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, 1958Das 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

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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

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

Characteristics of the Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Historical Influences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
Herder and the Ages of Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Goethe and the Role of Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pestalozzi and Education von Kinder aus .....................
The nature of music in Orffs approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Weaknesses in practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3
3
6
6
8

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

Schema theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Orff and Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gardner's Theory of Artistic Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Music as Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Serafine and Music as Cognition ..............................
Orff and the Development of
Cognitive Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Successive Temporal Processes: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Phrasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patterning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Motivic Chaining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Idiomatic Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10
14
17
18
18
21
22
25
27
31
33
37
39
39
40
41
41
v

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

Textural abstraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Motivic Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Timbre synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Non-temporal Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Closure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Abstrdction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hierarchic structuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

42
42
43
43
44
44
44

46
47
49

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

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

REFERENCES

vi

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

INTRODUCTION

T he 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.

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

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:
reflects (or can be likened to) the early archaic stages in the
The child's world of
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).

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.

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-century 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?

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 of words, 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

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.
aspiring actor, from childhood through manhood.

The novel follows Wilhelm, an

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.

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.
folk-poetry and folk-song in high esteem.

Goethe held

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

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 of conceptual 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
(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.
2.
3.
4.

22

Schemata
Schemata
Schemata
Schemata

have variables.
can embed, one within another.
represent knowledge at all levels of abstraction
represent knowledge rather than definitions.

5.
6.

Schemata are active processes.

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.
given, the possible choices can be overwhelming.

If boundaries are not

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

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?
development includes three developing systems:

Gardner's model of child

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

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 meta-aesthetic" task, more demanding than simple practice. (1973, p. 168)
II

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 of Mind (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 of evolution 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.
Gardner (1973) gives three components of a developmental approach to music education:
1.
2.

32

Free exploration
Building up of skills (cognitive and technical) under guidance

If

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 episte-

mological 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 importance 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)
b) simultaneous

Nontemporal Operations
a) Closure
b) Transformation

c) Abstraction

38

i)
ii)

phrasing
patterning
motivic chaining
idiomatic construction

iii)

textural abstraction
motivic synthesis
timbre synthesis

i)

closure task

i)
ii)
iii)

iv)

block task
echo task
bead task
minuet task

i)
ii)

motivic abstraction
rhythmic abstraction

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.
2.
3.

a phrase involving static alternation [ABABAB etc.];

a phrase involving descending tonal movement [Le. a sequence]
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 heard was the phrase AB or some other
combination of cells (AX, ZB, etc.). It seems reasonable that the same activities which increase
a child's understanding of repetition and alternation of cells will increase her ability to recognize
when a different cell has been introduced. Activities which involve completing a phrase--a
development of question and answer activities--in a variety of ways will develop this process.
For example, a child could be asked to continue a given rhythm pattern using choices from a
particular set of rhythm values. Following a first attempt, the same opening with a different
ending is requested.

Vocally, or at the instruments, the task could be to continue a given

melody ending high, then ending low. These tasks involve creating different chains beginning
with the same motive.
Idiomatic Consttuction. Serafine admits that although she considers the above processes
generic, an individual's musical experience is influenced by an unavoidable exposure to the
music of the cultural style of his environment. Idiomatic construction involves creating a unit
which abides "by the organizational rules of some idiom." Units may be: "melodic fragments
or motives, longer melodies, rhythmic patterns, harmonic or timbral sequences, or any coherent
'block' or area of sound that acts as a cohesive unit" (p. 75). The experimental task was, again,
purely auditory.

Serafine presented nine-note melodies.

There were four melodies which

conformed to a tonal idiom. Each of these four produced two more melodies which were
created by randomizing the nine-notes partially and completely. The twelve melodic cells were
then presented in a random order, each with an echo. The task was to discern whether the echo
was the same as, or different from the model. The point of this task was to prove that the four
original tonally-idiomatic melodies were easier to process for the purposes of comparison with
a second stimulus. An idiomatic response was registered if performance on intact melodies was
better than that on random melodies. The question here is whether idiomatic, global references,
or individual pitch recognition are at work in the comparison of melodies. Children did not

41

generally find the idiomatic melodies easier to discriminate than the random ones. Serafine
draws the conclusion that '''pure' discrimination ability represented in the random items precedes
and is not a sufficient condition for sensitivity to idiomatic, rule-governed melodic constructions"
(p. 132).

