I recently attended a workshop on the PRESTO (Practices & Resources for Equipping Schools to Teach music Online) initiative developed by the Kodály Institute in Hungary.
The Presto website is a free resource available online through the Kodaly Hub website with no need for registration.
It was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising need for music teachers everywhere to be able to upgrade their skills and knowledge without being able to attend Professional Development courses.
The website consists of a wealth of resources (over 400 videos, plus accompanying song analyses, lesson plans, worksheets and more!) on many aspects of music teaching across a variety of fields.
The site is broken into 3 sections: classroom, instrumental and choral music.
Classroom
The Classroom section includes material from a number of different research partners. NYCOS (the National Youth Choir of Scotland) made a huge variety of videos showcasing many different singing & clapping games which can be performed in class or by oneself (a blessing during the lockdown phases of the pandemic!).
Extensive research into the links between music and movement (and how one can help our brains learn the other more quickly) were undertaken by the Institute and their findings are published as part of the site.
There are also videos on developing various aspects of musicianship from young singers in early childhood right through to tertiary level musicians.
Choral
The choral section details many repertoire suggestions as well as informative videos on choral conducting technique and mechanics, as well as some fascinating research into the use of spectograms to aid in the teaching of good vocal technique.
Instrumental
The instrumental section explores various pedagogical approaches such as the SZO-Method and ZeneZen (a creative approach to piano pedagogy which uses movement and draws some inspiration from the work of Klára Kokas). There are a wealth of resources on Colour Strings, the innovative approach to teaching string instruments developed by the Szilvay brothers.
There are also detailed videos demonstrating some of the musical improvisation games of László Sáry which are great for adapting to various levels of musicianship.
With all those resources available out there for free, why not check it out today?
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