Kodaly Sequence: Examples And Discussions

Are you interested in using one of the most powerful tools of the Kodaly sequence?

Do you hear Kodaly “nerds” debate on the sequence of concepts?

The Kodaly sequence of musical concepts and music literacy elements is one of the most common tools of the method.

But there is serious controversy at times in what the sequence is.

I decided to help you out with a detailed look at the Kodaly sequence and some of its most common variations.

A Kodaly sequence organizes musical concepts into order from easiest to hardest and most common to least common. The sequence then guides music teachers in what and when they teach in their music rooms. Kodaly scope and sequence is often split into rhythm and pitch sequences.

Let’s dive into this fascinating and powerful idea.

Table of Contents

What Is A Kodaly Sequence?

A scope and sequence is an order of ideas for teaching.

It covers topics, concepts, activities, and materials taught over the course of a grade level.

As music educators, we see grades across Kindergarten through Fifth grade (or beyond in many cases).

In this case, the sequence is one of the guiding ideas covering concepts in a single grade’s music classes and the whole school.

Sequences are common in most music education classrooms, but they’re one of the defining elements of a Kodaly-inspired classroom.

The concepts may be split into several categories, but the two key elements are rhythm and pitch, which are then called rhythmic sequence and melodic sequence.

Traditionally in a Kodaly-inspired classroom, the music teacher would analyze the folk music they select for their room and build their list from there.

However, most music educators don’t have the time for this or want something to compare their list to.

This is where the resources and examples from people at places like Holy Name University or the Organization of American Kodaly Educators come in.

See examples and resources in later sections.

What A Kodaly Sequence Is NOT

A Kodaly sequence doesn’t traditionally cover the resources, exercises, classical music, or specific folk songs used in the music classrooms.

Instead, the music teacher would have a list of musical literacy ideas for each month of each grade levels covering everything they taught.

Where Did The Sequence Idea Come From?

Zoltan Kodaly was a composer from Hungary born in 1882 and active during much of the 1900s.

Kodaly’s works weren’t receiving much attention from the general public, which led him to look into why.

He found a sorry state of music education in the elementary ages of his home country.

In fact, much of the folk music used in schools at the time wasn’t even in Hungarian!

He didn’t like this at all, so he worked with his graduate students and younger colleague, Jeno Adam, to develop some principles, philosophy, and resources for the elementary music classroom.

One of these was the sequence.

By looking at the folk songs used in your music classroom, music teachers can develop a list of concepts in order from easiest to hardest and most common to least common to teach in their music classroom.

Historically, this method has been most popular with elementary, but it’s also useful for the secondary grades.

Kodaly Sequence Examples

In this section, we’ll look at several sequence examples.

At this point, I’m not passing judgment on these examples as far as their practicality or effectiveness.

The sequence will typically be sorted by grade levels and separated by rhythm and pitch.

For more on the controversies around these sequences, look to the later section.

Holy Names University Sequence

Holy Names was one of the first music education organizations to specialize in Kodaly’s method for American schools.

They also host the American Folk Songs collection, which is a massive, analyzed list of folk music from the U.S.

Grade

Concepts

First Grade

Quarter note vs. eighth note, 2 meter rhythmic form/icons, so-mi, la, quarter rest, form: repeat, doSecond Gradere, half note, do, pentatonic scale, form: AA, AB, AABA, etc., question and answer form: 1st and 2nd endings (A Av), 4 meter, low la, syn-co-pa, low so, la pentatonic scale, whole note, half and whole restThird Gradedotted half note (in 4 meter), anacrusis, eighth note/eighth rest, so pentatonic, high do, absolute (letter) names, recorder, re pentatonic, rhythms within 6/8 meter, 6/8 meter, fa, do pentachord scale, whole and half step lowered letter name (Bb), tiri-tiri, do hexachord scale, ti-tiri, tiri-tiFourth Gradeti, diatonic (major) scale – do, rename w/h steps: M2, m2, tam-ti, ti-tam, sequence intervals: M3, m3, 3 meter, la pentachord scale, raised letter name (F#), la hexachord scale diatonic (minor) scale – la, key signatures: C major and a minor melodic sequence, tim-ri, ri-tim, key signatures: F major and d minor, cut time, key signatures: G major and e minorFifth Gradeparallel thirds, key signatures: D major and b minor, intervals: fourths augmentation/diminution, intervals: fifths parallel fifths horn call, key signatures: Bb major and g minor, harmony: tonic/dominant, altered notes: si, harmonic minor scale (classical period materials for this level)

Source for the sequence.

Note: They also include sixth grade, but for the purposes of this article, we’ll stick with a max of Fifth grade.

They also didn’t include Kindergarten.

Conversational Solfege Sequence

Dr. John Feierabend was one of the music education professionals present when Kodaly came and taught first in America.