What are the activities in an Orff approach that lead to this sensitivity for the idiom? On
a large scale, of course, it will be argued that performing compositions in a given idiom
increases sensitivity to that idiom. This is only common sense. If one adopts Serafine's unit

level, however, it seems that the feature of the Orff approach that would best encapsulate
idiom-recognition would be the creation and use of ostinato. These cells are created to match
(Le. be idiomatically cohesive with) the song, melody, or poem for which they are intended.
They must "fit" tonally, rhythmically and, in the case of speech or vocal ostinati, textually.
Ostinati are a mainstay of the Orff approach and are used in all stages of musical development.
Extraction and creation of ostinati require the student to reflect on the salient features of an
idiom. Ostinati which are taught provide models for critical evaluation of the suitability of
ostinati.
Simultaneous Temporal Processes
Textural abstraction. The purpose of this test was to determine awareness of simultaneous "parts" in a piece of music (Le. recognition of individual lines in a vertical texture). The
subject was made familiar with individual parts before hearing them in combination. The two
textures used were homophony and polyphony. The results showed that young children had
difficulty discerning the number of parts--substituting rhythmic complexity for dense texture.
Serafine found that perceiving individual parts in a texture did not occur until age ten and then
only in two parts.
The use of melodic and rhythmic ostinati creates a polyphonic texture. It is part of the
pedagogy of Orff that each participant learn every part, regardless of his or her role in the final
42

ensemble rendition. This probably aids children in the development of greater awareness of the
components in the finished texture. It is difficult within the context of lessons on an instrument

to provide this same sort of textural awareness. It is possible to highlight certain parts of the
overall texture in a band or choral class. However, the players do not gain the same degree of
awareness of the individual parts as they would if the students were given the opportunity to play
every part. The layered process of building a composition in the Orff approach lends itself to
heightened awareness of texture. One traditional activity which could aid development in this
area is the use of partner songs (e.g., "Fish & Chips & Vinegar; Rufus Rustus etc.).
Motivic Synthesis. Similar to the task involving successive combination of motives,

motivic synthesis required the subjects to recognize the simultaneous combination of motives A
and B, ( shorter fragments than in the first test). Results showed that younger children could be
successful at this task.

Activities from the Orff approach are the same as above. The multi-layered accompaniment to many Orff compositions consists of the simultaneous performance of small cells.

Timbre synthesis. This task is similar to the above with the exception that the two or

more parts used had different instrumental timbres. It is a simpler task to discern individual lines
in a texture when their individuality is not merely melodic but also timbral.

The variety of timbres usually employed in the Orff Instrumentarium in addition to the
use of melodic ostinati and patterns of accompaniment seem a natural teaching tool for this
process. There has been some criticism levelled at perceived limitations of timbre in the Orff
process. Orff himself encouraged the use of any and all instruments--folk and traditional--along
with the Instrumentarium, although the tendency is to restrict the students to the so-called Orff
instruments. Such limitations are unfortunate as they neglect string, brass and keyboard timbres.

43

The use of Gamba (plucked and bowed), is specified in many compositions in Das Schulwerk.
Its use, however, is rare in this writer's experience.

Non-temporal Processes
Closure. Although the methods used to obtain closure--or points of rest in a composition-

-are style specific, the process of including these points of rest is generic, according to Serafine.
Serafine chose the use of open and closed cadences to indicate closure. Examples included both
simple melodies and harmonized items. Results showed that young children did not consistently
recognize which phrases were finished and which were not.

There is a specific activity used in the Orff approach which leads to this end. We have
discussed the question-answer technique above. In early stages of instruction, the restrictions
placed on the answer are minimal. Gradually, certain restrictions may be included to teach
certain concepts. One process for familiarizing the ear with cadences follows. The teacher
remarks that the question she plays ends high. "Could you make your answer end low?" The
reverse is also explored. After establishing that we are performing in a given key the teacher
ends the question on the dominant, requesting the students to end their answer on the tonic.
Students are given the opportunity to play both parts--question ending on the dominant, answer
on the tonic. This is the first step in establishing tonic-dominant harmony. The same process
would work for other tonal systems.

