Francois-Joseph Fetis, who taught composition at the Paris Conservatoire and Conservatoire Royal of Brussels in the 19th century, wrote in his Solfeges progressifs precedes de l’expose des principes de musique, “in the study of solfege, beginning students are expected to read notation and understand its meaning, to beat time, and to sing,seeking to do so in tune [...] it is just as reasonable to teach these techniques separately ”(Fetis 1837: 107).
The aim of this study is to examine teaching methods of music theory in connection to musical practice in a course for kindergarten teachers, using Fetis suggestions. Today, many textbooks of music theory are used in university courses for training kindergarten and elementary school teachers. These textbooks contain two problems: 1) the music theory is more complex than needed for kindergarten and elementary school teachers and 2) the teaching of music theory is not linked with musical practice in elementary schools and in kindergartens.
In this paper we will examine these problems through a comparative analysis of existing textbooks of music theory and the content needed by elementary school teachers followed by recommended materials for teaching music to future elementary school teachers.