♫ Music ♫

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good resource about orff: click here

2011-07-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

Orff approach builds understanding of concepts and skills through connecting students with the music by experiencing it on all levels. These levels include speech/chants, movement, singing, drama, and by playing pitched and unpitched instruments.

The Orff Approach

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.

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.

2011-07-17T15:43:00.001-07:00

hear it first
then sing
then understand
then read and write
then create

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The musical objectives of Kodály musical training is to train all children to:

Sing, play instruments and dance from memory, a large number of traditional singing games, chants, and folk songs, drawn first from the child's own heritage of folk song material and later expanded to include music of other cultures and countries.
Perform, listen to, and analyze the great art music of the world.
Achieve mastery of musical skills, such as musical reading and writing, singing and part-singing.
Improvise and compose, using their known musical vocabulary at each developmental level.

How is the Kodály Philosophy Taught?

Rhythm symbols and syllables are utilized.
Hand signals (Solfege) are used to show tonal relationships.
The moveable "do" is practiced.
The musical material emphasized is the mother-tongue/folksong.
Concepts are taught according to the child's learning development.
Singing is the major instrument. All children can sing and be successful

Rhythm Symbols and Names

Hand signs are a way of giving a physical placement for a vocal pitch. The low "do" begins at your midsection. Each pitch is then above the previous one. Thus, you have the hand signs going up when the pitch goes up. The upper "do" is at eye level.