DAS SCHULWERK

A FOUNDATION FOR THE

COGNITIVE, MUSICAL, AND ARTISTIC

DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN

LORI-ANNE DOLLOFF

Monograph Number 1

RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES IN MUSIC EDUCATION

Edited by Lee R. Bartel

DAS SCHULWERK

A FOUNDATION FOR THE

COGNITIVE, MUSICAL, AND ARTISTIC

DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN

LORI-ANNE DOLLOFF

Monograph Number 1

RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES IN

MUSIC EDUCATION

Edited by Lee R. Bartel

Canadian Music Education Research Centre

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

1993

Published by Canadian Music Education Research Centre as part of the monograph series, RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES IN MUSIC EDUCATION

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Dolloff, Lori-Anne, 1958

Das Schulwerk: a foundation for the cognitive, musical, and artistic development of children

(Research perspectives in music education)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 1-895570-02-6

1. orff, Carl, 1895-1982. Orff-Schulwerk. 2. Music Instruction and study - Juvenile. 3. Constructivism

(Education). I. Canadian Music Education Research

Centre. II. Title. III. Series.

MTl. D65 1993 780' .7 C93-094304-X

ISBN 1-895570-02-6

Copyright It> 1993 by the Canadian Music Education Research Centre

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permisSion of the publisher.

Printed in Canada

PREFACE

~EARCH PERSPECTIVES IN MUSIC EDUCATION is a new series of monographs published by Canadian Music Education Research Centre (CMERC). It features a wide range of topics related to the practice of music education and is unified by the emphasis on research in each work. The research methodology included in the series may span all traditional quantitative social science methodologies as well as theoretical, philosophical,

historical, or descriptive methods. The focus on the practice of music education makes each monograph valuable to practitioners as well as scholars.

The first monograph in this series is, Das Schulwerk: A foundation for the cognitive, musical, and artistic development ofchildren by Lori-Anne Dolloff. This monograph traces the historical influences on Orf' s ideas, discusses the nature of music in Orf' s approach, realistically points out weaknesses in this popular method, and analyzes the potential of the Orff method to address the cognitive development of children in light of theories by such prominent thinkers as Gjerdingen, Piaget, Gardner, and Serafine. This monograph provides a thoroughly reasoned foundation for an intensive application of music education in childhood. Lori-Anne Dolloff has done a masterful job of strengthening the theoretical rationale for Orff methodology.

Monograph two by Alan Stellings, Musical referentialism: A discussion of its aspects, provides an outstanding example of philosophical research--the analysis of existing thought and

the synthesis into a clearer statement than previously in existence.

iii

In addition to the monograph series, RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES IN MUSIC EDUCATION, the Canadian Music Education Research Centre publishes technical research reports and books. The first pUblication of this type is the Guide to Provincial Music Curriculwn Docwnents Since 1980. This Guide represents several of the major objectives of the Centre: (1) to conduct research studies related to music education in Canada; (2) to create and disseminate research tools and findings to researchers and users of research; and (3) to establish an outstanding Canadian collection of research documents and reports, survey research databases, and music education documents to facilitate the conduct of music education research. The Guide accomplishes all three of these objectives.

It is a great pleasure to introduce this new publication venture. It is especially so because it offers a valuable service to the music education profession in Canada.

Lee R. Bartel, Series Editor Director of CMERC

iv

CONTEI'JTS

PREFACE ................................................ iii

CONTENTS ............................................... v

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1

THE ORFF APPROACH TO MUSIC EDUCATION ...................... 3

Characteristics of the Approach ............................... 3

Historical Influences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 6

Herder and the Ages of Language ......................... 6

Goethe and the Role of Experience ........................ 8

Pestalozzi and Education von Kinder aus ..................... 10

The nature of music in Orffs approach .......................... 14

Weaknesses in practice .................................... 17

Summary ............................................. 18

Conclusions ........................................... 18

ORFF AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE ................................ 21

Schema theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Orff and Play .......................................... 25

Gardner's Theory of Artistic Development ........................ 27

Music as Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Serafine and Music as Cognition .............................. 33

Orff and the Development of

Cognitive Processes ...................................... 37

Successive Temporal Processes: .......................... 39

Phrasing .................................... 39

Patterning ................................... 40

Motivic Chaining ............................... 41

Idiomatic Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

v

Simultaneous Temporal Processes ......................... 42

Textural abstraction ............................. 42

Motivic Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Timbre synthesis ............................... 43

Non-temporal Processes ............................... 44

Closure ..................................... 44

Transformation ................................ 44

Abstrdction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Hierarchic structuring ............................ 47

Summary ............................................. 49

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................................ 51

EN'DNOTES ............................................... 53

REFERENCES ............................................. 57

vi

INTRODUCTION

The approach to music education developed by Carl Orff enjoys widespread use by contemporary music educators. The approach is recognized as a valued method of music education by many writers addressing contemporary music education in North America. Michael Mark (1986) includes a description of Orff methodology in COnJemporary Music Education, an exploration of current themes and practices in music education. l Lois Harrison (1983), in her book Getting Started in Elementary Music Education, considers the Orff approach a major method in elementary music education. Other authors have shown how the Orff approach, which was originally conceived in the context of German culture, may be adapted to a North American educational context. 2 In fact, published versions of Orff-Schulwerk have also appeared in over twenty languages, suggesting world-wide application of the principles of Carl

Orff (Frazee, 1987, p. 5).

A review of the literature indicates that the emphasis in research on the Orff approach has been on the history of the approach, teaching techniques and implementation. There is little research, especially in English, on the theoretical foundation of the Orff approach.

Orffs work is encapsulized in the five volumes of Das Schulwerk--a collection of sequenced materials for voice, "Orff' instruments and recorders. Orff has stated that the materials reflect the historical evolution of music (1962, p. 3). There is no explicit discussion of the musical development of the child. What theory has determined the sequencing of these

1

materials? Is Dos Schulwerk merely a collection of historical models? Or is there a developmental theory implicit in the prescribed activities and sequence of materials employed

in the Orff approach?

The purpose of this paper is: (1) to determine the extent to which a developmental theory is implicit or explicit in the Orff approach; and (2), to explore any congruencies between Orff's concept of musical development and current theories of the development of music

cognition.

The first part of this paper explores the background of the Orff approach to determine

the existence and nature of Orff's concept of musical development. The second part, "Orff and

Cognitive Science," makes comparisons between the theory discovered in Part One and current

research in cognitive science.

2

THE ORFF APPROACH TO MUSIC EDUCATIOI\J

T he literature published by Orff and his colleagues reveals evidence of considerably more developmental theory behind the selection and sequencing of repertoire than is commonly

acknowledged. In his writings concerning the approach, Orff (1962, 1963, 1976) concentrated on the choice of repertoire and the nature of music as an elemental human endeavour. His

assistant, Gunild Keetman, wrote a manual on the teaching methods used in the Orff approach

(Keetman, 1970). Other German pedagogues sought a place for Orff's work within the context of educational theory. Eberhard Preussner, director of the Mozarteum in Salzburg, posited a connection between the educational theories of Pestalozzi and those of Orff. Werner Thomas,

who worked closely with Orff in Germany and Austria, found evidence of links between Orff

and the work of Herder and Goethe. Preussner and Thomas presented a foundation for the Orff

approach which is rooted in the artistic spirit of the German poets, represented by Goethe,

Schiller and Herder, and in a German pedagogical reform which extended from the nineteenth

into the early twentieth century. They saw the Orff approach as the embodiment of the ideals

expressed in this reform (Preussner, 1962, p. 13).

