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Re: An observation about students and rhythm

Author: nellsonic
Date: 2015-08-28 09:49

I'm glad to see the Gordon syllables mentioned. I have used the Gordon syllables extensively in my teaching career, both as a middle band director and private teacher. I became convinced of their utility through an experiment I did one year. I had two periods of intermediate band that were divided equally by numbers and ability. One I taught using traditional counting, the other using Gordon syllables. I had to end the experiment after a couple of months because the class that was using Gordon syllables was so far ahead that it was starting to feel immoral to continue. When I switched the other class over to Gordon they were almost able to catch up over the next few months, but not quite.

This system makes so much more sense, especially for wind players as they are less likely than Kodaly to overlap with the whatever syllable is used for articulation. Also they are a coherent system. Main beats are always "Doo" and off-beats in duple meters are always "day". It makes it pretty easy to move from simple to more complex rhythms. It's easy to teach students to count later when they've already gained some fluency. Rhythm is the foundation for any real understanding of and achievement in music. I've found it sad that Gordon and his work have never gotten the attention they deserved. I've never used his methodologies exclusively, but I did apply many of his concept with a great deal of success and satisfaction.

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