The Orff Process
by: Deborah Leeson

What is The Orff Process?

In order to give you a full account of the Orff Process, I would need much more time and space than is allowed in this forum. My main goal is to provide you with an overview which will stimulate your desire to pursue a more in-depth investigation on your own.

A second objective of this article is to provide you with some teaching tools that you can use with your own students. I encourage those of you who already use the Orff Process to offer suggestions and tips at the bottom of this page. Your input will help make this a thorough resource for students, parents and teachers who would like to learn how the Orff Process can enrich their musical experiences.


Carl Orff, (b. 1895, d. 1982)

Who is Carl Orff and what is the Orff Process?

Chronology of Orff Schulwerk "To understand what Schulwerk is and what its aims are, we should perhaps see how it came into being." -- Carl Orff

The Philosophy

Orff Schulwerk is an approach to music education that includes all facets of music expression. Children learn in an active way, where imitation and exploration lead to improvisation and music literacy. Speech, song, movement and instruments are the vehicles used to teach rhythm, melody, form, harmony and timbre. It is built on the idea that a child must be able to feel and make rhythms and melodies before being called on to read and write music. In the same way a child learns to speak before learning to read and write, he or she must have a musical language in which to feel at home before technical knowledge is introduced. The Orff Process, is child-developmental. Orff believed that a child internalized and developed ownership of a concept by experiencing the concept first. "Experience first, intellectualize second." (or put the experience in words after the whole body has experienced the concept)

Through tuned and non-tuned percussion instruments, movement, games, singing, rhythmic exploration and drama, the child learns of his own innate musical talents in a way that is immediately successful and rewarding. Orff for the very young child is an excellent preparation for private lessons. It is beneficial for all ages for developing musicianship. Orff is a tremendous supplement to private lessons for all students of elementary age.

Orff instruments not only reinforce the child's aural perception and skill but can also reinforce the visual relationship of intervals.

Lesson Samples:

Ostinato Exercise
(body percussion ostinati)

Process: Learn each ostinato separately.
  Ask the student to clap the first line.
  When the student begins the second line, you join in.
  This exercise develops independence in playing, confidence and is also a good way to check your student for the internal beat.

Early Experiences for introducing Orff Instrumentation for your students can involve some of the suggestions below:


These are some suggested steps for teaching melody sequentially.

Scales that should be taught are as follows:

  1. Pentatonic
  2. Hexatonic
  3. Heptatonic
  4. Diatonic
  5. Modes

Resourses:

Orff Music Therapy Active Furthering of the Development of the Child

Orff-Schulwerk : Applications for the Classroom

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