Characteristics of the Approach

Orff was a proponent of the idea that "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny": that the

evolutionary stages in the development of the human species are mirrored in the developmental

stages of the individual. This is known as the theory of recapitulation or biogenesis. It has been

3

popularly applied to the physiological development of the foetus in vitro (Kimball, 1974, p. 706), as well as to intellectual development. The original theory is attributed to Stanley Hall (Hawn, 1986, p.18). Orff states a slightly modified version in the context of musical development:

The child's world of pl~y reflects (or can be likened to) the early archaic stages in the development of mankind. Poetic maniff;stations of prehistoric ages are magic formulas and oracles, rules and customs, proverbs and riddles, sagas and songs, legends and fairy tales. (Orff, 1962, p. 3)

This adaptation of Hall's theory appears to have developed under the influence of Karl Jung. Stated in this way, the theory holds that through playing the child is "liberated" from earlier stages and moves on to higher stages of musical development (Hawn, 1986, p. 18). It should not be interpreted that earlier stages are somehow more primitive or later stages of greater value. Rather, the idea is that through play the child avoids "re-inventing the wheel." The individual assimilates developments of the past in an encapsulated form and builds new concepts on this foundation. 3

Of course, Orff does not restrict repertoire in Das Schulwerk to prehistoric forms. Rather, he broadens the scope of the material to include examples of the forms found in Western Pre-Classical music. Forms include call and response, canon, ostinato, chaconne, processional, rondo, quodlibet, fauxbourdon, recitative, and various dances. Melodic and harmonic examples include plainsong-like recitatives, organum, paraphony, and compositions which make use of functional harmony. A variety of tonalities from pentatonic to modal and diatonic are presented.

Rhythmic complexity progresses from monosyllabic-word-rhythms to poly metric and polyrhythmic compositions. Andreas Liess, a biographer of Carl Orff, says Das Schulwerk "leads from the primary basis of innate musicality to the world of historical musical forms" (Liess, 1966, p. 161). Werner Thomas, a long-time colleague of Orff, describes Das Schulwerk as "no pedagogical construction but an historical crystallization" (Thomas, 1960, p.3l).

4

In a lecture at the University of Toronto, Orff (1962) described six characteristics of Das Schulwerk which distinguish it from other pedagogical approaches.

1. The Schulwerk avoids false simplification, for a child's world is neither primitive nor transitory .

2. The Schulwerk has no ambition to be "modern," for progressing from pentatonic to diatonic modes, it closely corresponds to the development of the child. It is wrong to disregard the growth of music in history and to base instruction on the theory of intervals. The Schulwerk protests against the systematic rationalization of our elementary music education.

3. The Schulwerk avoids introducing, prematurely, concepts and notions into a child's play-world which are derived from the contemporary level of our mechanical civilization....The world of technology and causality that surrounds us reaches only as far as rationally measureable relationships are concerned; spiritually, artistically it is sterile....The Schulwerk develops the imagination and directs it towards the archetypes in nature and creation; the child is in contact with positive forces that are ordering, relaxing and healing.

4. The pieces it contains are simple, elementary if you will, yet always meaningful, each one baving a "Gestalt" of its own. But they do not add up to a progressive system in the usual sense of the term. It is the treatment of musical elements that set the Schulwerk apart from other systems, which usually start with unison and two-part pieces, proceeding step by step to more difficult pieces in many parts and complicated structures. It is true that the Schulwerk also progresses stepwise--from borduns to parallel chords and chords in dominant relationship; ...The rate of progress, however, depends on a child's receptivity; this takes both music and language into consideration.

5. The Schulwerk does not tamper with traditional texts nor does it invent new ones (except in the case of improvisation).... Our texts are taken from folklore, or else from recognised poets, both lyrical and epic.

6. Schulwerk pieces are not "compositions" in the subjective sense; they do not depend on inspiration (as the term was understood in the 19th century), they do not illustrate a text. They are musical models, typical rather than individual in character.

5

Historical Influences

Carl Orff's theories developed within the pedagogical legacy of Herder, Goethe and

Pestalozzi. These people represent a school of European educational reform which began in the

late eighteenth century. Although the theories put forth by these men are not always

complementary, each in some way influenced the development of Das Schulwerk. In fact, many of the ideas discussed are echoed in the work of Dewey and Bruner, fathers of current North

American pedagogical practice.

Herder and the Ages of Language. Werner Thomas (1960) has suggested that Orff was influenced by the writings of Herder. Johann Gottfried Herder was an eighteenth-cen

tury author and essayist who wrote extensively on the origins and development of language.

Herder posits four stages in the development of language: (I) Childhood (Kindheit), (2) Youth (Jugend), (3) Manhood (das mfumlicher Alter), and (4) Old age (der Greis) (Herder, 1766). In keeping with the theory of recapitulation, Herder maintains that these stages may be applied to

the development of language in the individual, or to the development of the language of a

culture. In Von den Lebensaltem einer Sprache, Herder characterizes the first stage as one in which the child (or species) does not speak; rather, language consists of sounds and pantomime (Herder, 176611968, p. 18-19). As language develops it becomes more poetic. The second stage, the youth of language, is described as the age of imagination. The sounds of the words and their rhythms are used for beauty, and for symbolic purposes. Herder describes the third

stage of language, manhood, as the stage of beautiful prose (p. 19). The old age of language, the fourth stage of development, becomes increasingly preoccupied with correctness. This stage

lacks the delight of earlier stages. Herder believes that the highest stage of development is the

third. The fourth stage he considers a decline. From the third stage, he maintains, one can

venture back into the wonder of poetry or forward into absolute correctness while having the

capability of philosophizing and theorizing with the ease of well-developed prose (p. 19). Is there a parallel between Herder's stages of language development and musical development?

6

Thomas (1960), looking for parallels between Herder and Orfrs developmental scheme, maintains that single-word speech exercises accompanied by rhythmic gestures found in Volume

One of Das Schulwerk are indicative of Herder's first stage. This may be true of language

development, but it does not take into consideration the child's first attempts at making music.

Michael Holahan (1986), a researcher in the development of musical syntax in infants, speaks of an early stage of musical development which may be considered equivalent to Herder's flrst

stage. Music babble, as Holahan describes it, consists of sounds accompanied by movement.

Speech is distinguished from babble when the sounds made by the child become associated with

meaning--Le. they become symbols, (words). So too, music babble advances from sensual play with sounds to melodies with form and songs with lyrics. Music has become a symbol for the

child. The child is now ready to begin choosing which sounds he makes based on their

expressive qualities.

Das Schulwerk is full of examples of using words for their sheer sensuous beauty, a

transition to the second stage in Herder's scheme. In Volume One (pentatonic) there are many speech exercises in which the words are clearly chosen for their sonance. At all levels of

development children are encouraged to feel the sensuous qualities ofwords, to explore rhythmic and dynamic properties, and to play with combinations of words. Proverbs and other folk-Ioric poetry are also clearly in the youthful stage. Children are also encouraged to create their own poems. The final stage of development of a language in Herder's scheme is one in which rules

of grammar have become normative. The imagination is no longer evoked, variation is

discouraged, the purely technical and "correct" is prized. Gardner (1982) posits a similar pattern of development. As the child becomes pre-occupied with cultural rules and practices,

the spontaneity and individual creativity of his artistry decreases, giving way to rule-derived,

culturally "correct" forms (pp. 85, ff.). Thomas (1960) maintains that Orff avoids this stage through a constant renewing of speech and music. The improvisatory character of the approach

allows for the exploration of perpetually-new possibilities (p. 34). Herder describes the third stage, the manhood stage of a language, as one which contains the best of both worlds. A

7

program for music education which is analogous to this would be one in which creativity is encouraged and fostered, yet the analytical is not forgotten. The child would possess both procedural knowledge and propositional knowledge--she/he would know-how as well as know-that (Bamberger, 1979; Gardner, 1983). This reflects the emphasis in the Orff approach on the process of music. The Orff approach seeks to maintain the poetic, magical stage in all stages of music-making. Orff (1962) describes the approach as the "awakening of the imagination" (p. 3). Through play with sounds and high-lighting the poetry of the text, Orff seeks to sensitize children to the expressive qualities of words and music.4

Goethe and the Role of Experience. According to Thomas (1962), another important figure in the development of Orff's philosophy was the nineteenth-century German poet Johann von Goethe. To Goethe, experience was education. An individual learned about a subject through experience with that subject. In his novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, Goethe portrays the experience of life as education--as an apprenticeship. The novel follows Wilhelm, an aspiring actor, from childhood through manhood. Every situation in which Wilhelm finds himself is an education for him. Wilhelm not only learns his craft but draws spiritual knowledge from his experiences (Goethe, 1795/1966). The value of experience in shaping our perceptions and knowledge structures is now a field of research. Schema theory is beginning to explain what Goethe seemed to know intuitively. 5

Goethe held music to be the fundamental force behind all education:

Bei uns ist der Gesang die erste Stufe der Bildung, alles andemach schlieBt sich daran und wird dadurch vermittelt....Deshalb haben wir denn unter allem Denkbaren die Musik zum Element unserer Erziehung gewahlt, denn von ihr laufen gleichgebahnte Wege nach allen Seiten.6

(Goethe from Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre, in Heise et al., 1973, p. 12)

Although this description of the value of music in education comes from a novel, it is safe to assume that the portrait of a school described in this poetic way reflects the educational philosophy of Goethe himself.

