Erzsébet Szönyi

Musical Reading and Writing

Zoltán Kodály conceived and realized the education of the young on the basis of the singing voice. Nevertheless he also kept in mind the education of those who were engaged in studying instruments. He himself had composed small pieces for beginners on the piano (Twenty-four Small Canons on Black Keys, Children's Dances) and he encouraged his disciples to compose exercises, instrumental tutors, and performance pieces for instruments in this spirit. Thus, on the inspiration of the Kodály Concept a series of tutors and performance pieces were written, as contribution to the new Hungarian method of music education, opening new ways, and improving the general level of musicalappreciation in consequence of which some remarkable results have already been achieved. Our publications are compiled predominantly from Hungarian material: nevertheless Kodály's principles have been applied also to teaching music on non-Hungarian provenience. The present volume is part of this series.