Possible Connection between the Development of Executive Functions and Music Education According to the Kodály Concept

This research will focus on comparing tasks that are used to measure the development of executive functions (EFs) and musicianship exercises according to the Kodály concept in order to find analogies and functional intersections between them. EFs are essential for our mental and physical health, for school and job success. Since these skills can be improved and early EFs training might help reduce social disparities in academic achievement and health, pinpointing activities that could develop EFs has become an important research topic in psychology, neuroscience, and education in recent years. The main direction of this research will be a close examination of the tasks used for measuring the three core components of EFs - inhibition, cognitive flexibility and working memory alongside musicianship exercises taken from Kodály methodological books and lesson observations that work in a similar way. This study has found similarities between EF tasks and Kodály musicianship exercises in all the three core components of EFs. These findings could indicate that with Kodály’s music education approach we are not only practising musicianship exercises but we might challenge our EF skills as well. This research, therefore, could be a first step that leads to a more complex investigation into the potential positive impact of music education according to the Kodály Concept on EFs.

Author: Orsolya Toldi