8

Goethe was fighting against the trend toward a technical education. He constantly

stresses the imaginative, the artistic and the poetic. We can hear this echo in the writings of Orff when he begs for the growth of imagination and the use of creativity. Goethe held

folk-poetry and folk-song in high esteem. In a review of Des Knaben Wunderhom, a nineteenth-century collection of German folksongs and poetry, Goethe (1806/1962) claims that this collection of what he believes to be the highest form of poetry should be in every house (p. 24).

Are there echoes of Goethe in the work of Orff? Carl Orff, like Goethe, saw music as

a force which had influence in domains in addition to the artistic domain. Orff considered music education to be a fundamental component of education and a humanizing force:

Elementary music, word and movement, play, everything that awakens and develops the powers of the spirit, this is the "humus" of the spirit, the humus without which we face the danger of a spiritual erosion ....

Just as humus in nature makes growth possible, so elementary music gives to the child powers that cannot otherwise come to fruition. It must therefore be stressed that elementary music in the primary school should not be installed as a subsidiary subject, but as something fundamental to all other subjects. It is not exclusively a question of musical education; this can follow, but it does not have to. It is, rather, a question of developing the whole personality. (Orff, 1963, p.9)

Orff, following Goethe's theme of experience as education, stresses the experiential side

of the approach:

It [elementary music] is music that one makes oneself, in which one takes part, not as a listener but as a participant. (Orff, 1963, p. 6)

Goethe appealed for the acceptance of folk-song and poetry as examples of great art.

Similarly, Orff (1962) claims that true folksongs and folktexts are archetypes of Art. Their inclusion in education is imperative (p. 6). This is born out in the selection of texts Orff made for Dos Schulwerk. The five volumes of Dos Schulwerk include nursery rhymes, riddles, fairy

tales, and texts from the Wunderhorn and from the works of Goethe, Herder, Schiller, and the

9

Gospels. There is some inclusion of folk-songs in languages other than German. In keeping with

Orff's view of learning music as you would learn a language (i.e. beginning with the mother tongue), folksongs of other languages do not appear until the fmal volumes. Orff never conceived of his Schulwerk being used in so many different countries and languages. He designed it to be a collection for his home-state of Bavaria. The material in the five volumes

was chosen with the German heritage in mind. For this reason, Das Schulwerk cannot merely be translated to other cultural contexts. It must be adapted to local culture. Thus the materials

with texts found in the editions by Doreen Hall and Margaret Murray reflect the English

heritage, as other national authors reflect their own heritage.7 The instrumental pieces are

included unaltered.

Pestalozzi and Education von Kinder QUS. Eberhard Preussner (1962) claims that another important educational influence on the development of Orff's educational philosophy was the

work of Pestalozzi. Although many of Pestalozzi's revolutionary ideas about education did not

mature to his satisfaction during his own lifetime, his ideas did foreshadow important ideas held

by educational systems in this century. One of his beliefs was that every child should be

educated. To this end he set up poor schools to teach the children of farmers. For Pestalozzi, as for Goethe, education was a humanizing force. The aim was to produce independent thinkers.

Education, then is the art of bringing to life and fortifying the good which is inherent in every human being; it consists in guiding the child towards the best realization of himself and of the things ofthe world. It does not impose anything alien upon him but draws out what lies in him, either latent or obstructed; it takes as its starting point the child himself. It cultivates his own powers and encourages his independence. Thus the educator acts, as Socrates has said, more as a midwife than as a begetter of men. He merely prepares the way which the pupil must travel himself. (Silber, 1965, p. 137)

These ideas underpin what is known as the von Kinder aus school of pedagogy. John Dewey echoed the same ideas in Experience & Education (1938).

10

Most of Pestalozzi' s ideas met with opposition during his own lifetime. Goethe criticized his development of individuals as counter-productive to the good of society (Thomas, 1962, p. 81). Pestalozzi, for his own part, thought that Goethe was too elitist, that Goethe's aristocratic position placed him in opposition to his own democratic ideals.

One of Pestalozzi's key ideas was the development of what he termed Anschauung. Anschauung is a complex concept encompassing what we now conceptualize as perception, intuition, and sense-impression. Silber (1965), in a study of Pestalozzi and his work, describes Anschauung as a "fundamental power of the human mind underlying all mental activity and making possible all knowledge" (p.138). Pestalozzi maintains that this is the foundation for all intellectual growth and that the development of perception should be the first goal of education (Silber, 1965, p. 139).

There are five forms of Anschauung in Pestalozzi' s scheme. These may be summarized as:

1. Chaotic, unorganized impressions of the world received by the sense organs.

2. Impressions organized and reinforced by parents and teachers.

[Thus far perceptual capacity has been passive and dependant upon the environment. The next three forms are actively constructed:]

3. A self-motivated, active striving to maintain and develop insight, knowledge, skill and perception. [pestalozzi credits this with making perception conscious. This seems to be equivalent to the development ofconceptual knowledge mentioned by others, cf. Piaget.]

4. As a result of activity, knowledge becomes more specific. This has the effect of increasing the accuracy, completeness and harmony of perception with the resultant achievement: clarity or distinctness of ideas.

5. Finally, the intellect is able to construct ideas and conceptualize about things never seen due to their resemblance to things already experienced. [cf. schemata] 8

11

This description of cognition and cognitive development as ranging from unorganized,

purely sensory awareness to actively-organized, conscious intellectual activity resembles other influential theories of cognitive development which we shall examine later. Each stage of

development is dependant upon earlier stages. Silber (1965) summarizes: ...knowledge is reliable only if all previous stages are contained in its final result, or in other words, distinct concepts are true only if they are grounded on sense impres~ions. (p. 140)

Nowhere is there a statement of purpose which more fully articulates the aim and belief

of Dos Schulwerk than Silber's definition of education quoted at the beginning of this section in the monograph. Orff believed in the integrity of every child. He wanted every child to be

exposed to the humanizing, self-realizing power of music (1962, p. 3) in order to realize his latent musical potential.

Orff's idea. of independent thinking must be explained. Each child develops individual

potential within the context of the group. The role of the teacher is to prepare the environment in which the musical skills and intellect develop for the individual and for the group. Each child

is led to the development of his own abilities but learns to use them in the context of the

ensemble as well as individually.

The Orff approach fits very well into the developmental concept of Anshauung, as proposed by Pestalozzi. Orff begins first with the sensory: the sound of words; the kinesthetic

sense of rhythm. The use of movement presents music to the individual through his visual and

tactile senses. Gradually these sensual experiences of music develop to include conceptual

knowledge of forms and names. However, Qeff always emphasizes that the sense of music (the pure experience of music) should come first. In the most advanced form of musical Anschauung we are able to mentally represent music from a score and imagine sounds we have not actually

heard.

12

Pestalozzi favoured a methodological progression of material and concepts that moves from simple, through moderate difficulty to advanced difficulty (Preussner, 1962, p. 7). One of the catch-phrases of the Orff approach is "from simple to complex. If Musical experience begins with simple forms, two-note call melodies and rhythm patterns of eighth- and quarter notes. Grarlually, more complicated rhythms and melodies are introduced. Body percussion begins with clapping. Later, a second sound--patschen--is added, then stamping and snapping, and so on. Accompaniments begin with the simple bordun on one type of instrument. The bordun is then broken, the rhythm becomes more complex. The texture increases, timbres are added. Unison singing becomes part-singing. From elemental forms--AB, ABA--the child progresses to canon, rondo, theme and variations. Even within the complexity there exists the elemental grains of simplicity. Larger, more complex forms are built up from simple motives and groupings. Melodic and rhythmic cells are used as ostinati which are layered to produce

the Gestalt: the fully formed musical work.

Although Pestalozzi was not a musician, he placed a high value on music as part of his Menschenerziehung (education for life).

