MUSICIANSHIP TRAINING

The BKA runs part-time year courses for musicianship training at four levels.

FOUNDATION

• for Complete Beginners, (even those who believe they are "Tone Deaf").

ELEMENTARY

• for those wanting to learn to read music and build on foundation musicianship skills
• for those already actively involved in music-making
• for teachers responsible for Primary or Nursery class music who want to build up confidence and learn new repertoire and teaching techniques
• for those wanting to learn to hear music in their head and begin composing very simple music
• for those who feel their music skills are "rusty"

INTERMEDIATE

• for students who have successfully completed Elementary Musicianship
• for those who have a good basic understanding of written music and the workings of solfa
• for those who want to go beyond the basic scales and modes and into more complicated rhythms, keys, time signatures and harmonies

ADVANCED

• for students who have successfully completed Intermediate Musicianship

ABOUT MUSICIANSHIP TRAINING

Kodály believed that "music should be for everyone", and that music is "food for the soul". He also believed that music teachers should train themselves to the highest possible levels of musicianship in order to pass on the very best to the students they work with.

The best time to begin musical training is of course in the early years. But it is never too late to begin or improve. Adults at all stages from beginner to advanced can work on their personal musicianship to underpin other activities, such as class music teaching, choral or stage singing, instrumental lessons and song-writing. Following Kodály musicianship classes, use of the unaccompanied singing voice is the key to musical development. Students improve pitching and intonation, develop their sense of pulse and rhythmic control, gain confidence in part-singing, develop the 'inner ear', and also learn to read music and sight-read from copy.

Music is like a language. As a music teacher using singing as the cornerstone of my practice I believe, along with all Kodály practitioners, that everyone has a singing voice, just as we all have a speaking voice. I frequently come across adults who firmly believe they "can't sing", who know they have missed out on something important which others enjoy. Almost without exception this feeling of deprivation dates back to an incident around age six, when the person was made aware that s/he "couldn't sing in tune", all too often debarred from singing in the choir by a well-meaning teacher. Sadly this judgement usually debarred the person from any subsequent musical opportunity, as s/he was thereafter deemed to be "not musical". Kodály musicianship classes can overturn the damage done to the child and unlock the doors for the adult to musical experience and enjoyment.

ENQUIRIES ABOUT MUSICIANSHIP COURSES

Email: bkahelp@aol.com