The Hearts of our Spanish Speaking Students: Kodály Music Education in Spanish for Teachers

Posted on January 1, 2025 in , ,

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By Lydia Mills

“Si tú quieres conocer, cómo es, cómo es, 
Kodály en español, ¡ven a conocer!”

Text improvisation on a traditional game song from Ecuador

Educadores de música, ¡les traigo buenas noticias!  
Music teachers, I have exciting news!
Taking Kodály Levels in Spanish is now a reality!

For those of you in North America, I am thrilled to announce we will be offering Kodály Level 1 at the Conservatory of Music in Puerto Rico this coming June 16-27, 2025!  

For those of you in South America, join us in Santiago, Chile at the Instituto Kodály Fundación Ibáñez Atkinson, January 5-16, 2026 for Levels 1 and 2!  

Both programs offer a dynamite two-week Kodály certificate program. Whether you are a native speaker or not, and whether you are a beginning music teacher or an experienced Kodály educator who wishes to take the courses in Spanish and learn repertoire, teaching tools and strategies in Spanish, these courses are open to you!

But why study Kodály in Spanish?

A beautiful Kodály classroom, while music may be the focus and the material we develop, is, in its essence, a place where true connections are made from eyes to hands, hands to voices, voices to hearts, and hearts to community. When we create a lesson with meaningful songs, dynamic movements and inspiring musical understanding we witness these essential human connections. We witness friendships blossom, bursts of smiles and laughter, melancholy contemplation, silence, hands held together and voices uplifted in unity.  We may consider these deep connections as the nourishment for the soul, as Kodály believed music to be. 

The last IKS symposium, held in August 2023 in Los Angeles, California, focused on these connections that are made throughout the Kodály world, from teacher to teacher, teacher to student, student to student, student to family.  These heart-to-heart connections are where music becomes more than the notes on the page, but the nourishment for our souls and the essential building blocks for developing our character.  For these to occur we must build our lessons carefully.  One of the foundations of an effective and successful Kodály music class is teaching in the mother tongue of our students.  For us educators living in the United States, we are presented with more native languages in our classrooms as each year goes by.  This creates a gorgeous and diverse musical tapestry with which we can base our lessons. This also requires dedication to research and choosing appropriate songs in the mother tongues of our students.  We look at the meaning of the texts, the melodic and rhythmic patterns, learn how to pronounce the words, and ensure that we present the songs with respect to their history and culture.  

While we all know this takes extra time and energy, the response from the children is wondrous.  We have all felt that joy from the one, two, or more students who instantly connect to the new song in their language.  Their eyes brighten as they sing, and their smiles widen. There is a deep satisfaction, perhaps one that touches the musical heritage of the child.

My first experience teaching a traditional song in Spanish to my Spanish speaking kindergarteners was back in the fall of 2001, in Hayward, California. I had been teaching songs in English, and many of my students seemed disengaged and were having difficulty finding their in-tune singing voices. Ah! I thought, What would Kodály suggest?  Of course! I need to sing in Spanish! I asked my Latin American friends to share their childhood songs with me and was given “Caracol,” a so-mi song about a little snail bringing out his antennae to the sun. This song has proven to be one of the most intimate, tender songs that creates giggles, smiles, friendship, joy, and playfulness. And, how marvelous that it contains the first rhythms and melodic notes for young children, TA TITI and so-mi! There is not one class in all my years of teaching, with both children and adults, that this song has not entered the hearts instantaneously. The first time I sang “Caracol” in my kindergarten class, the children immediately sang with me, and many of them were in tune! Ah! The magic of singing in the mother tongue of our students! I was elated! And, of course, I looked for more songs. While I had long been involved in singing and performing Latin American folk songs, it is thanks to this first Kindergarten class that I began my research in traditional songs and singing games for children in Spanish.

Twenty-three years later, I am deeply grateful for the experiences I have had in Spanish speaking classrooms in the Bay Area, California, in Santiago, Chile, and in numerous demonstration classes at teacher training workshops throughout Latin America. Every class, every child, gives us a myriad  of opportunities to try out new songs, create new lessons, and witness the connections students make as they develop their musical intuition. 