Die Wichtigkeit des Gesangs als eines Teils der Menschenbildung, sein Eingreifen ins Ganze derselben, und das diesfiillige Bediirfnis des Yolks und der Volksschulen sind so unbedingt anerkannt, daB es vollig iiberfliissig ware, hieriiber noch ein Wort zu sagen. (pestalozzi, in Heise et al, 1973, p. 12)9

Nageli was the music instructor at one of Pestalozzi's early school experiments. He developed his teaching from Pestalozzi's ideals. Unfortunately his interpretation of Pestalozzi's method gave rise to a very mechanical product (Preussner, 1962, p. 9). However, several of Nageli's teachings are not without value. According to Nageli, rhythm is the first step in all music education: "Die einzig wahre Elementarlehre stellen wir auf, wenn wir den Rhythmus zum Ersten machen. "10 For Orff, rhythm is the life-force of all music and music-making. ,Everything else evolves from rhythm.

Am Anfang war die Trommel.

13

Die Trommellockt zum Tanz. Tanz ist aufs engste mit Musik verbunden.

Rhythmus zu lehren ist schwer. Rhythmus kann man nur losen, entbinden. Rhythmus ist kein Abstraktum, Rhythmus ist das Leben selbst. . .. er ist die einigende Kraft von Sprache, Musik und Bewegung. l1 (Orff, 1976, p. 17)

Undoubtedly there were many more influences on Orfrs development of educational

philosophy than these. His own tastes in music, his own music education, and, not least of all,

his own experiences as a composer were surely not without influence. Most important,

however, was Orfrs view of the nature of music.

1be nature of music in Orffs approach

It is necessary when developing a pedagogical approach to know the nature of the subject in question in order to the know the goal of the educational process. What is the nature of music in the Orff approach?

There is no one source in which Orff specifically states his philosophy of the nature of

music. His view must therefore be synthesized from the way in which he treats music, in his

compositions and in the material and method used in Dos Schulwerk.

Music is seen as an expressive form in the Orff philosophy Jos Wuytack, a leading Orff

proponent, used the words of the LIGI, the Chinese book of ethical wisdom, to express the Orff

view of music as an expressive force:

Song derives from word, it is made up of sustained words. If man has cause to rejoice, he expresses it in speech. If speech does not suffice, he "talks" in sustained words. (Wuytack, 1977, p. 59)

14

This talk-like quality of music is the subject of a recent essay by the philosopher Frances Sparshott. Sparshott (1988) holds that there are two distinct kinds of music: phone and tone. The first refers the Greek conception of the voice.

"Voice" [phone] in nature is psychic sound, issuing from near the vital center, the heart; it has pitch, tune...and phrasing.... Voice includes all animal cries as well as musical performances; articulate speech is a futher differentiation of it (p. 47).

This defmition is very similar to the impassioned utterances described in the LIGI. Sparshott uses the Greek word tone to refer to the instrumentally conceived music that derived from the formalization of scales (p. 47).

The anthropological view of music is "something you do"--a practice. This is the

definition of music suggested by anthropologist Alan Merriam. Music is a uniquely human phenomenon which exists only in terms of social interaction; that is, it is made by people for other people, and it is learned behavior. It does not and cannot exist by, of, and for itself; there must always be human beings doing something to pnxluce it. In short, music cannot be defined as a phenomenon of sound alone, for it involves the behavior of individuals and groups of individuals. (Merriam, 1964, p. 27)

The definition of music as a practice is also proposed by Sparshott (1988). Music is something that you do. It is not just a product, it is also a behaviour, a process leading to a product. In an aesthetic model, performing--the doing of music--is a means to an end: it is the means of pnxlucing an expressive form which is valuable in and of itself. In Sparshott's model,

the making of music has intrinsic value--it is an end as well as a means. We can enjoy and learn from the process even as we enjoy and learn from the product. This doing of music for the sake of the doing is an important cultural phenomenon in many societies. This is often the motivation for organizing community bands and choirs, groups of people coming together after a work-day to make music. Although there is usually a performance involved at some point, that one-time experience of the "finished" music would not be enough to keep these people coming back week

after week. The practice of music in a group week by week must also be of value to the

15

participants. Sparshott (1988) maintains that to perform is to enter another world. This is the reason he gives for the popularity of amateur choral societies:

To sing in a choir, even for those who have to learn by rote a piece they do not understand, immerses one .. , in a form of social reason that is autonomous and strange at the same time as it is the law of one's own action. That is why so many people sing in choirs without getting paid for it. (p. 79)

The practice of music in a group reflects the concept of music in the Orff approach. This premise is born out by the fact that there is virtually no solo repertoire in the Orff literature. Music is meant to be a community effort. The model for Orff ensembles came from Orf' sown knowledge of ethnomusicology. He took the basic concept of the Orff ensemble from the Javanese Gamelan. The model of music as a community effort is surely evident here, as in African traditions.

The Orff approach is music education for EVERY child. Within Orff activities and the Orff ensemble there is a layered texture which allows for individual participation at whatever level the child is capable. Each child is actively and totally involved in music-making. Each

child is part of the community of music-makers. Everyone learns every part. Every part has integrity in the ensemble. Each child is responsible for performing his part to the best of his/her abilities--for his/her own satisfaction as well as for the good of the group.

Orff is music for the WHOLE child. The children do not experience or learn music simply by playing or singing, but kinaesthetically: by involving the whole body. The passage quoted from LIGl, above, continues:

If sustained words do not suffice, he adds exclamations and sighs. If exclamation and sighs do not suffice, it comes imperceptibly to a point where the hands swing and the feet dance. (Wuytack, 1977, p. 59)

Rhythms are clapped, snapped, patsched, and stamped. The rise and fall of the melody is felt physically through hand-signs and movement. The WHOLE child is also called upon to exercise

16

artistic choices--to relate to music intellectually and conceptually. The child makes the decisions

of a composer in improvisation and orchestration: "Which sounds do I want to use here?"; and

the performer: "How can I play this expressively?" Just as doctors learn to be doctors by doing

what doctors do, children learn to be musicians by doing what musicians dO. 12

Weaknesses in practice

One of the key objections to the Orff approach is its presumed preoccupation with pentatony and rondo-form--Le. that development is limited to a very specific and narrow range

style. In fact, only Volume One of the five volumes is dedicated to pentatonic tonality. Orff

himself was opposed to the idea of artificially restricting children to pentatonic tonalities for a

protracted period.

Time and again the question is asked whether a child must only play pentatonic, avoiding any other kind of music. This is nonsense of course, since it is both impossible and undesirable to shut a child off from all other musical influences. It is the main purpose of pentatonic training to help a child to find and to form a musical expression of his own. (Orff, 1962, p. 1)

The varieties of tonality are indeed more extensive than that found in the repertoire of most of

the current textbook series. The misuse and neglect of the full range of repertoire available is

perhaps due to the fact that most teacher-training courses in Schulwerk only scratch the surface of the first volume. The immediate success attained when improvising in the pentatonic mode

make it a comfortable tool. Many teachers simply lack the training and experience to take children past this point. So too with rondo form. This is a tidy, self-contained form assuring

almost certain success. The teacher is often incapable of improvising in any of the other forms.

Hence everything becomes a rondo. This lack of training combined with a misunderstanding

of Orff's original design has resulted in programs in which the mere inclusion of xylophones and

glockenspiels is cause enough to use the label 01jf. These programs are really little more than glorified rhythm bands. There is no appreciation of tonality or form. There is no real creativity

taking place. Often the texts and musics used are inferior and are selected for their "cuteness"

17

and appeal. Of course there is certain value in "entertainment" music but the appeal of these compositions often wears thin. Orff deplored what he called Kindergarten Unpoetry--songs contrived to appeal to small children. He believed, instead, that we should use the texts of

folklore and of great poets of history verbatim (see also above).

Summary

The Orff approach to music education draws on the ideas of several nineteenth-century reformists. From lohann Gottfried Herder comes the idea of a developmental cycle and a poetic age of language. Orff captures the magic of this poetic age in his music. Goethe stresses the role of experience-of participatory learning in education. Goethe also maintained that music was a fundamental component of all education--a thought happily echoed by Orff. Pestalozzi was an early proponent of the von Kinder aus school of education. Orff bases his progression on beginning with the child and drawing potential out of him. Pestalozzi posited a framework for the development of perception. This development begins with pure sensory stimulation and ends with cognitive creation of new concepts. Orff also progresses from the kinaesthetic (the sensory) to the analytic (the conceptual). Nageli, working closely with Pestalozzi, placed rhythm at the beginning of all musical learning. Carl Orff, too, maintained that rhythm was the Ur-element from which all other musical elements and forms developed. Music is viewed as a practice in the Orff approach to music education. It is not only the sounds created, but the practice of creating and working with those sounds that make music and music education. The full potential of the Orff approach is often hindered by a lack of comprehensive training for teachers.

