Medieval Methods: Guido D’Arezzo’s Innovative Approaches to Music Education

Abstract

Music education has been influenced by many people throughout history, but arguably none of them have done so as much as the monk, Guido D’Arezzo. His teaching methods have been embraced and developed by music educators throughout the centuries. For example, it is recorded that Guido was the first to use the five-line staff as we use it today. This was especially groundbreaking in a world of rote memorization. Today it is used globally in music education. The roots of solfege are also found in Guido’s writings; his syllables have been adapted by Zoltan Kodály. Not only that, but John Curwen’s hand signs are derivative of the so-called Guidonian Hand. Guido’s writings also provide ideas on including composition in teaching music. These ideas have been adapted by John Feierabend, a proponent of improvisation in the music classroom. Therefore, many of our modern practices can be traced back to the roots of Guido’s ingenuity.