of the Example Collections of Active Music Learning
originally available in Hungarian

INTRODUCTION

“This study was funded by the Content Pedagogy Research
 Programme of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.”

The “Example Collections of Active Music Learning” website provides opportunities to overview the Hungarian, movement-based method for those who are interested; and presents teaching materials and practical, illustrative examples to teachers and professionals.

The two active music learning methods harmonizing with the Kodály-concept were developed within the frames of the project “Active music learning with singing and movement – methods and their impact study” between 2016 and 2020. Furthermore, the research was built on a pilot study started in 2014. The innovation and the related research programmes were funded by the Content Pedagogy Research Programme of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

The Content Pedagogy Research Programme was established by the president of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2016 to support projects in which the researchers give scientific answers to pedagogical and methodological questions. The developed theories are tested in practice with the contribution of active teachers.

The head of the Active Music Learning Research Group is Dr. László Norbert Nemes. The group not only published annual summaries on the website of the National Academy of Sciences and in peer-reviewed journals, but on the website of the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music provided information continuously about the purposes, research questions, working groups, specific tasks, partial results of the related analysis and publications.

The website of the National Academy of Sciences contains the main goals of the project, the organizational structure of the research group and the annual reports.
The website of the Kodály Institute provides – in Hungarian – more detailed information regarding to the results, publications, etc.
The closing report of the Research Group in English is also available on the Institute’s website.
There are plans for making the full content of this website available in English in the future.

The final products of the research group are three handbooks and two multimedia example collections. The present website aims to present the latter. The teaching materials of the 1^st and 2^nd Model of Active Music Learning – more than 200 video excerpts and the explanatory texts related to them, and additional documents – are arranged in two, separate online example collection, which can be accessed after a short registration.

About the 1st Model

To the deep understanding of the 1^st Model’s online multimedia example collection Borbála Szirányi’s following work is suggested, which provides the necessary information: “Teachers’ handbook. Active music learning with singing and movement. 1^st model. Creative singing games with rhythmic movements.” Szirányi introduces the application of the method in different fields of musical skill development through games, exercises and 12 basic movement videos.

The teachers’ handbook presents the starting motivation and realization of the 1st Model of the Active Music Learning methodological research in the term of 2016-2020. It examines the reasons and possibilities of the development of creative singing games from different perspectives, including their application in various developmental fields (pulse, meter, forms, melody, polyphony, music listening), number of participants, and the applied movement types, movement choreographies for the different age groups. Detailed descriptions, summary charts and demonstration videos make the professional materials complete.

Borbála Szirányi & Edina Barabás (2021). Multimedia example collection for the 1st Model of Active Music Learning. Creative singing games with movements.

The collection contains 133 video excerpts of the applied exercises separately to the basic and higher level music training ordered by grades. The main ordering principle of the singing games is the grade, the next level formed by the developmental fields, and music listening exercises. The video collection is supplemented by a written guide, in which besides the games’ introductions one can find the music scores and teaching tips.

STRUCTURE AND ITEM NUMBERS OF CREATIVE SINGING GAMES
WITH RHYTHMIC MOVEMENTS – 1st MODEL
Authors: Borbála Szirányi & Edina Barabás

Citation information to the website content of the 1^st Model:
Szirányi, Borbála & Barabás, Edina (2021): Multimédia példatár az aktív zenetanulás 1. modelljéhez. Kreatív énekes-játékok ritmikus mozgással. (Multimedia collection for active music learning 1^st model. Creative singing games with rhythmic movements). Támogatott Kutatócsoportok Irodája, Budapest

About the 2nd Model

The teaching guide written by Gabriella Deszpot, Tamara Farnadi and Sára Buda provides help for the understanding of the multimedia example collection of the 2^nd model. The handbook provides the basis for understanding the theoretical and intellectual understanding of the integrated Kokas-pedagogy. The book “Teachers methodological guide for the Dynamic music learning to the first four years of elementary school” helps the preliminary or further studying of the topic through its chapters and 11 pedagogical video.

Gabriella Deszpot, Tamara Farnadi and Sára Buda (Eds. Gabriella Deszpot) (2021).
Teachers methodological guide for the Dynamic music learning to the first four years of elementary school

The handbook presents the methodological framework of the 2^nd model of the MTA-LFZE Active Music Learning program from 2016 to 2020. Briefly describes the lifework and pedagogical principles of Klára Kokas which can be integrated into the teaching practice of the elementary schools’ music lessons. The handbook presents the most important concepts of the Dynamic Music Learning model and introduces the related pedagogical planning and classroom implementation. It provides a specific guide to the creation of the Dynamic music pedagogical model’s lesson plans. The e-book is completed by illustrative figures, embedded a rich literature review and short films (edited pedagogical film etudes, an example).

Tamara Farnadi, Sára Buda and Gabriella Deszpot (Eds. Gabriella Deszpot) (2021). Multimedia example collection to the 2nd model of active music learning. The teaching tool system and selected materials of Dynamic music learning. This example library assists music teaching in basic and advanced level music classes during the first four years of primary school. Video notes of different lengths created during the lessons of Dynamic music learning provide help to the teachers in the implementation of the creative singing games and active music listening. The understanding of the 70 film excerpts is assisted by keywords, methodological introductions, annotations. The example collection makes available text documents that help teachers’ everyday work. These are the following: curriculum proposals for the first three school years, sample lesson descriptions, instruction collection for teachers, repertoire lists for the first four school years.