Conclusions

The purpose of the first part of this paper has been to determine if the Orff approach is based on a developmental theory and, if so, to explore the nature of that theory.

18

Carl Orff held that every child is innately musical (Orff, 1963). Orff's endorsement of the theory of recapitulation indicates that he believed that there is one developmental path which all individuals follow. This pattern of development mirrors the evolution of music in history. This belief accounts for Orff's choice of repertoire and their sequencing in Dos Schulwerk.

Orff also believed that a child's musical development is tied to the development of his language. 13 The evolutionary stages of language as detailed by Herder may be extended to

suggest stages in musical development. These stages are: (I) Babble, or play with sounds; (2) A poetic/symbolic stage during which the imagination uses sounds and words for beauty and symbolic purposes. This stage is characterized by intense creativity; (3) A logical stage, one in which the individual develops powers of reason and analytic thought; and (4) A rule-driven stage, pre-occupied with correctness. The Orff approach moves from the earliest stages of play with sounds and music (stage 1), encouraging the development of musical imagination (stage 2), and finally, developing the ability to think and create music analytically (stage 3). The approach seeks . to avoid the sterility and rigidity of Herder's fmal stage through constant stress on the

imagination.

The Orff approach borrows from Goethe the idea of education as an apprenticeship, i.e. that the process of development is the result of concrete experiences with a medium. The nature of this development is similar to Pestalozzi's account of the development of Anschauung or perception. Orff believes that musical development begins with the kinaesthetic or sensory experience of music. Through play with music and positive environment organized by parents and teachers the initially sensuous. perceptions of music become intellectual conceptions of music. The child, through performance, improvisation, and composition begins to make

conscious musical choices based on his developing musical understanding. The progression

moves from simple to complex. However, it is not a question of successive stages supplanting

earlier ones. Rather, like the layers of an onion, progressive musical skills and concepts are added to the body of procedural knowledge which the child possesses.

19

The emphasis in the Qrff approach is, therefore, not on a body of skills or facts; rather, it is on the experience with music--the actual practice of music. This belief is supported by anthropological and philosophical definitions of music. This philosophy of the nature of music also governs the selection of repertoire and teaching strategies used in the approach. The strategies used suggest that musical development is achieved through active participation in music-making, not abstract pen and paper learning.

20

ORFF AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE

T he developmental theory behind the arff approach to music education evolved from the European educational philosophies of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. If the approach is to be considered for use in contemporary music education, it must have points

of congruency with current educational theories. The purpose of this second chapter is: (1) to examine several of the current theories as they pertain to music education; and (2) to explore possible congruencies with the theory behind the arff approach.

The field of cognitive science is burdgeoning. The study of the development of mind has rich implications for the field of education in general, and music education in particular. Schema theOry and play theory both hold keys to the organization of our pedagogy and curriculum. Recent research (Gardner, 1983; Serafine, 1988) proposes cognitive processes and domains which are unique to music. Much research and experimentation is now probing the cognitive development of children. Brief mention will be made of Piaget's theory of playas it relates to Das Schulwerk. An extensive discussion of Piaget and music will not be presented as

this has already been explored by many authors. 14 After examining the current trend to view music not as a magical, mystical entity, but, rather as a product and/or process of cognition, congruencies with the arff approach will be sought.

21

Schema theory

One of the current buzzwords in cognitive science is schema (pI. schemata). Although variations in the interpretation of the meaning of this word exist, schemata are commonly

understood to be intellectual structures resulting from interaction with the environment. Robert Gjerdingen (1988) develops Leonard Meyer's theory of expectation in his work, A Classic Tum of Phrase: Music and the Psychology of Convention. Gjerdingen examines the value of schematic theory for a theory of perception of music. Two definitions of his collection from various authors are important for our purposes. He cites F. Bartlett, one of the earliest authors

to use the word schema: "Schema" refers to an active organization of past reactions, or of past experiences, which must always be supposed to be operating in any well-adapted organic response. That is, whenever there is any order or regularity of behavior, a particular response is possible only because it is related to other similar responses which have been serially organized, yet which operate, not simply as individual members coming one after, but as a unitary mass. (in Gjerdingen, 1988, p. 4)

The other applicable definition comes from Jean Mandler who defines schemata as mental structures which are "formed on the basis of past experience with objects, scenes, or events and consisting of a set of (usually unconscious) expectations about what things look like and/or the order in which they occur" (in Gjerdingen, 1988, p. 4).

Both of these definitions contain the key concept that schemata are built from experience

with things, be they objects or events. It follows then that the more experiences with a particular thing, the clearer and truer will be the schemata which are created. Schemata are not specific

knowledge files. Rather, they are generalized knowledge. They are flexible and may, therefore,

be adapted to different situations. David Rumelhart lists six features of schemata:

1. Schemata have variables. 2. Schemata can embed, one within another. 3. Schemata represent knowledge at all levels of abstraction 4. Schemata represent knowledge rather than definitions.

22

5. Schemata are active processes. 6. Schemata are recognition devices whose processing is aimed at the evaluation of

their goodness of fit to the data being processed. (in Gjerdingen, 1988, p.5)

Schemata are not meant to be exact moulds into which all other experience is jammed. Instead, they provide a frame of reference for understanding. This concept of schemata as frameworks for organizing our world is compatible with Pestalozzi's fifth stage in the

development of Anshauung: Dinge, die ich nie anschaulich sehe, konstruiere ich mir auf auf Grund der von mir angenommenen Ahnlichkeit mit Dingen, die ich wahrgenommen habe. (Preussner, 1962, p. 8)15

In other words, experience builds schemata which guide our conceptual constructions. The more information that is stored in these schemata, (i.e. the more experiences from which we develop these schemata), the more accurate and more sophisticated will be our constructions. As we encounter new experiences our schema are modified and refined. 16 This has a great deal of importance in a constructivist theory of music perception, such as that proposed by Serafine (1988). Philip Lewin (1986), in a paper discussing the construction of cognitive structures, elaborates on the refinements of schemata in the process of learning a dance step.

In terms of dance, that which is already known, both cognitively and kinaesthetically, functions as cognitive schema [sic] for movements through which the novel is initially understood. Learning movement, then, consists of incorporating the novel phrase into an existing system of representations, and modifying those representations in tum to "accomodate" the novel within them. And these 'representations' are not only procedural in the sense of knowing how or when knowledge is to be applied, but exist much more fundamentally as kinaesthetic. How one apperceives movement will depend both on how one understands movement and what ways of transforming and connecting movement are already embodied as skill. (p. 13)

This underscores the presence of schemata related to skill. The necessity to acknowledge skill development as a component of the educational process will be discussed below.

23

What is the significance of schema theory for elementary music education? The crux of

the matter is this. In order to perceive and to be able process musical input, we need to have

a set of files or schemata to help us classify what we hear. These schemata are the result of experience. The earlier we begin to set up schemata the more we can process. The content of

those early experiences is also of the utmost importance as they will colour all future experiences of music. The second half of Lewin's statement quoted above indicates that perception is also

affected by kinaesthetic or performance schemata. Sparshott (1988) supports this when he claims that a violinist hears violin music with his hands: "part of his hearing is the way his

fingers corroborate the playing" (p. 85); and, "for a violinist, an inseparable component in the experience of hearing is what is felt in the fingers" (p. 97).

The Orff approach builds several different kinds of schemata in children. First there is the actual experience of musical sounds and their organization into historical forms. Das

Schulwerlcprovides models of historically correct forms (Thomas, 1960, p. 31), Secondly, there is the ensemble experience, schemata for performance considerations. Students are not merely

hearing the music, they are experiencing it more directly through creating it. The use of

instrumental pieces allows for a greater variety of timbres and forms than the sole use of vocal

and choral music. Most importantly, however, are the affective schemata formed by the child

towards music. The Orff experience is designed to be a positive experience of music for the

child. He learns that his own music (composing initially in the form of improvising) is valuable; that his own musical expression is worthwhile.

