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Lorna Zemke: What a Sister!

Deborah Jeter

I won't forget the first time I met Sister Lorna Zemke. Having been raised in a protestant household, it was the first time I'd gotten a good, "close-up" look at a real live Sister. For one thing, she wasn't at all what I thought a Sister would be. She was childlike but spoke with such wisdom. She was cheerful and energetic and a lot of fun. Ever since I met Sister Lorna Zemke, my life was changed. I searched the Net for information about her. I thought surely someone who had such an impact on me would be on the Internet. :-) But I searched to no avail. Hence, that is what drove me into writing this editorial about the "Queen" of music education. Now mind you, she would probably not prefer that I refer to her that way, but to me, she was an "angel" of an educator! She uses the tools provided through the Kodaly Method to teach like no one I've ever seen. In case you aren't familiar with Kodaly, have a look at my music homepage and you'll probably see why it has become the predominant force of teaching music to my students. I was amazed with the results in the growth of my students' musicianship after having applied this wonderful way of presenting music concepts. In this article, I will share with you some of her thoughts from the notes that I took while in one of her workshops nearly twenty years ago.

She began by saying that the Kodaly Method is a concept and philosophy.
• Music is spiritual food.
• The child needs to grow with his own heritage folk material.
• Education means "to lead out" not to "pour in".
• The Kodaly Method is child developmental not subject developmental.
• It is a true discovering of what is already within the child.
• The most personal thing we have is our voice.
• We are to teach children, NOT lesson plans.
• NEVER call a child a monotone. Be careful about our comments on voices.
  Each concept presented is in sequence. The preparation time is to be used in preparing the child to receive. It could take 2 minutes, 2 hours, 2 days or 2 weeks. We set their attention during this period. Then the presentation takes place. The essence of the lesson shouldn't last any longer than 5 minutes. Then we practice, practice, practice. Practicing doesn't consist of doing the same thing over and over, but rather doing the same thing a hundred different ways. BE CREATIVELY REDUNDANT.