Children love their games and automatically they sing to play the games. One must visit my classroom to understand the happy and positive environment.” When the lesson is sequential and well planned, learning becomes a happy journey. After securing beats and rhythm during the first year, children get to learn to sing with Sol-Fa. Singing Do Re Mi with Curwen Hand Sign makes singing different pitches much easier.

Maestro Surendranath Majumdar is doing a pioneering job in making Kodály-inspired music education popular in Kolkata and India. Academy for Musical Excellence trains teachers based on the curriculum of Musicea Arts and Culture Council. The courses meet the standards prescribed by the British Kodály Academy and International Kodály society. As Kodály said train good teachers before training children, Musicea Arts and Culture Council’s Kodály-inspired Music Education division is putting a lot of emphasis on the same. Young parents understand the value of music in one’s life. They are encouraging their children to start at an early age. If a child is starting Kodály-inspired lessons from the age of three years, he or she will have a clear conception of beats, rhythm, Sol-Fa, notation, dynamics, and tempo by the time he or she becomes six years. They will be learning songs in many Indian and foreign languages and getting to know different cultures. They can coordinate their limbs, useful for Drum lessons. They can move in clockwise and anti-clock directions. They can keep a steady beat. They can sing an octave major scale and in many cases natural minor scales. A child is ready to begin to play her favourite musical instrument or continue with her singing lessons.