Children Conservatory

WHAT IS ORFF-SCHULWERK?

Orff-Schulwerk is a method of expression through body language, movement, motion, dance, speech, singing, music, and the use of instruments to convey a thought, a story, or an experience. Orff-Schulwerk is one of the most effective approaches for “learning by doing.” The content of Orff-Schulwerk activities involves preparing the body through movements, using speech, rhythmically organizing sounds, and a series of creative processes to turn those rhythms into music. "Play" is essential in every stage of this process.

In the games, learning from one another and learning together is achieved through music and dance activities. The subject is conveyed through games where students change places with each other or with the teacher. In this way, students’ individuality is encouraged, and they experience how to create collaboratively while developing their own creative personality.

Improvisation: This is about bringing out and expressing what is within, through music and dance. Students learn and recognize the boundaries between what they can and cannot do, thereby developing their abilities. Children are given ideas that awaken their imagination. Playing with sounds, experimenting, trial and error, and making music through dialogue are important. It is crucial to allow children to add something of themselves to the activity by feeling time and rhythm without counting. Children talk with their friends, sing, and dance. They communicate through question-and-answer, integration, and discovery games. With what they perceive from themselves and their surroundings, they become active participants, not spectators, in the learning environment.

The instruments used in our classes, such as small percussion instruments, drums, and those developed by Carl Orff and Karl Maedler, including xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels, allow the transformation of internal movements directly into sound. These instruments are like organs that help people express themselves, used both for making music in groups and for individual improvisation and composition.

In Orff-Schulwerk, all sensory organs are used effectively. A child’s communication skills, such as attention, perception, listening, speaking, using the body to express and interpret, are developed. Thus, the child develops in expressing their ideas and thoughts through different methods like movement, rhythm, and music. Since it is a group activity, it strengthens collaboration and communication skills.