What Music Education Method Do You Use?

Katherine Santoro, IPDS Italy Faculty Mentor: Professor Kerry Renzoni, Music Department This study focuses on the primary music education methods teachers use in the United States and compares these methodologies to those used in Italy. This research highlights three main methodologies: the Orff Approach, Music Learning Theory, and the Kodaly Method. The Orff Approach is a hands-on approach which uses percussion instruments as a tool for learning. Music Learning Theory, which I noticed is a primary method in the United States, is an aural/oral approach which uses movement, singing and chanting to learn music. Audiation (hearing and understanding music when the music is not present, but may have been present) is a large portion of the Gordon method. The Kodaly Method works with rhythm and pitch. Solfege is also used with this method. I conducted a series of interviews with two teachers locally in Buffalo, New York and two teachers overseas in Torremaggiore, Italy. I asked each teacher three questions: (1) What methodologies have you been trained to use and/ or observed in the classroom (Orff, Kodaly, Music Learning Theory)?; (2) Which methodology do you feel works best in your classroom setting, and why?; and (3) What methodology do you feel does not work in your classroom, and why? I found that a combination of the Gordon Method and the Orff Approach is used in the United States and Italy. This poster describes detailed findings from teacher interviews and my observations in American and Italian music classrooms.https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/srcc-sp20-edu/1026/thumbnail.jp