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The Orff Schulwerk, or simply the Orff Approach, is a developmental approach used in music education. It combines music, movement, drama, and speech into lessons that are similar to a child's world of play. It was developed by the Germany composer Carl Orff (1895–1982) and colleague Gunild Keetman during the 1920s. Orff worked until the end of his life to continue the development and spread of his teaching method.
The Orff Approach is now used throughout the world to teach students in a natural and comfortable environment. The term Schulwerk is German for (literally) school work or schooling, in this regard in the area of music.
It is often called Elemental Music making because the materials needed to teach students are "basic, natural, and close to a child’s world of thought and fantasy".
In order for the Orff Approach to work effectively, teachers must create an atmosphere that is similar to a child's world of play. This allows participating children to feel comfortable learning a new and often abstract musical skill, greater exploration of a musical instrument or musical skill, and keeps a student from feeling evaluated or judged by his or her peers and teachers. A child participating in an Orff classroom does not feel the pressure of performing that is often in tandem with music because every student in an Orff classroom is treated as an equal, even when performing a solo.
The Orff Approach is used by teachers to encourage their students to enjoy making music as individuals as well as in groups. Children realize the joys of group co-ordination and cohesion. It also involves the participation of other adults and parents in music making. Thus it brings the role of parent in child education in a central position. From a teacher's aspect Orff-Schulwerk is also a process of breaking down each activity into its simplest form and then presenting those steps one at a time to eventually become a completed performance.
In the Orff Approach "all concepts are learned by 'doing."The Orff Approach to Music Education" By Gloria Day Students of the Orff Approach learn music by experiencing and participating in the different musical lessons and activities. These lessons stimulate not only the paraxial concepts of music like rhythm and tempo, but also the aesthetic qualities of music. "Orff activities awaken the child’s total awareness" and "sensitize the child’s awareness of space, time, form, line, color, design, and mood- aesthetic data that musicians are acutely aware of, yet find hard to explain to musical novices".
Unlike Simply Music or the Suzuki Method, the Orff Schulwerk approach is not a method. There is no systematic stepwise procedure to be followed. There are fundamental principles, clear models and basic processes that all intuitive and creative teachers use to guide their organization of musical ideas."Orff." Miranda, Martina MENC Meeting, February 2009.
The music is largely modal, beginning with pentatonic (both major and minor) scales. (English version adapted by Margaret Murray) The drone or bordun, is quickly established as the ground bass that supports most melodies and melodic ostinatos add energy and colour.
Volume II in Part One, covers (added fa) melodies over Major Drone Bass Triads, and then seven notes: Ionian mode. Note, this is not major scale, as the drone bass enforces a non-functional harmony. Parallel thirds and sixths (paraphony) are used liberally here. Part Two introduces the use of triads as following: I – ii, and some I – vi.
Goodkin (p172) discusses the progression of the volumes: I-II-III-IV-V as opposed to I-II-IV-III-V. Volume III introduces Major Dominant and Subdominant triads (That is to say: functional harmony). However Volume IV can be viewed as more logically the next step as it introduces Dorian mode, Aeolian mode and with similar shifting drones and triads to those found previously in Vol II.
Vol IV, Part One: Minor-Drone Bass Triads. Aeolian, Dorian and Phrygian mode, i-ii shifting drones and triads. Part Two: Tonic and Leading Note triads, i-IV and decoration of the third.
Vol III Major Dominant and Subdominant Triads. This harmonic world is more challenging for children and improvising than the modes, hence the importance of leaving until skills have developed appropriately.
Volume V follows III, but explores Minor Dominant and Subdominant Chords.
And finally, almost as an afterthought, Paralipomena which explores the worlds of Lydian mode I-II, and Mixolydian I-VII.
When interesting original music has been generated by the groups or individual child a desire to record it may arise. Thus, the desire to develop musical skills emerges by itself and the child may be intrinsically propelled to learn formal music.
Some of the instruments within the approach include miniature , , and ; all of which have removable bars, resonating columns to project the sound, and are easily transported and stored. Orff teachers also use different sized drums, recorders and non-pitched percussion instruments "to round out the songs that are sung and played". The Orff approach also requires that children sing, chant, clap, dance, pat and snap fingers along to melodies and rhythms.
Students of the Günther-Schule later went on to be dancers and teachers of note. One of these students, Keetman, began as a student and became a teacher at the school. The Günther-Schule originally only taught older students; however, Keetman later worked on developing the ideas of the school to teach younger children as well. Together she and Orff created the five volume series Music for Children which is still used by teachers today. In 1936, Günther, Keetman and Orff contributed to the opening ceremony of the 1936 Summer Olympics. The Günther-Schule was closed in 1944 due to the war. In 1945 the building was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid and all materials (instruments, costumes, photographs, and its library and archives) were destroyed.
After the war, two serendipitous events brought Orff's approach back into the educational field. A series of radio programs aimed at children was broadcast in Bavaria. Orff wrote the music and re-united with Keetman to work on these broadcasts. The second event was the Mozartariums' request to have Keetman teach classes to children between 8 and 10 years old. Traude Schrattenecker who was also a graduate of the Günther-Schule, joined Keetman in running this school.
There are Orff Schulwerk associations in different countries across the world including Germany, Canada, the United States, Australia, Korea, the United Kingdom, South Africa, France, Finland and New Zealand. All of these organisations promote the teachings of Orff and Keetman and the spread of the Approach. Through all of these organizations teachers interested in teaching the Orff Approach can become certified in the Approach.
In America there are four stages in the Orff Approach: imitation, exploration, improvisation, and composition. Through imitation, the teacher, group leader, or even the students perform for the class and the class in turn repeats what was played for them. Exploration allows students to seek out the musical aspects that the Orff instruments offer and explore aural/Speech skills and the motions and expressions that the body is capable of. Literacy is taught by learning musical notation and becoming familiar with forms of music like rondo and ABA. Improvisation is the act of creating something, especially music, without prior preparation. To improvise, a student must have "a preliminary knowledge and comprehension of concepts." Students of the Orff Approach learn to create their own melodies in a comfortable environment that allows for mistakes and promotes creativity.
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