“Singing, Saying, Dancing, Playing”

The courses focus on “learning by doing”, helping teachers share their music through practical music making and by creating enjoyable experiences for the students.  They are based on the principles developed by Carl Orff, the composer and music educator who lived and worked in Europe from 1895 to 1982.

Participants in these courses will be exposed to a stimulating and graded repertoire of music and dance pieces.  They will be encouraged to develop their confidence and skills in sharing with students of all ages and stages of development.

Orff Schulwerk offers a holistic approach to music education.  It integrates singing, speech activities, movement, folk dance and the playing of percussion instruments to encourage active music making.

It can be applied to all educational levels and in community music.  From the earliest ages singing and saying nursery rhymes and speech verses are combined with sound gestures or body percussion (clapping, stamping, finger clicking, etc).

These practical activities lay the foundations for broad musical development.  They also lend themselves to involvement with the range of “Orff instruments” from simple non-tuned percussion (eg tambourines) to recorders, xylophones and glockenspiels.

The ‘Orff’ approach to music education is continuing to grow and adapt to present day needs and circumstances and is now being taught throughout the world.