Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 2K views

    Colour Strings

    Uploaded by

    Clare Cooney
    The Colorstrings method is a child-centered approach to teaching music developed by Hungarian brothers Géza and Csaba Szilvay. It aims to make music learning an enjoyable part of childhood rather than taking away from it. The method uses color-coded instruments and relatable pictures to make reading music fun and accessible to young children. It has since spread worldwide and helped train over 40,000 string players, many of whom have found success internationally. Teacher training is also a core part of disseminating the Colorstrings approach.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Colour Strings

    Uploaded by

    Clare Cooney
    2K views1 page
    The Colorstrings method is a child-centered approach to teaching music developed by Hungarian brothers Géza and Csaba Szilvay. It aims to make music learning an enjoyable part of childhood rather than taking away from it. The method uses color-coded instruments and relatable pictures to make reading music fun and accessible to young children. It has since spread worldwide and helped train over 40,000 string players, many of whom have found success internationally. Teacher training is also a core part of disseminating the Colorstrings approach.

    Original Description:

    Colour Strings articles

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The Colorstrings method is a child-centered approach to teaching music developed by Hungarian brothers Géza and Csaba Szilvay. It aims to make music learning an enjoyable part of childhood rather than taking away from it. The method uses color-coded instruments and relatable pictures to make reading music fun and accessible to young children. It has since spread worldwide and helped train over 40,000 string players, many of whom have found success internationally. Teacher training is also a core part of disseminating the Colorstrings approach.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    2K views1 page

    Colour Strings

    Uploaded by

    Clare Cooney
    The Colorstrings method is a child-centered approach to teaching music developed by Hungarian brothers Géza and Csaba Szilvay. It aims to make music learning an enjoyable part of childhood rather than taking away from it. The method uses color-coded instruments and relatable pictures to make reading music fun and accessible to young children. It has since spread worldwide and helped train over 40,000 string players, many of whom have found success internationally. Teacher training is also a core part of disseminating the Colorstrings approach.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    continues to inspire

    The world-famous method is the outcome of a passion for teaching.

    usic matters. It develops the child


    all-embracingly. Children who make
    music will learn almost everything
    else more easily. But should they have to give
    up childhood, the shortest yet most precious
    and decisive stage in their personal development in order to enter the land of music? The
    Colourstrings approach based on the Kodly
    philosophy aims to solve this conflict by creating an environment in which singing, playing
    games and instruments live side by side, for the
    happiness of the child. A music land such as this,
    which is an integral part of the childs world of
    play, should be available to all.

    HOW IT BEGAN
    The Hungarian inventors of the method,
    Gza and his brother
    Csaba Szilvay, began
    teaching in Finland in
    1971. Their approach
    was developed little by
    little. After years in use,
    various illustrations,
    visual
    explanations,
    musical pieces, chamGza Szilvay
    ber music arrangements and exercises in technique came to constitute a method and the Colourstrings School
    was born. The first-generation Colourstrings children were raised at the East Helsinki Music Institute. They began by giving concerts at their own
    music school, but gradually made appearances on
    other concert podiums and eventually started to
    draw attention to themselves. Then a series of
    56 programmes (Mini-fiddlers in Musicland)
    shown on Finnish television revolutionised music
    education in Finland. Thousands of families were
    introduced to music in their homes, and shops
    all over Finland soon ran out of instruments. The
    strings boom had begun.
    The Helsinki Junior Strings were formed 30
    years ago from the Colourstrings pupils at the
    East Helsinki Music Institute. Still conducted by
    Gza Szilvay, the orchestra has performed regularly abroad, made a number of records and more
    than 70 TV appearances.

    INSTRUMENTAL TUTORS
    Seeing and hearing go hand in hand in
    Colourstrings teaching. In the Violin ABC the
    four strings are identified by different colours
    and characters. Initially reading music means

    matching colours and following the melodic line


    of pictures. In this way reading is not a burden
    to the child. The colourful pictures and notes
    gradually give way to conventional notation.
    At the beginning Colourstrings uses relative
    solmisation (a movable Do) and the child is later
    introduced step by step to the absolute letter
    names and pitch.
    The instrumental tutors are not limited to
    teaching manual dexterity, since they also tend
    to present the child with the music as a whole,
    as a package in which instrumental technique,
    musical listening, understanding and emotions
    are at all times balanced.
    Individual tuition is complemented by group
    teaching which introduces the child to chamber
    music at an early age. The instrumental tutors
    are therefore accompanied by chamber music
    series, such as the Violin Duos arranged by
    Lszl Rossa.
    Colourstrings is a child-oriented mode of
    teaching music. The philosophy and method
    do not form or mould the child to suit the
    instrument; rather, they tame the instrument
    and the teaching to meet the needs of the child.
    The Colourstrings method has been used
    by 40,000 string players around the world. In
    Finland every second Colourstrings-trained
    child has, on estimate, become a professional,
    and quite a few have even won international
    recognition. Musicians such as Pekka and Jaakko
    Kuusisto, Rka Szilvay, Jan Sderblom, Linda
    Lampenius and Marko Ylnen now on the
    international circuit started with this method.
    Looking back over 30 years, Gza Szilvay can
    spot some salient features of children trained by
    the method:

    Fine intonation
    Equally advanced technique in both hands
    A developed musical intellect
    Good ability to read music
    An artistic aptitude for musical timbre,
    nuance, detail and phrasing

    Rich creativity developed through transposing, transforming, improvising and


    composing
    Solo playing developed alongside chamber
    and orchestral musicianship (solo/soli/tutti).
    Teachers who have attended Szilvays courses
    often say that the method contributes to the
    childs social education as well. Many children
    from difficult backgrounds have, through music,
    become more motivated and cheerful.

    ESSENTIAL TEACHER TRAINING


    Teacher training is an important part of the
    method. Gza and Csaba Szilvay have lectured
    at close to 130 congresses, courses and symposia around the world since 1977. Colourstrings
    International was established in London in 1990
    and soon grew to take in national and international teacher-training courses. Nowadays CI
    arranges courses for kindergarten, violin, cello,
    piano, guitar, viola and double-bass players and
    teachers. The UK has a network of Colourstrings
    kindergartens, and several thousand children are
    being brought up through these musical playschools.
    Colourstrings is gaining popularity throughout the English-speaking world. It has been
    fostered by such international organisations as
    ESTA (European String Teachers Association),
    ASTA (American String Teachers Association),
    AUSTA (Australian String Teachers Association), ISME (International Society for Music
    Education), NMPU (Nordic Music Pedagogical
    Union) and IKS (International Kodly Society).
    The numbers of academies and conservatories
    that teach it and of masters and doctoral theses
    on it is growing steadily.
    According to Gza Szilvay, the Colourstrings
    method can make a violinist of almost anyone
    with five fingers. The key to maintaining musical
    culture nevertheless lies with the teachers. Given
    a teacher such as Szilvay fired with a passionate
    desire to train future generations, the classical
    musical heritage has nothing to fear.
    HENNA SALMELA
    This article is based on interviews and texts by
    Gza Szilvay.

    You might also like