STRUCTURE AND ITEM NUMBERS OF
DYNAMIC MUSIC LEARNING – 2nd MODEL
Authors: Tamara Farnadi, Sára Buda & Gabriella Deszpot

Citation information to the website content of the 2^nd model:
Farnadi, Tamara, Buda, Sára & Deszpot, Gabriella (Deszpot, Gabriella Ed.) (2021): Multimédia példatár az aktív zenetanulás 2. modelljéhez. A Dinamikus énekzene-tanulás oktatási segédeszköz-rendszere és válogatott anyagai. (Multimedia example library for active music learning 2^nd model. Teaching aid system and a selected material for Dynamic Music Learning) Támogatott Kutatócsoportok Irodája, Budapest

The handbook, edited by Ferenc Honbolygó and Borbála Lukács – Psychological and neuroscience impact assessment of two models of active music learning – provides an overview of the most important assessment tools, methods, and comparative examinations of the 1^st and 2^nd model of Active music learning. Further authors: Kata Asztalos, Emese Maróti and Ni Nelli.

The handbook summarizes the psychological and neuroscience results of the MTA-LFZE content research program from 2016 to 2020 through four empirical study. Two studies introduce the psychological effects of the active music learning: the development of music perception and reproduction, and non-musical transfer effects. The other two studies detail the impacts on brain processing mechanisms and introduce development of the music processing and auditory entrainment. Before the detailed description of the results, an introductory chapter provides and overview about the cognitive and neuroscience background of music transfer effects. The studies in the handbook introduce the psychological and neuroscience relevance of music pedagogy, and interpret the new, active music learning models’ effects compered to the traditional, music pedagogical principles of Zoltán Kodály.

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Personal Overview of the Active Music Learning Research

Author: Dr. habil László Norbert Nemes, professor and head of the research group

Singing and music education is in crisis in Hungary. It is in crisis despite the fact, that here (unlike the European average) music and instrumental education is available for everyone through the network of primary schools and music schools, what’s more, there is high-quality professional work in numerous primary and secondary schools with a special musical curriculum which has been considered as etalon by foreign countries during the past decades. However, surveys aiming at music learner students unfortunately shows, that Hungarian music lessons are among the most rejected school subjects, students consider them as an unpleasant event, they feel themselves often shamed, instead of getting joyful, long-lasting experiences^[1]. By my own impressions, I also feel, that the effectiveness of school music teaching leaves much to be desired. In my opinion its main reason is the misinterpretation of the aims of music teaching and partly the rigid practice of music education. For example, while in lower elementary grades children would desire continuous moving, playful learning forms, and experience-centered activities by their age specifities, today’s music lessons’ – like the practice of any other subjects – quantitative approach is focusing on the theoretical knowledge transfer and mechanical skill development, while it camouflages the often soulless, and ugly singing and half-focused music listening as art education.

Our participation at the Content Pedagogy Research Program of the Hungarian National Academy of Sciences gave us the opportunity to enrich music teaching methodology with experience-based learning models. During the research process our main research aim was to discover the ways to realize the ancient, natural connection of music and movement in lower elementary classes, among the children “forced to sit at school desks”. In our perspect singing, music making and music listening enriched with movements effectively assists the development of musical skills and helps children to live the joyful experiences of music and community. Thus, the possibility to form the responsiveness of emotional communication through the tools of musical art can be available for the children. Our firm belief, that the developed teaching models practical result can be that children will participate more willingly in music lessons, they will sing more bravely from heart and their attention will be more actively in tune with musical processes during musical listening.

The starting point of our research was the colleagues’ (sometimes decade-long!) practical and theoretical experiences. They consider the movements accompanying music listening and singing as the mirror of musical perception, which also has an impact on the thoughts inspired or formed about music. Including movement-based activities in music learning is not just useful, but joyful activity as well. Through the help of moving the theoretical understanding of musical phenomenon become easier, the feeling of music and empathy affects the emotional procession and reception of music. The movement develops the sense of meter, rhythm and music form, while develops the creative expression which ultimately influences personality development. Based on all these, we assumed, that singing and/or music listening accompanied by movement stimulates the brain processing of musical information and may have an impact on non-musical fields as well.

The content pedagogy development resulted the elaboration of two music pedagogical models, which shared characteristic is that they apply singing and music listening with movement-based activities at the music lessons. The two models model use movements in two different ways: while the first is based on directed movements following the music, the second use improvised, free movement in its practice. Besides the methodology development, we examined the effects of the new, basically playful teaching methods on the effectiveness of music learning and how all of these are in connection with the development of cognitive abilities.

Closing documents of the research work carried out during the past four years, and the methodology guides are available on the website of the Kodály Institute, under the folder “Research and Innovation”. At this platform, one can find the chapters of the study volumes “Psychological and neuroscience impact assessment of the two models of active music learning”, which provide an overview about the most important measurement tools, methods, and results of the 1^st and 2^nd models’ longitudinal study. The rich Active Music Learning pools helping the practical use of the two music learning models are available here on this website after a short registration.

We consider extensive national and international dissemination as the most important purpose of continuing our work. The work related to the realization of this purpose has started, the closing documentation includes the steps we already have done in this field. The online conference “New music teaching models in harmony with the Kodály Concept” was a remarkable milestone of this endeavor on March 27, 2021. 

Successful implementation of the new music learning models in school environment can be realized through teacher training programs. The currently available teacher training programs of the Kodály Institute which were started in 2018 and attract many professionals partly contain the demonstration of the new active music learning models, but it is still necessary to accredit programs that can present the application and the pedagogical value of the models in their full depth. The Kodály Institute of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and the experts of our research group undertake the planning and preparation of these programs’ accreditation, the launching of the programs, and the active participation in the teaching work.
Budapest, 14. 03. 2021.

^[1] Gabriella Dohány: Empirical study of background variables of musical literacy and music learning in secondary schools. Doctoral dissertation, University of Szeged, 2013; Márta Janurik: Flow in music lessons. Magyar Pedagógia, 107.4. 295-320., 2007

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Selection of Publications in English by members of the research group until July 2020