Carl ()r:Ws great gift is to children. In essence that gift is a way of looking at music that deeply involves them in its creation, and thereby entails respect for their capabilities. (Frazee, 1987, p. 5)

On a broader scope the child learns to risk exposing his ideas, musical or artistic. All of these

experiences set up patterns of expectation--schemata.

24

The purpose underpinning Orff's approach is compatible with schema theory. Orff's aim for Das Schulwerk was the formation of fundamental structures of musical understanding, although he did not use the term schema. In the preface to Volume One he states:

So soIl eine Grundlage fUr alles spatere Musizieren und Interpretieren geschaffen werden, d.h. wahres Verstandnis fur musikalische Sprache und Ausdruck, die hier, wie in einer Fibel, erstlingshaft gebildet werden. 17 (Orff, 1950, p. ii)

This Gnmdlage, when thought of in cognitive terms, is none other than a set of musical schemata.

Orff and Play

Play is an important component of development. Howard Gardner gives one definition of art as "a goal-directed form of play" (Gardner, 1973, p. 166). Jerome Bruner seesplay as a key to intrinsic learning.

Play serves the function of reducing the pressures of impulse and incentive and [sic] making it possible thereby for intrinsic learning to begin. (Bruner cited in M. Willman, 1983, p. 63)

Through play children can set up schemata, which, as we have seen, are flexible enough to be applied in other situations.

Jean Piaget recognized the value of play in education. Play for Piaget was the purest form of assimilation of the environment. Cognitive growth arises from the balance, or equilibrium between accomodation (imitation), and assimilation (play) (Hawn, 1986, p.18). In addition to his now-famous "ages and stages" of intellectual development, Piaget posited three

stages of play: (1) Practice Games, characteristic of the ages birth through two; (2) Symbolic Games, ages two through seven; and (3) Games with Rules, ages seven through eleven. These stages are posited as sequential but earlier stages co-exist with later stages (Hawn, 1986, p. 18).

25

In an exploration of the role of play in the Qrff approach, Hawn (1986) has found analogies of each stage in the activities of Qrff Schulwerk. He classifies practice games as those in which exploration is an essential ingredient. This includes exploration of voice, instruments

and movement possibilities. Also in this category are chants and pitch matching games. The

emphasis is not on the group but on individual response. Group coordination comes into play

with symbolic games. Here Hawn suggests notation, fIrst pictorial, later traditional, as well as

uSing metaphors to teach musical concepts. Games with rules take the form of singing games.

The rules may be few or many, simple or complex. The individual's response must fit into the

group's collective response. These games extend into instrumental ensembles and choral or

dance experiences (Hawn, 1986).

Piaget makes mention of one further type of play--constructive play. It is in this type of play that aesthetic and artistic judgement comes into play. The child constructs his world by choosing from possibilities gleaned through previous or current exploration (p. 20). Through constructive play with early forms, the child learns to manipulate the elements of music in his own creative forms. This is a different procedure than imparting rules which were formulated

by adults for adults.

Willman (1983 has called improvisation a game with rules. Improvisation plays a major role in the Orff approach. It is the most direct way of encountering music. There is no intermediary composed work or notation. The child experiments with a variety of musical

forms. This is not, however, a completely open discovery method. It is preferable to set some boundaries (rules) within which children create their improvisations. If boundaries are not given, the possible choices can be overwhelming. Rules help the child limit possibilities.

Improvisation approached as a game also helps create a comfortable environment, and engenders

a willingness to take risks. Consequences of less successful attempts are not as likely to be

viewed as critically in a negative sense. This is not free play, however. The progress must be

26

guided and evaluated; "nothing demands more careful preparation on the part of a teacher than improvisation exercises" (Orff, 1962, p. 7).

Gardner's Theory of Artistic Development

The aim of the Orff approach is not to produce specific instrumental or vocal skills in children. Instead, it seeks to produce well-rounded, creative, competent musicians--artists, if you will--by involving children in the activities in which musicians engage: creating music; performing music; evaluating music; and listening to music. How dos this goal compare with

the components of overall artistic development as expressed by Howard Gardner?

Gardner was one of the first cognitive psychologists to explore the development of music as an intellectual process. In a series of books, beginning with The Arts and Human Development, (1973) and continuing most specifically in Frames ofMind (1983), Gardner poses the theory that artistic activity is intellectual activity. In the latter book Gardner posits a unique intellectual faculty for music. In his early writings Gardner concurs with Piaget's scheme of stages in child development. As he works out his artistic theory, however, he develops a

different pattern of development for artistic development, independent of the four stages of Piaget. Piaget's theory states that at each succeeding stage of development the child re-organizes her world-view. According to Gardner, this is unnecessary in artistic development. Gardner

feels that these supposed shifts in view in later stages are merely "different ways of thinking about scientific thought, not psychological shifts" (Gardner, 1973, p. 134). Gardner's theory places him in opposition to both learning theorists and cognitivists. While he disallows

reorganization of the nature of thought patterns in later stages of development, he does propose one major reorganization. This occurs as a transition from direct actions in the world to the world of symbols (p. 130). In music this means a transition from music as merely pleasing sound to music as a symbol. This transition takes place in the period between ages two and

27

I

seven, which Gardner classifies as a critical period for learning (p. 56). It is during this time that children naturally acquire languages, and other symbolic media.

The essence of Gardner's theory of artistic development is that by seven the child is

functioning as an artist. There is no need for further stages. Development now takes the form

of refinement of skill, "acquaintance with artistic tradition and sensitivity to nuance" (p. vi). What has occurred to this point to create the young artist? Gardner's model of child

development includes three developing systems: Making, perceiving and feeling. Making signifies any notion or action; perceiving refers to discrimination of the environment; andfeeling deals with affect. In adults, according to Gardner, these three systems are one integrated

system. In the child they are discrete. Gardner's theory may then be summarized as the

transition from three discrete systems to one integrated system,

...and then the employment of these integrated systems by the organism in the years following infancy in the skilled use of various symbolic media and elements.

Although the mastery of any symbolic system takes years, I do not feel that a new order mechanism comes into play at specific times ....Rather an organism's experience with these symbol systems involves an increasingly complex making, perceiving, and feeling which draws in a comprehensive way on the mechanisms evolved during infancy. (p. 45)

If the child is to develop artistically she needs to be given opportunities to engage in activities which use each of the three systems.

Following from these three systems--making, perceiving, and feeling--Gardner develops

artistic roles which he feels are present and to be nurtured in every child. These roles are

interdependent yet separate, with unique functions and skills. They are analogous to participants in the artistic process:

The Creatorl Artist

The Audience Member

The Critic

The Performer

28

I

The role of the creator is creation of a work of art. The job of the audience member is to follow that work so he may be moved. The critic puts her affective reaction into words. The performer transmits the work to larger audiences (pp. 25-26). Although Gardner maintains that everyone develops in each of these roles, he places a special emphasis in education on creating as a component in the artistic development of children. According to Gardner, children's sensitivity to artistic fonns comes through far more clearly in their own works than in their perception of the works of others. He attributes this to a fundamental difference in the intellectual activities involved in making and perceiving:

[to achieve] Balance, harmony, or rhythmic effects in a work, a child need only work with symbolic media; in contrast, he can only demonstrate his perception of these properties in the work of others by speaking of them and this is a verbal and II meta-aesthetic" task, more demanding than simple practice. (1973, p. 168)

Perceiving requires not only the musical expertise, but also the ability to talk about it, linguistic competence. The experience of the properties of music is much more immediate in making, as opposed to perceiving activities. This is a clear justification for the emphasis on improvisation and perfonning (not in the sense of a concert) in the Orff approach.

The Orff approach includes opportunities for all of Gardner's roles. Traditionally, in elementary music education the creator and performer are different people. However, it is more common in the Orff approach for the creator and performer to be one and indeed also for the ensemble to be both creator and performer. This is the case in the creation of rondos. Each person in the ensemble is given the opportunity to create a part of the whole composition, as well as perfonning the A sections.

