Kodály is a concept of traditional folk music that has been promoted, transmitted, documented, and has helped communities abroad. Zoltán Kodály developed the Kodály method or Kodály concept during the middle of the 20th century in Hungary. A number of his associates then developed the method based on his philosophy of education.
Kodály composed thousands of songs and sight-singing exercises in order to bridge the gap between folk music and classical works. For his complete pedagogical works, he composed sixteen educational volumes, six of which contain multiple volumes of about one hundred exercises each. The Kodály Choral Method is published by Boosey & Hawkes and includes his complete pedagogical works.
Based on a project developed by Zoltán Kodály, a researcher, composer, and pedagogue, and funded by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, it advocates: that mainstream education and civic organizations should make traditional folk music accessible to everyone.
Imparting musical skills; communities concerned are encouraged to use the music every day; utilizing local and international strategies for research and documentation; coexistence of research, education, cultural studies, and composition; all musical traditions ought to be respected.
According to Kodály, skills are introduced according to the child's capabilities, using a child-developmental approach. As new concepts are introduced, they are introduced through experiences such as listening, singing, or moving. Children are first introduced to musical concepts through experiences they can relate to. They first learn how to notate a concept once they are familiar with it, similar to Suzuki's methods. Concepts are continually reviewed through games, movement, songs, and exercises.
Additionally, it has been used to record traditional music played by bearers and organizations like the Institute for Musicology (which holds 15,000 hours of recorded folk music and over 200,000 melodies from more than a thousand settlements). Schools have incorporated the concept since 1945, whereby primary, secondary and tertiary students can learn about the songs, and their importance and are encouraged to participate in them.
The Kodály Institute offers a number of academic programs, which are available in more than 60 countries, as well as the International Kodály Society. Likewise, artists have been inspired to integrate folk music into their compositions by the safeguarding concept. Music educators from have traveled to Hungary to visit Kodály’s music schools. And the first symposium dedicated solely to the Kodály method was held in Oakland, California in 1973; it was at this event that the International Kodály Society was inaugurated. Now, Kodály-based methods are used worldwide.