T:ransfonnation. In the transformation tasks of Serafine's investigations, students were

tested for their ability to discern similarities and differences in four different activities. In the

block test the subject was asked to choose which of two fragments sounded most like a given
model. One was a transformation of the original model, the other completely unrelated. The
degree of success increased with age.

44

The echo test was similar except that half of the models were transformations of a
previously learned rote-melody. The premise was that familiarity with this ur-melody would
increase correct response on those examples which were transformed versions of this melody.
The results did not support this.
The bead task was the reverse of the echo task. The task was to choose which of the two
model melodies the experimental fragment was most like. This is more difficult as the child
must remember two phrases, and test the experimental fragment against each. More memory
is required for this task than for either the block or echo tasks. Again the success rate increased
with age, indicating to Serafine that this task is associated with cognitive growth.
The final task in this section was the minuet task, in which the subject was required to
recognize occurences of a target melody. within the context of a short piano piece. Of eight
occurences five are exact melodic repetitions with harmonic variation, the other three are
melodic as well as harmonic tranformations.

This is a very difficult task and, as may be

expected from other results, young children fared poorly. An overall view of the four tasks
showed that those which required the most memory--the bead task and the minuet task--were the
ones in which children fared the worst. It is interesting to note here that a group of subjects
with intense Suzuki training fared better at younger ages. Serafine attributes this to the rigorous
musical memory training involved in the Suzuki approach.
Like Suzuki, the Orff approach is a rote-based approach. Notation is introduced when
it is needed for the purposes of recording students' compositions. Music is experienced directly
without the intermediary symbols of notation. As such this approach also develops a musical
memory. We might reasonably expect, therefore, that subjects with Orff-based training would
also fare better in memory-determined tasks.

45

Activities pertaining to the process of transformation really depend on the creativity of

the teacher. Creating variations on given poems, rhythms, and melodies would surely train the
student to recognize similarities. It would also give opportunities to study what must be varied
to make a variation. This is an activity for later stages of the approach.

Beginning steps in

transformation could be as simple as timbral differences: playing the same rhythm ort a different
instrument or orchestrating it differently with body percussion. Other early experiences with
transformations could include playing a melody with a different rhythm, or varying an
accompaniment pattern.
Abstraction.

Abstraction tasks involve recognizing a motive in a different context.

Serafine created two such tasks: Motivic abstraction and Rhythmic abstraction. In the first the
subject was required to find a melodic motive within different melodic phrases. A model phrase
containing. a certain motive was compared with two other phrases. One was a related theme
which contained the same motive. The other was unrelated and did not contain the motive.
Other variables for choice such as the same key, contour or mode were avoided. Serafine found
that young children were unable to recognize a chunk of melody when it had been placed in a
new context.
One activity which would aid in the development of this process is a game derived from
the Orff activity of echoing. In this game (really a version of the classic "Simon Says") students
are asked to imitate the model given by the teacher only if a given component is present. This
game is possible using singing, movement, rhythms, speech or instrumental behaviours. For
example, the teacher plays a melody on the xylophone. If that melody uses the interval s-m then
the class echoes. If not, then the class plays nothing. This would at first be played using
distinctly different melodies--those which use completely different intervals vs. those which
consist solely of this interval.
complex!

46

This is a first step.

The restrictions could get amazingly

A second category of abstraction is rhythmic abstraction. Again, three melodies were

used: the model, a melody rhythmically identical but tonally different, and a/oil (different both
in rhythmic and tonal properties). Again, young children could not match melodies based on
shared rhythms. The "Simon Says" game could be adapted to this task. Another task, however,
is the improvisation of melodies to a given rhythm, This is a favourite activity in the Orff
approach.

Often an instrumental melody is created using the rhythms of a poem. 19 After

learning the words of a poem, the rhythm is extracted and transferred to melodic instruments.
Through this activity a wide range of melodies all sharing the identical rhythm are created.
Hierarchic structuring.

Hierarchic structuring, in Serafine's view, is similar to the

structural analysis of Lerdahl and lackendoff (1983).

