Kodály HUB – Sing, Learn, Share

Kodály Hub: Sing, Learn, Share is a collaborative project, funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, which aims to promote high-quality Kodály-inspired music education relevant to today’s classrooms.

Kodály’s approach to music education is based on teaching, learning and understanding music through the experience of singing, making the world of music accessible to all.

Studies have shown that children who receive appropriate music education in their early years will have more developed cognitive functions, linguistic and arithmetic skills and fine motor capabilities. They will also possess a more open social attitude and flexible personality compared to those who receive no music education. Singing is accessible to all, anybody can do it, and it is the most logical and secure way to develop musicianship skills. It also boosts confidence and social skills and develops existing talent for those who want to pursue music at an advanced level.

The project intends to address new ways of teaching music, particularly to the five- to 10-year-old age group who usually have one music lesson per week from teachers who have no formal music training.

The leader of the project is the Liszt Academy of Music Budapest, Hungary’s foremost institute of higher education, to which the internationally renowned Kodály Institute belongs. Two world-class conservatoires joined the project, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in the Netherlands, as well as their partner organisations from each country, the National Youth Choir of Scotland, the National Youth Choir of the Netherlands and the Kós Károly School of Budapest.

As well as reviewing current learning materials and music repertoires used in primary schools, the project will also introduce new resources, including singing games and choreographies. By the end of the project, experts and students from the three higher education institutions will have almost 900 items to test on primary school children and their teachers.

The outcome of the Kodály Hub: Sing, Learn, Share project will be the creation of the Kodály Hub, which will be designed to meet the needs of music educators. This online resource will be a worldwide portal for the sharing of repertoire for teachers, a forum and a place of community building.

Students from the three higher education institutions have taken part in intensive study weeks in Budapest, the Netherlands and Glasgow, which involved classroom observations and workshops. It helped them to gain an in-depth understanding of the structure and quality of the local music education system.

All experts involved in the project are prominent figures of their countries’ musical and music education as well as choral scenes. They are all wonderful musicians and experienced teachers, instructors on various levels (from primary school to conservatoire/university), choir conductors, vocal trainers, solfege experts.