Orff Schulwerk

An approach to music education pioneered by German composer Carl

Orff (1895-1982) and his colleague, Gunild Keetman.
Its foundation was concerned with the child: the needs of the child and
the emphasis on nourishing the musicality of each child through
elemental activities in music and movement
It is an approach to which all may contribute and in which all should
experience success.

Expansion of Orff materials in the late 1940s—the result of broadcasts

Orff Approach
“Elemental style”
• “The development of a single individual retraces the development of
all mankind””

• The elemental beginning of Orff’s music begins with the beat…

• Students should physically experience beat, meter, tempo..by doing
rather than learning about it
Orff Instruments
• The development of Orff instruments was a direct result of Orff’s
exposure to the African xylophone and to instruments from Indonesia

• In the early days there was not so much emphasis on singing

Orff Essentials
• Rhythm at the heart of music learning
• Use of DRONES and OSTINATI
• Echo and imitation
• Call and response
• Canon
• Improvisation
• Use of mnemonics to learn rhythmic patterns
• Diatonic and (chromatic additions) but often starts with pentatonic scales and modes
• Chime bars allow you to restrict notes and scales
• Relation of music and movement
• Exploration of sound: environmental sounds, objects, instruments, vocal explorations
• Exploration of form
• Use of graphic and symbolic notations
The Orff Process
• Imitation to creation
• Imitation used as a role model for creativity.
• The role of the teacher is gradually lessened as children gain more
skills and exhibit more and more independence

• OBSERVE-IMITATE-EXPERIMENT-CREATE
Orff learning frame
• Preliminary Play: Guided experiences in spontaneous exploration of
the materials under focus
• Imitation: Accurate replication (echo response of a given pattern)
• Exploration: Guided experiences in applying suggested ideas
• Improvisation: Invention of original material
Working together
• Individual to ensemble
• working to be part of the ensemble is key goal
• Social skills are important
Musical Literacy
When ready

Music reading and writing is not systemised in Orff’s systems

Orff Support systems

• Instrumentarium
• Voice and Body
• Body percussion, singing, speaking and vocal sounds
SNAP HiGH

CLAP

PAT

STAMP LOW
 Wilhelm Keller

“It is the main task of the teacher to make himself superfluous”