Orff Method Teaches Music Through Play & Creativity

“I like the body percussion because you can make a beat with it.” - Harper

C., Grade 3

By The TAS Lower School

Music Team

The Orff Schulwerk (school work) approach is named for composer and educator Carl Orff. This method allows children to engage with music through their natural instincts of play and creativity using speech, singing, movement, and instruments. "Elemental music is bound up with movement, dance, and speech," said Orff. "One is involved, not as a listener but as a co-performer."

At TAS, our Orff Studio students explore classical, folk, and jazz musical genres and dance. In these classes, we experience music joyously through partner games, body percussion, stories, and other child-centered activities. Internationally recognized teacher of the Orff Method, Doug Goodkin, explains it this way in his poem:

Orff Instrument Rhymes

Logs and trees and dinosaur bones

Let’s all play the xylophones

Shiny bars and silvery tones

Let’s play the metallophones

Ringing bells and flowery fields

Let’s all play the glockenspiels

Xylophones, metallophones, glockenspiels, and other instruments were explicitly selected under Carl Orff's direction. They provide a unique advantage in that the bars can be easily removed and replaced, allowing students to succeed in playing simple patterns. Playing these instruments also helps students become sensitive listeners and ensemble players, as all have their unique timbre (tone color). Learning the "Orff Way" engages the whole child. Students see how different music makes them feel and decide the atmosphere they want to create. It was a delight to see how our Grade 3 and 4 Orff students celebrated their learning in their recent Informances (Informal Performances). These quarterly events set the stage for a continuing positive learning experience.