THE IKEDI METHOD OF TEACHING MUSIC

Abstract

This paper proposes the Ikedi Okeke Method of Teaching Music, which has proven to be an effective method of teaching music in primary and post-primary schools in Anambra State. This method emerged from several years of the researcher’s active engagement and experience as a music teacher at various levels of education, including nursery, primary, post-primary, and presently university education. The Ikedi Method of Teaching Music is largely derived from Ivan Pavlov’s experiments in Classical Conditioning, in which he demonstrated that a neutral stimulus (such as a tuning fork or bell) could induce a response similar to that produced by the primary stimulus. In his experiment, dogs salivated in response to the sound of a bell after it had repeatedly been associated with food. Similarly, Ikedi Okeke has demonstrated, through the principles of superimposition and juxtaposition, that school children can be conditioned to enjoy music lessons if a song is played on a musical instrument or sung to them before the commencement of the lesson. Playing the song after the lesson—provided the children see the instrument in the teacher’s hands—has also produced similar results. Ten schools were studied over a period of twenty-two years (2004–2026), yielding commendable results that have since been replicated by several other music teachers in schools.