Towards an Innovative Methodology for Teaching Music

Abstract

A number of methodologies and pedagogical approaches to music education developed at the beginning of the 20th century. These were founded by the pedagogues Emile Jacque-Dalcroze (1865–1950) and Edgar Willems (1890–1978) in Switzerland, Maurice Martenot (1898–1980) in France, Carl Orff (1895–1982) in Germany, Zoltán Kodaly (1882–1967) in Hungary, and Schinichi Suzuki (1898–1998) in Japan, amongst others. Each of these approaches has its own pedagogical basis and psychological foundation implicit in its conception of the nature of child development. Frega’s comparative study demonstrated how Jacques-Dalcroze, Orff, and Suzuki implicitly based their ideas on existing methods. E. Claparède’s work laid the groundwork for Jacques-Dalcroze, while J. H. Pestalozzi’s did the same for Orff and Kodaly. Suzuki was inspired by the ideas of J. J. Rousseau and L. Tolstoy. M. Montessori’s experiences created the pedagogical bases for Martenot, J. Piaget, and C. Jung’s work, and they inspired Edgar Willems. All of these pedagogical approaches lean towards general education. Only Jacques-Dalcroze, Orff, and Suzuki added an interest in instrumental virtuosity to their pedagogical models.