A derivative of the Chomskian

"tree-diagrams" for grammatical syntax, hierarchic structuring maps the structural weight of
musical events. It is a reductionist version of the Schenkerian school of analysis.
Serafine's experimental task was to choose, from two possibilities, the most likely
reduction of a given model. It was in this task that older Suzuki-trained subjects out-performed
their "untrained" counterparts.
The Orff approach is generally thought of as the opposite process--from simple to
complex. It depends on elaboration of skeletal patterns for activities and compositions. It is
quite possible that this activity--the progressive elaboration of structures--would sensitize students
to hear the reduction in the final form. However, it is not certain that this is such an important
skill. The elaborated melody has a character all its own that transcends the character of the
original harmonic structure.
There are examples in Dos Schulwerk of this progressive elaboration. Two particularly
worthwhile examples are Gassenhauer (Book III) and Chaconne (Book V). Each of these begin
with a simple ostinato--a chord progression in the first case, a melodic pattern in the second.

47

The texture increases progressively, and the melody becomes more complex until at last the
complete ensemble is playing. In both cases, the final form is derived from an extremely
elementary ostinato pattern.
Serafine's research found that, for all of the processes, performance improved with
age. 20 This led her to her conclusion that the increased success was due to the cognitive
development associated with maturing. Except for the cases noted, the rigorous training of the
Suzuki approach did not increase performance success in the given tasks. However, within the
framework of the Orff approach there are activities which would specifically train the processes
given by Serafine as generic-cognitive processes.
The- study documented in Music as Cognition is not without flaws. It is not within the
scope of this paper to detail these flaws. However, two exceptions must be made with regard
to the Orff approach.
Serafine posits three activities for the "posing of an artwork" -- composing, listening, and
performing. Her tests are one-sided in that they exploit only one: listening. The Orff approach
stresses listening only in so far as it relates to hearing the works created and performed by the
group. There is no explicit provision made for an approach to listening which incorporates the
ideals of the approach (Le., active participation, corporal involvement, and foundational role of
speech). It is the area of listening activities that proponents of Orff need to develop.
Serafine completely excludes the affective side of music. The theory is perhaps like
Herder's fourth age of language which is clinical, analytical, and rule-driven to the exclusion
of delight in the sheer sensuousness of music. This is in opposition to the very essence of
Orff--the magical and mystical.

48

Summary

Cognitive psychologists are exploring a number of different theories that have

implications for educational practice. Among these are schema theory, play theory, music as
intelligence and music as a cognitive process. There are elements of each which are compatible
with the Orff approach. One of the areas in the Orff approach which is neglected is listening.
Listening strategies which employ the activities used in the approach should be developed.

49

SUMMARY
AND
CONCLUSIONS

he background and educational theory of the Orff approach to music education is very

rich and not without compatibility with several current paths in contemporary cognitive theory.
Orff's selection of compositions in Dos Schulwerk was made on the basis of the historical
development of music. Sequencing was based on Orffs belief in the theory of recapitulation.
Carl Orff believed that there was no such thing as an unmusical child. Rather, he held that
music was latent in all human beings. The purpose of education, according to Orff, was the
liberation or the release of this latent force. Many of Orffs educational ideas seem to have
developed from the writings of Herder, Goethe and Pestalozzi, educational reformists of the
nineteenth century.
Current research in cognitive psychology is stressing schema theory, i.e., the
development of conceptual frameworks with which we organize our knowledge of the world.
Activities associated with the Orff approach are designed to teach through experience: the one
necessary component in the building of schemata.
Other researchers in cognitive psychology are looking at music as an intellectual function.
Howard Gardner defines music as one of seven intelligences. He posits a theory of artistic
development based on this belief. Included in this theory is a belief in the need for early
exposure to music and the development of situations which promote the learning of necessary
skills.

51

Mary Louise Serafine has redefined music as a set of cognitive processes.

