Connect with Music through your Child-Ego

"... it is the richness of musical experiences... that make a good musician"

I attended the British Kodály Symposium in August 2019- was about the time I had just begun my voice training and after my Master's degree in piano I felt ambitious. Or perhaps it wasn't ambition- maybe it was just my curiosity to go deeper into the Kodály concept that I had already read so much about. I wanted to see the method in action and the only way I saw fit was to experience a primer and enroll in the course. And what a primer it was! This was nearly a week of full schedules from morning 7 am to 8 pm in the evening everyday at University of Nottingham- what a beautiful serene campus at that. Seven intensive days of warm-ups, choir-work, score study, history, voice lessons, chorale repertoire, piano masterclasses, Dalcroze workshops, solfege, musicianship sessions, methodology and singing games. I had been to classical music festivals but nothing compared to the fun I had here and the long-lasting friendships I made. From feeling almost out of my depths in the musicianship sessions with Borbála Szirányi to the exhilaration of singing together and choir warm-ups with Dr. László Nemes- it was one of the most positive musical experiences I had ever had. I'll say that again- it was one of the most positive musical experiences I had ever had. 

There were people from so many nationalities I could not count them on my fingers. And the negative vibes you sometimes get from musicians in competitive situations? Nope, all positive, interactive and willing to help. The learning was infectious and the format and placements were well planned and determined ahead of the symposium via a questionnaire. The depth of material, on looking back, was astounding coming from such experienced pedagogues. But the delivery was so straight-forward and effective that it left a long-lasting impression on me.

It's been three years now since attending the festival and I can still remember - everything from my walks down with colleagues to different parts of the campus, to my conversations with nearly every new face I met, the repertoire we sang, adults screaming from excitement in the hall during Lucinda's singing games, yes, screaming. The last day had everyone crying after those seven days of a joyride, especially my Spanish friends- the poor things cried despite the pain of having to re-learn singing in movable do after learning fixed do for practically their entire childhood! There was a kind of sadness in me while leaving too, not enough to have me burst in tears, but enough to know that this was something special. 

The tears, however, had me wondering what it was that was so moving and memorable about the symposium; and why it felt so good to be there even through the rigors and demands of assignments and performance. Even if you did go to university for music studies and graduated successfully with all the hard work invested, I'm certain you would not bawl when leaving. 

We said our goodbyes with full intention of meeting again either at the next summer school or course; and then of course, COVID hit and all our plans to reunite at summer school were botched. I even had my UK visa ready but fear got the better of all of us and the events were cancelled. After yays and nays [but more yays than nays] we decided to go ahead with beginning our Kodály journey online. The BKA did a wonderful job of redesigning the modules in a way that made delivery seem effortlessly smooth and our batch was one of the very first to make headway into learning online with the academy. We may not have gotten the opportunity to sing in perfect intonation with one another given the internet lag but spirits were never down because the learning was magical and everyone was determined to get through this. Level one rewired our brains in ways I cannot even begin to explain. 

It took a lot more effort and time on my part than I had bargained for when enrolling for this course, but never underestimate the amount you can learn from self-reflection and self-study. When put to task I get a mental itch to get things done and this was one of them but doing it needed a lot of deep thought. The lessons were always packed with information, eye-openers and best of all, laughter and fun. So, you can imagine we cried again when the course was over. 

And we cried several times over and every time a module ran its course... pun intended. 

Were we addicted? Maybe. Was I being a mindless consumer of music courses? I thought about it often, but the answer is almost always no. I have been following their courses since 2019, breaking glass ceilings at every level, feeling accomplished and absolutely fabulous at the completion of every stage. The systematic and pedagogically sound manner of building our musical aptitudes is unmatched. From what I have observed, the Kodály Institute most thoroughly acknowledges and seeks to build the multi-dimensionality of musical experiences for a secure and unforgettable education. And no, I am not their spokesperson. 

So, let me return to the tears. Forgive my bluntness, but let me state that our musical aptitudes were never shaped by constant singing, vocalizing and movement, rather they were shaped by adherence to music scores, the drudgery of theory and rote singing which never truly exercised our musical brains. What we experienced at the symposium was a fundamental and primal human urge to sing together, share music and share positivity- something children would do. In a way, we accessed our child-egos instantly [have you not read I'm Ok, You're Ok?] and we were nurtured just like children are into a developmentally sound music learning experience that imperceptibly held our hands until advanced levels. With learning such as this, all faculty I have learnt with from the Kodály Institute hold a special place in my heart. 

In fact I realized this did not create an addiction, rather a musical self-sufficiency, independence and creativity that perhaps we all longed for in our respective musical backgrounds. It just felt great to be a child again. To learn again. 

p.s. "Adulting" really is overrated.