Composing, Performing, & Reading in Triple Meter | MMB Music

Overview

Written during the birth of the Schulwerk, Andreas Leiss’s biography, Carl Orff, documents the philosophy not as a sole venue to music education, but as an ideology about music learning that “enhances and lifts the human spirit.” Leiss’s statement is not meant to suggest that the Schulwerk neglects to address the fundamentals of music learning in favor of a few “feel good” moments; rather, Leiss documents the Schulwerk as a means for people to connect and construct meaning about life through music. These sentiments are echoed by contemporary theorist Daniel H. Pink in his latest treatise, A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age (Riverview Books, 2006). Pink suggests that in the future true knowledge must involve attributes beyond the mere ability to collect and manipulate facts. Students must be able to supplement their knowledge with the ability to synthesize information, create meaning from various forms of information, and design the information into beautiful pieces which convey stories that connect humanity. Through this lens, the Orff-Schulwerk philosophy—with its innate ability to teach music fundamentals—prepares today’s students for a future focused on creating and understanding information that awakens and connects the human spirit.

Authentic lessons of the Schulwerk begin with either speech or movement. In this exploration of triple meter and pentatonic modes, we begin with movement as the impetus for our music making. Movement free of meter will provide a substantial foundation to enhance the rhythmic material in triple meter. Celestial images provide opportunities for students to create imaginative, playful, and poetic movement settings that reflect the irregular phrase form. The names of these celestial images will return later in the lessons and serve as rhythmic material for vocal improvisation.

The melodic and harmonic material is extracted from Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman’s Music for Children, Vol. I, (Murray Edition). Rhythmic material composed by students provides an exploration of an easily mastered pentatonic mode. Ostinati accompaniments provide a playful texture that enhances the quality of the text and the student creations. From these experiences, rhythmic reading and notation easily find their place in the classroom.

Movement, speech, compositions, and songs provide the students with material for concrete music learning and creating. Synthesizing these materials provides an aesthetic experience that is joyful and meaningful to teacher and students, using the fundamentals of music. As with any experiences in the Schulwerk, the possibilities are fueled by the imaginations of the teacher and students.

Objectives

Rhythm: Students will identify, compose, read, and perform 24-beat rhythms containing quarter notes, eighth notes, and quarter rests in triple meter.

Melody: Students will perform and compose melodies using the F pentatonic scale.

Harmony: Students will accompany themselves using a broken bordun.

Texture: Students will perform pieces with two ostinati accompaniments.

Form: Students will identify and perform the irregular phrase form of A B C D A B E F. Students will identify and construct an overall arching form that includes introduction, binary form, and coda.