These

processes may be style-oriented or pan-stylistic. The Orff approach includes activities which
seem germane to the development of the processes she proposes.
Conclusions

Gardner and Serafine both see music as a universal acquisition, not merely something that
belongs to the talented few. Orff would agree with this position. How can we educate this
universal intelligence in Pestalozzi' s sense of II guiding the child towards the best realization of
himself and of the things of the world, in this case music? It has been the purpose of this
II

monograph to explain in what sense the Orff approach to music education shares the goals of
several contemporary cognitive scientists, and, in addition, how Orff offers the activities and
method to facilitate the development of music cognition.
The Orff approach allows for musical and artistic development through its multiplicity
of musical activities and opportunities for practicing artistic behaviours. Students are not merely
studying music, they are acting as musicians, engaging in the same activities as artists--creating,
performing and listening. The approach is not without its limitations, however. A weakness
of the Orff approach is its lack of opportunities for listening to music performed and composed
by others. A process for directed listening activities needs to be used as a supplement to this
approach. Yet, it is not inconceiveable that some of the activities used in the Orff approach
could be encorporated into a strategy for listening. Orff specialists are currently exploring the
role of directed listening activities in the approach. With this necessary addition the Orff
approach would seem to be a viable and developmentally sound approach to of music education,
limited only by the resources of the individual teacher.

52

ENDNOTES
1.
"the strength of Onfs Schulwerk is its appeal to children ...Onfs Schulwerk allows
children to grow artistically in ways that are most meaningful for them" (p. 122).
2. Authors include: B. Landis and P. Carder, (1972), and L. Wheeler and L. Raebeck,
(1972).
3. See the importance of play in the Onf approach below on page 25.
4. It is interesting to note that the recorded version of Onfs Schulwerk is called Muska
poetica. This is a play on words, involving both the artistic sense of "poetic," and the translation of the Greek "poiein," "to make" (Thomas, 1976, p. 11).

5. For a discussion of current trends in schema theory, see page 22.

6. This speech is given by the supervisor of the school where Wilhelm is enrolling his son
Felix.
"Here song is the first stage of education, from which everything else follows,
and by which everything else is imparted ....Therefore underneath all thought we
have chosen music as an element of our instruction, since similarly paved paths
progress from it in all directions." (trans. by L. Dolloff)
7. An example is the use of such Canadian folksongs as "Land of the Silver Birch II and "Les
Raftsmen" in Doreen Hall's English translation. The American Orff-Schulwerk pUblications
make use of the blues and jazz forms indigenous to the United States.
8. These five forms were translated and summarized from Pestaiozzi' s original German as
quoted in Preussner, 1962, pp. 7-8. (Translation and summary by L. Dolloff)

53

9. "The importance of song as a part of education, its role in the whole process of education
and the need of the people and elementary schools for it are so absolutely recognized that it
would be completely superfluous to say another word here." (trans. L. Dolloff)
10. "True elementary education is only established when we make rhythm the foundation." (in
Heise et al, 1973, p. 12) (trans. L. Dolloff)
11.
In the beginning was the drum. The drum entices us to dance. Dance is closely bound
to music.
Rhythm is difficult to teach. We can only set it free, release it. Rhythm is not abstract,
rhythm is life itself. . . .it is the unifying force behind speech, music and movement. (trans.
L. Dolloff)
12. This is an idea ascribed to Jerome Bruner, cited in A. E. Burkart, 1977, p. 39.
13. See Orff's discussion of his pedagogical approach on page 5.
14.
Authors who find a strong relationship between Piaget's ideas and music cognition
include Serafine (1979) and Pflederer and Sechrest (1968). One psychologist that rejects
Piagetian conservation as a measure of musical development is Wohlwill (1981).
15. "We are able internally to construct notions and ideas which we have not experienced due
to a 'resemblance' with things already experienced." (trans. L. Dolloff)
16. This same idea is expressed through extension of Pestalozzi's fourth statement about

Anschauung: "As a result of activity [read experience] knowledge [read perception] becomes
more specific.
17. "Thus a basis for all later music-making and interpreting should be created [by the features
he mentioned prior to this], i.e. a true understanding for musical language and expression, that
is here, as in a primer, first developed." (Trans. L. Dolloff)
18. By training Serafine implies a formal instrumental training. She differentiates this from
"school music" and "normal, everyday musical experience."

54

19. This activity is not unique to Orff. Bruno NetU relates evidence that the xylophone
orchestras of the Chopi Indians use speech as a basis for musical composition. (NetU, 1956, p.
21)
20. A noted exception to this conclusion was a characteristic "slump" at age eleven (p. 225).

55

56

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