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Teaching a musical instrument to a child is one of the most demanding and responsible tasks a music pedadogue can have. Therefore only the best methods should be applied to it. Colourstrings fulfils these expectations in an excellent way by combining the most important elements of the entire music pedagogy for children. Colourstrings was founded by the Hungarian violist Géza Szilvay, who arrived to Finland in 1971. He didn’t speak a word Finnish, but he had to teach 60 Finnish children in The East Helsinki Music Institute how to play the violin. Instead of language, he had to find another way to transfer his knowledge and skill into teaching the violin to the children. Teaching through imitating was not enough for this outstanding violin pedagogue; Inspired by Kódaly, he wanted to add understanding to his technical teaching. These ideas laid foundation for the Colourstrings method. Now, after more than 30 years, while the Colourstrings has been developed further and has spread worldwide, four Colourstrings-generations have been brought up already with simply amazing results. “Music belongs to everyone” is one of the principal ideas of Zoltán Kódaly. “It is commonly acknowledged that regular music-making, besides enriching the emotions, also develops the child's logic, memory, and ability to concentrate, while simultaneously providing inner discipline and ability to co-ordinate movements, and introducing a social way of thinking.” Géza Szilvay writes on the homepage of The East Helsinki Music Institute, “Colourstrings creates an environment for the child where toys, fairy tales, singing, and instruments live side by side serving the happiness of the child. Such a music land which is an integral part of the child's playworld should be available to everyone.” Colourstrings was originally developed for the violin, but it has been adapted to several other musical instruments as well. Professor Jussipekka Rannanmäki modified it for the guitar, and taught this method to Tanja Schildt in The Helsinki Conservatory in Finland. More about the Colourstrings: Colourstrings Colourstrings and The Szilvay Foundation The East Helsinki Music Institute Homepage |