Everyone enjoys music. Many people dream to be a good singer. The human voice is a natural musical instrument. Many people can sing with or without formal training. The primary difference between a trained and non-trained singer is that a trained singer knows what she is doing and the non-trained singer sings without knowing what she is doing. Which of these two categories do you belong to? If you are a non-trained singer, I am sure, you sometimes feel the importance of some formal training. The perfect time to start formal training is from the age of three years. Yes, three years! Music is a language of sound and silence. The two elements of music are beat and pitch. There are other areas that a learner needs to learn like tempo, dynamics, phrasing, forms, scales, chords, rhythms, and more. Zoltan Kodaly, the world-famous Hungarian philosopher and music composer created a methodology for music education popularly known today as Kodaly Music. Kodaly said, “music education starts nine months before the birth of a child”. Formal music education should start with the introduction of beats at the age of three years. Instead of using formal words like crochets and quavers, German music educator like Orff designed simply syllable like Ta, Ti. A lot of research works then followed related to children music education. Kodaly said that pitch should be introduced using So Mi, the falling third that is the natural sound of a baby cry. Surendranath Majumdar, Founder of Academy for Musical Excellence and Director, Musicea Arts and Culture Council took training on Kodaly Music Education at Ferenc Liszt University, Kecskemet, Hungary. He then started a children music class in Kolkata. He also trains music educators across the country for Preschool and primary school music education.
In India, structured music education for children is yet not popular. Many parents and teachers think that learning music is simply singing a few songs or playing melodies on an instrument. India lack properly trained music educators who can teach children of three to six years with age-specific materials. Kolkata is no exception. Probably AMEC is the only music school that provides structured children music class in Kolkata along with a certification program. Kodaly said, “Let us take our children seriously! Everything else follows from this… only the best is good enough for a child”. He also said, “Teach music and singing at school in such a way that it is not a torture but a joy for the pupil; instill a thirst for finer music in him, a thirst which will last for a lifetime.”
MusiCEA Exam 