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1.2 Pedagogical contributions of Carl Orff, Zoltán Kodály, and Émile Jaques-Dalcroze

Carl Orff (1895-1982) was a composer and educator who developed a creative method of

teaching children (Orff-Schulwerk) that uses percussive hand/body motions, instruments (such as

xylophones, glockenspiels, wood blocks, claves, finger cymbals), dancing and movement, all

combined with a strong focus on singing. The ultimate goal of Orff’s approach is to teach music

by having young students experience instruction as playtime. Teachers create experiential

learning opportunities through engaging, fun activities in dynamic and playful environments,

with each student having an individual job (playing their own instrument) as the group works

together to sing songs, chants and rounds, and act out storylines.2

As a second-grader interested in taking piano lessons, I was required by my music studio

to take a 12-week Orff course before starting private instruction piano. I vividly remember these

classes. Sometimes when I am teaching my own students, the rhymes and tunes from the Orff

sessions come back to me. Elements that left a lasting impression were the focus on underlying

pulse, through layers of ostinato rhythmic patterns performed on a variety of instruments, and the

simple effectiveness of verbalizing rhythms. Orff’s method uses rhythms that children already

know from nursery rhymes. Students sing, clap and play the rhyme, then add melody through

pitches typically derived from a pentatonic scale. Notation is provided in charts, posters, or

manuscript to support the reading/playing connection. An important component of this method

is that the teachers start from the absolute most basic fundamentals (the underlying beat – often

quarter notes in 4/4 time), then layer variants of the beat (perhaps rest/clap/rest/clap on the

pulses in a basic 4/4 time accompaniment, or drone fifths on a half-note/quarter ostinato rhythm

2
“What is Orff Schulwerk?” American Orff-Schulwerk Association, accessed October 14, 2014,
http://aosa.org/about/what-is-orff-schulwerk/.