The Orff-Schulwerk Approach • Imitation • Exploration

Emily Winchip AIS Kuwait [email protected] NESA Conference The Orff-Schulwerk Approach in Music Education Suggested Process Approaches Imitation Movement Exploration Body Percussion Singing Improvisation Poetry Notation Dance Games WHAT IS ORFF Acting SCHULWERK? Schulwerk translates roughly as “school Experimentation work” or “the work of children.” This approach is an experience based way for Choice children to enjoy, create, and participate in music making. Chance Through the processes listed to the right, Variation students are fully engage in every aspect of learning music. There is freedom of choice, Risk learning through error, and a lot of risk taking. Want more info? It is not a method, textbook, or curriculum The American Orff but a way of viewing the world of music Schulwerk Association education. Participate and enjoy! www.aosa.org University of Nevada – Las Vegas Class www.unlvorff.com Orff Association of Canada www.orffcanada.ca Activities for Young Musicians Young students are always happy to be in charge and making the decisions! With just a small amount of freedom and choice, they don’t mind practicing the same skills over and over. Imitation – Model several ways to move low to high and high to low. Exploration – Have students come up with different ways to show it. (i.e. squatting to standing, arms low to high, eyes look down to up) Improvisation – Student solos, they make up the answer to “how are you” *Allow students to practice in a group before expecting solos Notation – Show Sol and Mi on the staff. Apples Red ones, Green ones. Grow on trees ones. In my mouth ones. Good for me. Yum! Imitation – Model the steady beat of the words Exploration – Get rid of words, replacing them with rests – “Red and Yum” go last Mix the words around Place the words as Sol and Mi; as Sol, La and Mi Notation – Show Sol and Mi; Sol, La and Mi on the staff *You may choose “Billy Blue” for the boys and “Sally Sue” for the girls Continue the new motion through the next Tutti until you are given a new direction. Imitation – Model different ways to move to the steady beat Exploration – Have students choose (first, sing the solos all together to practice) Improvisation – Have student soloists choose what motion to do Start with Non-locomotor, later add in Locomotor movements Notation – Notate sol, la, and mi *Motions are added at this point Imitation – Model the duple steady beat (march) and the triple steady beat (skip) Exploration – Have students come up with new motions to add a “Rig a jig jig” each time (I find that my memory is usually limited to the 5-7 range) This is primarily a “wear ‘em out” or “wake ‘em up” activity with some social interaction. It is also a good experience in duple and triple meters, but is probably not suitable for notating. Activities for Older Musicians Even older students enjoy creativity (and silliness!). Music courses offer a great opportunity for risk taking and structured improvisation. In specialized music classes like Choir, Band, or Orchestra, we can work on new skills and get a lot of practice by using a creative approach. Flash Cards Imitation -- Practice counting using regular 4 beat long flash cards Exploration -- Choose different sounds for quarter notes and eighth notes (i.e. quiet clap for quarters and a snap with each hand for the eighth notes) Challenge -- Flip the flash cards one measure ahead of what they are counting Improvisation – Use a determined set of notes (maybe Do, Re and Mi if you are singing; Concert Bb, C, D for band; etc) that students can choose to play the rhythm. Writing Music Notes Imitation – Model how to write the rhythms and notes on the staff Exploration – Have students write their own rhythm bingo cards – Give the students a 4-measure long rhythm and have them choose the notes to write (give suggestion for a set of notes that they could sing or play) Improvisation – Eventually, students may be comfortable improvising their own short length rhythms and melodies Good luck, have fun, and ENJOY YOURSELF!!.

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