Friday, May 20, 2011

Carl Orff

German composer and educator, Carl Orff developed a unique approach to music education. He defined the ideal music for children as "never alone, but connected with movement, dance, and speech--not to be listened to, meaningful only in active participation. Based on this, the Orff approach builds understanding of concepts and skills through connecting students with the music by experiencing it on all levels; including through speech/chants, movement, singing, drama, and by playing pitched and unpitched instruments, like the ones we worked with in class, we also discussed voice, body, and instrumental in general.) Orff's philosophy not only encourages children to experience music on all levels, but also at their own level of understanding. For instance, children are encouraged to learn in their natural environment of play. Improvisation (one of the NSME) is encouraged to allow children to explore the possibilities in music. His methods are great for classrooms today because students are seriously processing the information, sequentially learning it, absorbing it, and applying the knowledge they have acquired, instead of rushing through it, hardly absorbing it.

"Experience first, then participation." --Carl Orff

Elements of the Orff Approach
The Orff philosophy is a music education for the whole person. It is essentially an active music experiential approach. Orff encourages creativity through the student's natural responses to music.

1. Rhythm
Orff begins with rhythm because it is the most basic of all the elements. He teaches this through natural speech patterns. For the child, speaking, singing, music and movement are all naturally connected. The teacher then leads the students through their own creative process. By connecting speech patterns to the rhythms, the child can master whatever meter or rhythm is needed. This naturally also leads to body rhythm patterns and movement to the music. In class we used these methods, as well as pointer partners.

2. Melody
Melody is taught in the same way. Simple intervals grow out of the natural pitches from the words. These intervals combine to make a melody. This melody can later be put onto instruments. Orff said, "Experience first, then intellectualize." Only after the playing has been taught does the teaching of notation occur.

3. Improvisation
Part of the playing and experiencing which is essential to the Orff approach is the element of improvisation. As frightening as improvisation seems to be to adults, it is freeing to children. No rules! The teacher sets up boundaries in which the child can create his or her own rhythm, melody, or dance.

Example for rhythm
The student has 8 beats to create his or her own rhythm.

Examples for melody with singing
Using the notes from "do" to "sol" create a song

Example for melody using an Orff instrument
Set up the instrument in C Pentatonic. This enables the player to improvise without hitting a "wrong" note. The student has 8 beats to create his song.

Example for movement
The student has 16 beats to create some movement for a given piece of music or a given part of a story.



"Tell me, I forget... Show me, I remember... Involve me, I understand." --Carl Orff

1 comment:

  1. Laura,

    GREAT post and GREAT quote! I think that truly embodies what the Orff philosophy encompasses. Thank you for taking the time to truly delve into the philosophies of Orff---you are spot on--Orff is all about a hands-on experience. One of the philosophies is based on "process vs. product". Carl Orff continues to be revolutionary because of teaching the "whole child"; allowing students to experience and experiment through provided boundaries so that the student experiences success immediately.
    I think Orff's fundamental philosophies can easily be carried over into other classroom strategies. It is my hope that more general education teachers are exposed to his ideas.

    Well done.
    Dr. H.

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