The role of the audience member is one which is not particularly well-developed in the Orff approach. There is no unique strategy for listening to the works of others. The teacher should make as many opportunities as possible for listening to the creations of the group. A desireable addition to the Orff approach would be a strategy for directed listening which

29

.......,....-s features indicative of the approach. This is an area of needed and worthwhile

Evaluating the results of the creating process is a part of the lesson which is often left ~ This could be for two reasons. The teacher may be ill-equipped to make evaluations kndf. 1bere could also be a misguided sense that critical evaluation of a work of art is not possible. It is possible to objectively view processes and overall effect in a constructive manner widJout destroying the child's creative spirit. Indeed, this reflection is necessary if the child is going to develop and not merely continue to re-create similar works. Orff would be the first

10 advocate the evaluation of works in order to guide students to further development of their musical ideas.

In the swing of the pendulum away from skill-oriented programs towards aesthetic education we too often deny the fact that skills (and a sense of skill) are necessary for both perception and expression. A similar view is expressed in Johnson-Laird (1987) regarding jazz improvisation where he states that it is necessary for the improviser to have a representation of

the structure of an improvisation (a schema) and of the tacit skills to construct an improvisation. This has particular import for the Orff approach since it is based on improvisation. Gardner raises an important issue in this discussion:

.. .in most cases ... skills do not naturally evolve; one is faced with a choice between explicit instruction or the creation of a situation in which that skill is likely to develop. (1973 p. 195)

The Orff approach is an example of the latter situation. Certain skills are necessary for musical expression, even on the seemingly primitive percussion instruments. However, it would go against the philosophy of this approach to instruct merely for skills. As stated elsewhere the experience is always "of the music."

30

Music as Intelligence

Prominent in Gardner's research is a theory of multiple intelligences. This is set out in Frames ofMind (1983). In this work Gardner proposes that the musical competence is actually an autonomous intelligence within our cognitive system. He defines musical intelligence as "the abilities of individuals to discern meaning and importance in sets of pitches rhythmically arranged and also to produce such metrically arranged pitch sequences as a means of communicating with other individuals" (p. 98). Reminiscent of the statements on the genesis of song from the LIGI, Gardner speculates that speech and music may have arisen from a "common expressive medium. If However, over the course ofevolution the cognitive structures controlling them have changed and speech and music have become autonomous intellectual "competences" (p. 98). Development in distinct intelligences does not necessarily follow the same pattern of stages. The stages are determined culturally and by the medium, as well as by age (p. 314). Education is necessary "before the raw intellectual potential can be realized in the form of a mature cultural role" (p. 372).

Certain features of this development may be considered "natural" or innate, according to Gardner's theory. Part of the process of education "simply involves certain 'natural' processes of development, whereby a capacity passes through a predictable set of stages as it

matures and is differentiated" (p. 372). Music is a special competence, however, since it requires specific skills as discussed above. Gardner qualifies his stand on natural acquisition of a competence thus: "when it comes to the transmission of specific skills and knowledge, one beholds a more complex, less 'natural' process at hand" (p. 372).

Gardner's rationale for developing this cognitive framework was to explain why some

educational approaches succeed and others fail (p. 333). He particularly favours the Suzuki approach to music education. The features which he finds commendable are available to a great extent in the Orff approach, without some of the drawbacks.

31

Among the features which Gardner feels contribute to the perceived success of the Suzuki method is the stress on early exposure to music. This feature is not unique to Suzuki. Kodaly and Orff both stress that children learn music as they would learn their mother-tongue, through early eXJX>sure in the home. Suzuki exploits the parent-child relationship. The parent is held responsible for the attitude that the child develops toward music. The child-peer group relationship is also of great importance in the approach. The child is motivated and encouraged by his relationships within the group. It is an unfortunate occurrence that this is not always a JX>Sitive influence. Comparisons within the group often lead to unhealthy competition. An Orff-based approach also stresses the child in relation to his peers. However, as music here is

of an ensemble nature, there is less chance for comparison when everyone has their own contribution to make than in a situation where children are performing the same task.

Gardner's criticisms of the Suzuki approach include the seeming devaluation of notation

through emphasis on the ear; the limited musical skills and knowledge (limited to Western musical traditions and repertoire); the extreme emphasis on reproducing an interpretation. Gardner holds that the emphasis on reproductive skills develops an attitude that the most imJX)rtant thing is to replicate sound. There is little room for the possibility of changing sounds. This is not the case in the Orff approach where it is desireable to create variation. It is true that the Orff approach also favours the ear over learning notation. This stems from the belief that this is a more direct way of experiencing music. Orff did not intend that students not learn

notation. Instead notation should come as a result of wanting to save and transmit musical creations. There are many active ways of teaching notation which may be incorporated into an Orff-based program to overcome the chance of musical illiteracy.

One of Gardner's criticisms of Orff would surely be its lack of music from the "masters. If

Gardner (1973) gives three components of a developmental approach to music education: 1. Free exploration 2. Building up of skills (cognitive and technical) under guidance

32

3. Exposure to great works for study and imitation (p. 286).

It is the last component that may be lacking in anOrff approach. According to Drff himself, the models presented in Das Schulwerk would satisfy this category. It is more likely, however,

that Gardner intends the term great works to mean acknowledged works of art. The materials presented in Das Schulwerk should be supplemented with examples by other composers. For example, following an experience with Chaconne (Book V) students should have the opportunity to listen to a recorded example of a chaconne.

By way of criticism of his own theory Gardner (1983) states: ...analysis of educational experiments must attend to such factors as motivation, personality, and value: the fact that my own analysis focuses heavily on 'purely cognitive components' must be considered a limitation of the present formulation (p. 373).

Gardner maintains that musical competence must include an affective dimension--motivation, personality and value. The Drff approach also addresses these three factors. We have seen above that Orff placed high importance on the development of personality. Through quality experiences with music, individuals come to value music. In the Orff approach the experience

of music is meant to be a positive, affirming experience. This goes a long way towards ensuring positive motivation on the part of the student.

Serafine and Music as Cognition

Mary Louise Serafine, in her recent book, Music as Cognition (1988), develops an innovative theory of music cognition. According to Serafine it is necessary to redefine music before we can form a theory of musical thought. She defines music, or musical thought as she prefers to call it , as:

..human aural cognitive activity that results in the posing of artworks embodying finite and organized sets of temporal events described in sound (p. 68).

33

Music is both an external phenomenon--the sound--and what is constructed in the mind. This

is the definition of music as cognition. Serafine explains the external/internal nature of music:

"Musical events occur. The job of thought is not just to follow but to construct such events" (p.73). The sounds may be actual physical sounds. Some researchers (Shepard and Kossylyn, 1983) are also proposing a mental image of sounds in the brain, much like our mental pictures of visual phenomena. This theory of mental representation of sound underscores the fact that music can and does occur in the absence of sound. Beethoven, even in his deafness, must have

experienced the music he was writing, albeit not in the sense of our common experience.

Serafine has difficulty with an emphasis on pitch perception as the basis for cognitive representations. Pitches, duration, loudness and timbral characteristics are merely the medium

for organizing temporal events. The use of pitch perception as a basis for a theory of music cognition does not take into account the complete nature of music. Serafine states that while

sound is necessary, the definition of music as sound is an insufficient definition. The

constructive theory of music cognition developed here includes representations that are specific

to a culturally-learned, community-nurtured style, as well as those which are universal, or generic. The generic processes involved in mentally representing a piece of music are:

Identification: The musical sounds must be grouped as distinct from the non-musical sounds. Textural Organization: The sounds are organized to produce a texture.

Temporal Organization: a) Simultaneous: recognizing the blend and juxtaposition of sounds, timbrally and thematically. b) Successive: construction of units and extension of shorter units into larger ones, patterning and grouping by phrases.

Nontemporal Operations: a) Abstraction: a theme is relocated to a new context. b) Transformation: a theme is altered. c) Hierarchic structuring (assigning structural weight). d) Closure: signaling a point of rest as opposed to movement.

Serafine borrows many of these processes from other theories. One benefit of her work is the removal of music from the realm of the mysterious art-object, stressing instead the

34

necessity of mental structuring by an individual--hislher beliefs about, and expectations of, the music heard. The individual is actively creating music, whether he or she is in the role of composer, performer or listener. According to Serafine's concept of music as cognition, these specific roles are "external manifestations of musical cognition" (p. 75). She defines each role:

Composing: all deliberate acts of combining sounds within a specified time frame for the purposes of creating interesting temporal events. (This includes improvisation but not random sound collection.) Listening: an active organizing and construing of the temporal events heard in a composition. Performing: a hybrid activity involving both listening and composing (in the sense of creating a certain interpretation within the bounds of a composition's pre-specified materials. )

Serafine indicates that although there are processes unique to each of these activities, the processes above operate in all three activities (p. 71). One of the tenets of Serafine's theory is that we form musical communities which express common beliefs about the way music is structured stylistically. The representations involved are style-dependent and serve to structure the creation, production and apprehension of musics of that community.