He looked at the music he found and collected native to the United States and develop his own sequence.

He also adapted some of the tools and created a music method called Conversation Solfege.

Click the link to check out the book on Amazon.

You may also want to learn about what conversation solfege is.

Notable differences of this sequence include:

Teaching quarter notes and eighth notes in duple alongside dotted quarter, eighth in triple or 6/8 meter
A melodic sequence that starts with do-re-mi instead of sol-mi
Delaying literacy until second grade choosing to instead focus on singing voice, pitch matching, beat exercises, and expressive movement

In this approach to music, there is no rush to get through concepts by grade level.

Instead, you move on when your students understand the elements and are ready.

Dynamic Music Room Sequence

Here is an example of my own sequence I tend to follow.

Full disclosure: I don’t get through everything typically.

Concerts, snow days, pandemics, and a million other things get in the way.

It just happens.

The point of the sequence in a Kodaly-inspired music program is to have goals based on the folk music you choose and let this guide your instruction.

Grade	September	October	November	December/ January	February	March	April	May/ June
Kinder	Steady BeatSinging Voice	Loud/SoftFast/Slow	Timbre	Form (Same/different & call and response)	Long/Short RhythmRest	High/Low	Pitch Patterns	Review
First	Practice-Steady Beat Prep- Quarter note and paired eighth notes	Practice-Quarter/ Eighth Prep-Sol-mi	Practice-Sol-mi Prep-Quarter Rest	Practice-Quarter Rest Prep-Sol-la	Practice-Sol-la Prep-Two Meter	Practice-Two Meter Prep-La-mi	Practice-La-mi	Review
Second	Review-Quarter, eighth, rest Review-sol-la-mi	Review- Two MeterPrep-Half note	Practice-Half note Prep- do	Practice- Do Prep-Four meter	Practice- Four meter Prep-Re	Practice-Re Prep-Dotted quarter/ 3 eighths (triple)	Practice-Dotted quarter/ three eighths(2 meter triple)	REVIEW
Third	Review-Rhythms in duple Drm sl (pentatonic)	Review- dot quarter 3 eighth (triple)Prep-Low la(la based penta)	Practice-Low La Prep- quarter eighth (triple)	Practice-Quart eighth (triple) Prep- Low sol	Practice-Low Sol Prep- sixteenth notes	Practice-4 sixteenth Prep- High do (ext. pentatonic)	Practice-High Do Prep- SyncopatedEighth quart eighth	REVIEW
Fourth	Review-Rhythms in duple (especially syncopated) Ext. Pentatonic (s,l, drm sl d’) La Based pentatonic	Review-2 and 4 meter Prep-eighth/ two sixteenth and reverse	Practice-eighth/ two sixteenthAnd reverse Prep-Fa	Practice-Fa Prep-Dotted quarter eighth	Practice-Dotted Quarter Eighth Prep-Ti (diatonic major)	Practice-Ti (diatonic major) Prep- Eighth dotted quarter	Practice-Eighth dotted quarter	REVIEW
FifthSuggested	Review	ReviewPrep- dotted eighth/ sixteenth	Practice- Dotted eighth/ sixteenth Prep-Aeloian, Dorian	Practice-Mixolydian, Dorian Prep-3 meter	Practice-3 meter Prep/ Practice-V-I Harmonic Function	Prep/ Practice-Aeolian, Phrygian Prep/ Practice- I-IV-V	Prep/ Practice-Lydian	Review

Download the PDF of the sample.

Scope-and-Sequence-Sample Download

Sequence Controversy

With so much variation, how do you pick an order of concepts?

Does it really matter?

Yes, and no.

There are those who will argue with a lot of intensity that their way is the right way, and yours is wrong.

A teacher and friend of mine once told me she was at a conference, and some music teachers asked her who her Kodaly professor was.

When my friend told them, they immediately started bashing the professor.

Why? Because she swapped two rhythms in the sequence from what their professor did.

Really? This is too much.

Most music educators aren’t this way.

The sequence should be present in your mind when you plan. This approach to music keeps you moving forward and intentional with your students.

It ensures music educators keep a developmental approach in mind.

Here’s what I believe really matters:

Choose appropriate and authentic folk music.
Analyze your choices of folk music.
Develop your list of concepts based on this folk music.

This should be a personal exercise for people, and no one should mock you for your choices.

No one should bash other people for their choice.

It’s OK to have a different opinion, but is this about your ego or about the students?

Sorry, soapbox over.

Helpful Resources

With all this in mind, you may not have time to reinvent the wheel (nor should you).

Here are some of my favorite Kodaly resources related to the sequence.

Disclaimer: Links may be affiliate in nature, which means we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you click and later buy. Each of these is a book I believe in and have used over the years.