Through my research of traditional singing games and songs in Spanish, and through trying them out in the classroom, I have found beautiful gems; songs that not only tell stories rich in culture and history, but many that serve as repertoire for learning musical concepts in a Kodály sequence. These songs have allowed me over the years to use less translations and compositions. Just as I witnessed with “Caracol,” “Agua de Limones,” a singing game from Colombia has created endless joy for older beginners, as its simple melody and rhythm make it a “perfect song” for la and quarter rest. There are songs which we may never use for specific musical concepts, but simply to create joy and friendship in our classroom; I have seen both children and teachers howl with laughter when running to find a partner in “Caracoles,” a traditional game from México. 

These songs have lit my path to creating a living curriculum, one that continues to evolve depending on the age and musical experience of the students, and the region where my students live. This pioneering work with children, adapting the Kodály approach in Spanish and developing a repertoire rich in cultural, regional, and historical character, as well as dynamic and beautiful musical content, is part of what has led me to teach Kodály training courses throughout Latin America, beginning in 2008 in Puerto Rico. From México all the way to Chile, music teachers have a sincere thirst for songs, strategies, and tools to create lessons that are not only successful in the musical learning, but touch children’s hearts and refresh their classrooms with friendship and joy.  

Over the past 12 years, I have founded, directed and taught in two Kodály summer institutes in Spanish. The first, in the Conservatory of Music in San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 2011- 2015 and then through the Fundación Ibáñez Atkinson in Santiago, Chile from 2018 to the present.  The program in Chile offers a complete Level 1 every year, and Level 2 and 3 every other year, with solfege and musicianship, pedagogy and practicum, music literature, choral conducting and choir. For those of you interested in visiting Chile in January and studying Kodály in Spanish, we look forward to having you!  Throughout the year we also offer online Kodály resources workshops where teachers from all over Latin America can join. For more information, please visit: https://musicaeduca.cl/instituto-kodaly/ or email us at [email protected].

Upon my return to the United States in fall 2021 after living ten years in Chile, it was my dream to find a “Kodály home” somewhere in North America where teachers could study Kodály in Spanish.  I am absolutely delighted that the Conservatory of Music in Puerto Rico will open its doors again to the Kodály Summer Institute starting this summer in June 2025!  I look forward to welcoming music teachers in Puerto Rico, México and Central America as well as from the United States to this special opportunity to study in Spanish!  We will be offering Level 1 from June 16-June 27, 2025.  If you would like more information, please visit: https://forms.office.com/g/Sjhp9xtG0H.  

For more information on taking the Kodály Levels courses en español, you may contact me at [email protected].  For resources, including song collections in Spanish as well as my new book La Magia de Kodály, a book on teaching Kodály in Spanish, please visit my website at www.lydiamillsmusica.com.

I hope to see many of you in the future Kodaly courses in Spanish! ¡Qué viva la música! ¡La música es para todos!

About the Author

Lydia Mills teaches TK-2 general music and 2-5 grade choir in Spanish at Melrose Leadership Academy in Oakland, California through the non-profit organization Cantare Con Vivo. She directs the Kodály Institute for the Fundación Ibáñez Atkinson in Santiago, Chile.  Lydia will direct the summer Kodály Institute at the Conservatory of Puerto Rico this summer, June 2025.

 

Photo #1: Lydia with colleagues Bori Sziranyi and Jorge Fuentes and team during the Summer Kodály Institute Fundación Ibáñez Atkinson, January 2024

Photo #2: Introduction to Kodály workshop, Santiago Chile, May 2023

Photo #3: Lydia with students in Puebla, México, October 2024

Photo #4: Lydia leading a demonstration class with second graders at the Kodály Foundation for Music Education Fall event, November 2024

Photo #5: Introduction to Kodály workshop, Puebla, México, Oct 2024

Photo #6: Kodály Strategies in-year teacher training course, Santiago, Chile, May 2024

 

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