Codi Colors, inclusive method for learning the piano
Innovative method of musical education designed for people with disabilities to learn to play the piano and enjoy making music. It allows them to feel fulfilled thanks to the practical results of the method, enabling them to play songs and pieces following a score based on basic musical concepts.
Both books consist of a repertoire of 57 traditional, popular and signature songs written with the code and accompanied by illustrations. The pieces –all of an accessible level– are arranged according to degree of difficulty and theme, mostly referring to the different seasons of the year. The scores are adapted to make them easier to understand: they are written in treble clef, without time signatures or values, and the size of the staves is large, among other things. In addition to the books, more specifically prepared teaching material –an adapted music booklet and coloured stickers– make it possible to implement the method, which can be perfectly combined with coloured instruments (bells, pipes, bells, horns, carillons, etc.).
Although Codi Colors is mainly aimed at pupils with very diverse special educational needs –physical, sensory, communication, intellectual, mental disorders–, it is not only for these groups. Thus, Codi Colors paves the way for making music and avoids the difficulty of conventional music reading for everyone. It is valid for the initial learning of music -for students at an early age-, for musical awareness and for musical language or instrument classes. In addition, the music learning system works for both group and individual lessons.
Characteristics of innovation
Localization
Igualada, Catalonia
Partners / Funders
Codi Colors
Genesis
Maria Mercè Corrons Roca is a piano teacher and music teacher for students with functional diversity at the Igualada Municipal Music School-Conservatory (ECMMI). Given the realisation that there is no method or form of integrated music teaching suitable for such a diverse group with so many individual specificities, and taking advantage of her pedagogical experience, she has created the Codi Colors. This method allows all types of students to learn and approach the world of music. In June 2022 the book Codi Colors: la música a l’abast de tothom was published, with a foreword by Dr. Melissa Mercadal-Brotons, academic director and coordinator of the Master’s Degree in Music Therapy at the ESMUC (Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya).
Level of implementation
The method has been exposed through various workshops and presentations that have taken place, among others at the third Congress of Musical Pedagogy of the Association of Conservatories of Catalonia. So far, the method has proved to be satisfactory and the association of colours advantageous, as several pedagogical materials use the same system. The goal is to make Codi Colors available to teachers and pupils, i.e. to make it known and to make it available to as many people as possible.
Banc d’innovacions