L-Orffing our Heads Orff

It's a commonly cited idea that, sometimes, in order to go forwards we must first go
backwards. This can be interpreted in a number of ways, I have chosen to look at it as
learning from history.
Music education has been influenced by a number of
composers and educators, and there a four key historical
figures, all of whom were active in the early-mid 20 th century.
Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze and Suzuki each had interesting
philosophies and approaches to education, which were
surprisingly fun-filled for their day and can be adopted and
adapted to suit the contemporary classroom.
Orff was the one who struck me first, due to the importance he
placed on 'play' in the music classroom. The key things about
Orff's pedagogy were as follows:
Music should be fun and accessible.
Orff made this possible through use of easy-play instruments such as xylophones, which
he famously modified so that all of the bars were pentatonic, therefore pleasant sounding.
Orff also made music accessible through singing and body percussion, meaning
instruments weren't always a necessity.
Improvisation is important at an early stage
All kids like to feel they are special and that their creations matter, and are quite happy to
start singing tunes which they make up as they go along. It is important that this skill is
nurtured from an early stage and encouraged, so that as their instrumental skills develop,
they are not afraid to add their own 'stamp' on things.
Playing together is important to the learning process
Orff's pentatonic instruments and conducting skills meant that, from a very early stage in
learning, children could enjoy playing music together. This relies on the teacher's
thoughtful use of arrangements and the ability to conduct the class but is worth the extra
effort for the musical outcomes.
Rhythm is the natural outcome of movement, language and speech
This is to me the most interesting one of all. It draws to our attention just how easy it
can be to play in time, if we just 'let it happen naturally'.
I used Orff's approach, and indeed some Orff materials in my classes and delightful results
occurred: children played together in unison, we all pretended to be butterflies and rabbits
and even laughed in unison. The pentatonic scale never offends the ear and the ideas are
easy to transfer from xylophone to the guitar or to the keyboard. I even used some Orff
arrangements which were meant for 'body percussion' on a drum kit with a young
drummer, and he loved playing the beat which came about as a result.
There would be no innovation, were it not for inspiration.