Serafine's description of these representations excludes a mental representation of physical sounds of music. When we form a mental representation of a painting are we not including in our representation colours and lines? Yet Serafine believes that it is the temporal nature of music that is represented. Just as we require sounds as a medium of representation of temporal movement in the real world, so too we need something to represent just the temporal flow mentally. Beethoven, having lost his hearing late in life after so much musical experience,

likely had a very vivid imagination of the sounds. Indeed, trained musicians can hear a notated score, drawing on their memory for sounds. I agree that we do not likely include discrete pitches in our mental representations. Rather, we probably have a conception of the "whole"--of the way the melody "goes," i.e., the contour. Melodies with exactly the same contour may have completely different sounds due to the relative position of the contour in the tonal system. In

35

holding this concept, of a mental abstraction of the "do, re, mi" of our tonal system, or the equivalent in the tonal systems of other cultures, I concur with Dowling and Harwood (1986).

If a challege to Serafine's theory is forth-coming, it will take the form of an epistemological argument.. This is the age-old empiricist vs. rationalist debate. Serafine herself recognizes this when she states that the choice is:

whether what we perceive is the source of what and how we think [empiricist], or whether what we think is the determiner of what we will perceive [rationalist]. (p. 235)

Serafine's constructivist theory comes down unequivocally on the side of our thoughts determining what we perceive. Without a lengthy philosophical argument to prove or disprove this position, the bias of this paper will be made explicit now.

While it is true that we can only perceive and understand events for which we have a framework or prior knowledge (Le., schema), each new encounter changes these cognitive frameworks--subtly or radically. Thus the position favoured here is the middle ground, an interactive process of perception and organization illustrated by the following diagram.

influence what you attend to in

------------------------------~ IDEAS ABOUT MUSIC MUSICAL SOUNDS

(schemata) ~--------------------------------------

refine and create new possibilities for

This is the musical equivalent to Lewin's (1986) statement about the modification of schemata in the learning of a dance step (above). If this were not the case, continued education would be useless since there would be no chance of modifying schemata once they had been

36

developed. This would run counter to the ideas of classical thinkers (Pestalozzi) as well as current schema theory. Serafine states that:

the state of a child's cognitive mechanisms, the availability of particular processes, is the surest determiner of what he will perceive. (p. 235)

The position supported in this paper argues that these "particular processes" develop in, and only

in, the context of experience. It is the marriage of cognitive structures with the present stimulus

that determines what the child perceives. This difference in doctrine does not negate the import

ance of Serafine's categories of cogni-musical processes. The development of these processes

is useful in building a complete capacity for musical understanding.

Orff and the Development of Cognitive Processes

Through a series of experimental tasks with subjects aged five years to adult, Serafine found differences in understanding and competence with regard to her list of generic processes.

She found no significant differences within one age group between those with formal training

and those without, 18 with the exception of two tasks. These two tasks were closure and

motivic chaining. The correlations between training and improved performance were significant

but low. These results lead Serafine to conclude that:

...at the least, formal instrumental training is neither necessary nor sufficient for the development of the generic processes. Rather, with age as the principal predicter of success on the tasks, the more potent factors may be general (nonmusical) cognitive growth and normal, everyday musical experience (p. 229).

In Serafine's definition of the traditional formal approach to instrumental training the emphasis

is on developing dextral skills and learning set pieces, generally with an interpretation specified

by the teacher. The student memorizes fingerings and absorbs the ideas of the teacher. The

development of processes of musical cognition in the individual is incidental, dependent on the

innate cognitive capacity of the individual. A more complete program, however, includes

activities which develop the innate processes to the greater musicality of the individual. Note

37

that the purpose of the latter approach is not to create professional musicians but to develop the musical intelligence in all individuals.

The Orff approach is one such approach which includes activities specific to these processes. More importantly, the methodology involved illuminates these processes, allowing for the reflection necessary for composing, analyzing and teaching. Teaching is included in this

group because it is a meta-musical activity, like composing and analyzing. In addition to the ability to recognize and organize musical sounds, the knowledge of how to produce that organization in sound is necessary before that knowledge can be transmitted to others.

There are specific activities from the multiplicity of behaviours used in the Orff approach which aid development of the processes categorized by Serafine. A summary of the processes and tasks Serafine used to test each is followed by detailed application of Orff activities.

Temporal Organization a) successive i)

ii) iii) iv)

phrasing patterning motivic chaining idiomatic construction

b) simultaneous i) ii) iii)

textural abstraction motivic synthesis timbre synthesis

Nontemporal Operations a) Closure i) closure task

b) Transformation i) ii) iii) iv)

block task echo task bead task minuet task

c) Abstraction i) ii)

motivic abstraction rhythmic abstraction

38

d) Hierarchic

structuring i) hierarchic levels

Successive Temporal Processes: Phrn.sing. In Serafine's experiment for phrasing, children were expected to make

divisions of a longer melody into shorter units. One of the cues for such division was cadence

points. Even the young children performed well on this task when cadences were the cues.

This confirms Ries' findings (1987) that enculturation to musical styles occurs very early in childhood musical development. Perhaps if children from another culture were given the same

melody the cue would have to be different. For as much as the process of phrasing (or chunking) may be generic, it seems obvious that the cues are not.

The Orff approach develops a natural sense of phrase through its use of speech. Phrases

are created in vocal music because of the structure of the text. The use of poems, rhymes and

jingles is the frrst step to the idea of phrase. Secondly, the activity of echo--be it rhythmic or melodic--reinforces phrase structure. In a carefully constructed echo activity, the echo follows

the model directly, within the pulse set up by the model. This creates a rhythmic phrase. A

third activity for the development of a sense of phrase is question-answer. An extension of echo/imitation activities, the model (question) given by the teacher/leader is answered by a contrasting or complementary phrase. Orff's models in Das Schulwerk indicate that all phrases should not be two bars of 4/4 and that it is not always the teacher who provides the model. A

good evaluation of children's development may be gained as much from children's questions as from their answers. All of these activities are performed in the different modalities of

Orff--speech, body-rhythms, singing, playing instruments, and movement. At first, when

developing phrases, it is solely the length of response that is important. As one progresses to

some of Serafine's other tasks one will see that refinement of these same activities leads to the development of other processes.

39

Patterning. Serafine's experiment in patterning involved attention to a three- to five-note fragment. Two fragments were given: A and B. These were presented in three ways:

1. a phrase involving static alternation [ABABAB etc.]; 2. a phrase involving descending tonal movement [Le. a sequence] 3. a phrase involving harmonic sequence with alteration [sequence with harmonic

accompaniment] (p. 113)

The compositions performed and created in arff activities make extensive use of motives. Rhythmic and melodic cells are used to create larger phrases. Serafme's tasks depend on the child being able to recognize the repetition of cells when they are heard in a composition. A

task in the arff classroom would involve creating these compositions. After extracting or creating two cells, children would be asked to combine these to create a longer pattern. Experimentation with the sounds would lead to a greater perceptivity to these characteristics in other music the children hear outside the classroom.

Serafine's first task, static alternation, is part of early training in the arff approach. The

other two tasks, melodic and harmonic patterning, represent a later stage of compositional tasks.

One way of developing the idea of melodic sequence is through movement: e.g., "Pick a movement," then, "Can you perform that same movement higher? lower?" The child's aural understanding is reinforced through the visual representation of a cell. This representation could

also take the form of graphic notation. However, given that young children learn a great deal kinaesthetically, movement is a much better form of representation for young children.

Serafine's third task, harmonic patterning, involves an added simultaneous feature. The subject is given added harmonic information. Whether this is in fact the same category of task is doubtful. The cell with harmonic accompaniment would either become a different cell, or the

harmonic accompaniment would be considered in addition to the original cell, a simultaneous, not successive task.

40

Motivic Chaining. Serafine uses motivic chaining to refer to the process of combining units to produce longer chains. In this task two melodic cells, A and B, were again introduced. The tasks involved subjects judging whether what they h