Erzsébet Szőnyi’s series A zenei írás-olvasás gyakorlófüzetei [Musical Reading and Writing] is to this day key teaching material in music education. It was written to a request from Zoltán Kodály, and its purpose is nothing less than the mastery of reading and writing music at the highest level, from the beginners’ to advanced.

The clear, graded material in the eight-volume series of exercises is based on relative solmization, and focuses on teaching singing in tune, developing a good ear, and functional thinking. Most of the examples in the booklets are taken from the musical literature, rather than being invented for teaching purposes, so students deepen their knowledge through genuine music.

The eight booklets contain a total of 100 lessons. Szőnyi recommends the first 30 lessons before starting to learn an instrument, lessons 31-69 can provide the material for primary and secondary music education, and the additional lessons are for students of music in institutions of higher education. The author encourages the creative use of the booklets (the teacher can invent new exercises), but at the same time recommends that the carefully structured pedagogical order of the lessons remain unchanged.

The practice booklets are supplemented by methodological publications, which, by describing how to use the exercises in teaching, actually provide a summary of the theory and practice of the Kodály method, based on actual classroom experience. The highly successful teacher’s books have been translated into many languages.

The series, which includes eight exercise books and three methodological publications, was supplemented with another 30 lessons in the 1970s, aiding those at the highest level and teachers. The supplementary material is included in this final volume. Here, the tasks and the guide for using them are published together. The publication is the conclusion of a set of uniquely rich, well-structured, genuinely musical teaching materials, from which it is a pleasure to both learn and teach.