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American music education is and has been very eclectic in its approaches. Music
education simply reflects Americas national character, which is a diverse blend of cultures,
philosophies, and academic practices. A basic tenet of educational philosophy and law is that
every child shall have access to free and appropriate education. This idea carries over into
music education, in that music should be for every childnot just for the gifted and talented
minority. There are many music educators whose philosophies embrace the idea of music for
all people. Among these music educators is mile-Henri Jaques-Dalcroze.
PHILOSOPHY
The Dalcroze philosophy centers on an idea that has been valued at various times
throughout history, that the synthesis of the mind, the body, and the emotions is fundamental
to all learning. Plato said in his Laws: "Education has two branches, one of gymnastics,
which is concerned with the body and the other of music, which is designed for the
improvement of the soul (Pennington, 1925, p. 9). Jaques-Dalcroze believed that the goal of
every musician is to be sensitive and expressive, and to express music through movement,
sound, thought, feeling, and creation.
Mead (1994) describes the Dalcroze philosophy in terms of four basic premises:
1. Eurhythmics awakens physical, aural, and visual images of music in the mind.
2. Solfge (sight-singing and ear training), improvisation, and eurhythmics together
work to improve expressive musicality and enhance intellectual understanding.
3. Music may be experienced through speech, gesture, and movement. These can
likewise be experienced in time, space, and energy.
4. Humans learn best when learning through the senses. Music should be taught through
the tactile, the kinesthetic, the aural, and the visual senses.
HISTORY
mile-Henri Jaques was born into a musical home on July 6, 1865. His Swiss parents
were living in Vienna, and young mile and his sister Hlne were supported in their artistic
education by their mother Julie, herself a fine music teacher and pianist. She had studied the
philosophy and teaching methods of educational reformer Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827).
He was an early advocate of teaching through the senses and through experience, not merely
through the written word. He also supported the addition of vocal music instruction to school
curricula. Pestalozzi's influence on Madame Jaques was evident in her son as well. Since the
Dalcroze approach centers on the philosophy that experience in music is key to musical
understanding, it seems that both Pestalozzi and Dalcroze philosophies share common
ground (Collins, 1993). Childhood in the Jaques household was a time of singing, playing,
dancing, acting, and creating. Emile had a happy childhood and was described as "lively,
friendly, and even contemplative for a child" (Spector, 1990, p. 5).
In 1875, the family moved to Geneva. After several years in a private school, mile
Jaques enrolled at the Geneva Conservatory. At the age of eighteen, he had not yet decided
upon a career. The following year, 1884, he went to Paris where he studied drama at the
Comdie Franaise and music at the Paris Conservatory. Young Emile reveled in the artistic
atmosphere of the city. A passionate young actor and musician, he also found time to
compose and perform, singing as he accompanied himself on the piano.
While in Paris, mile Jaques became familiar with the teachings of Mathis Lussy (18281910), a piano instructor and writer. Lussy wrote extensively on the subject of expressive
musical performance and musical understanding (Caldwell, 1995). Through Lussy, mile
Jaques learned of the process of scholarly inquiry: to recognize problems; to approach them
scientifically; and to devise methods for their solution (Spector, 1990). mile Jaques
interests were shifting toward an emphasis in music, and after a visit with his family in
Geneva in the summer of 1886, he accepted the position of assistant conductor and chorus
master at the Thtre des Nouveaux in Algiers, North Africa. Algeria had been a French
colony since 1847, and consequently felt the influence of Western European culture. mile
Jaques underwent two changes while enjoying his first professional employment. Feeling that
his youthful appearance might inhibit his effectiveness as a leader, he began sporting the
mustache and goatee he would maintain for the rest of his life. This was also the time when
he added Dalcroze to his birth name Jaques. It seems that a composer of polkas in Bordeaux,
France, also had the name Emile Jaques. To avoid confusion, mile-Henri borrowed the
name Valcroze from a friend, changed the first letter to D, and was known thereafter as
Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (Spector, 1990).
After one season, Jaques-Dalcroze returned to Geneva in 1887 and, later that year, moved
to Vienna and enrolled at the Vienna Conservatory in the studio of Anton Bruckner (18241927). Their collaboration was brief: Bruckner insisted that "der dumme Franzose" study
harmony from the beginning, which Jaques-Dalcroze refused to do. Eventually Bruckner
attempted to have Jaques-Dalcroze thrown out of the conservatory, but was thwarted by the
faculty. Adolf Prosniz (1827-1917) invited Jaques-Dalcroze into his studio. It may have been
Prosniz who helped Jaques-Dalcroze focus his musical concentration and learn to study
music with greater depth (Spector, 1990). In spite of his clashes with Bruckner, JaquesDalcroze considered their association valuable. Bruckner's intolerance and authoritative style
were the antithesis of Jaques-Dalcroze's loving, playful nature. Perhaps this experience
helped to solidify his idea that an effective teacher is one who respects and educates the
whole child.
Spring of 1889 brought Jaques-Dalcroze's return to the Paris Conservatory and
composition study with Gabriel Faur. The twenty-four-year-old musician made the most of
his opportunities, moving in the same musical circles as Csar Franck and other artists of his
stature. Jaques-Dalcroze continued to compose an assortment of songs, ensembles, and
sketches based on the customs of the day.
Dalcroze
With the outbreak of World War I, the Hellerau school was closed and a permanent
school was founded in Geneva. Jaques-Dalcroze, recognizing the need for qualified
instructors, designed a professional training curriculum that enabled others to teach his
approach. Instructors continue to graduate in Dalcroze Eurhythmics from the Dalcroze
School in Geneva. These graduates have established training schools in many cities around
the globe (Dutoit, 1971). Jaques-Dalcroze continued writing, composing, and teaching in
Geneva until his death in 1950. Besides his teaching philosophy, he is also remembered as a
prolific composer of songs, operettas, and large-scale festival presentations.
Today, Dalcroze Eurhythmics is taught in music preparatory schools and is part of the
music theory and aural skills curriculum in conservatories and universities throughout North
America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Training in the approach is available in the United
States and in Europe. In addition, national and international professional organizations exist
to support eurhythmics teachers and those interested in pursuing the experience.
Jaques-Dalcroze wanted to create an approach to music education in which sensory and
intellectual experiences are fused into one neuromuscular experiencereinforcing the bodys
response to music (Caldwell, 1995). He felt that this would lead to performance at high
levels, beyond expectation (Carder, 1990). He believed that music education should center on
active involvement in musical experience. Technique and intellectual understanding are
important, but active experience must come first. Todays music education is based on the
"sound before the symbol" philosophy, a legacy of Jaques-Dalcroze and Pestalozzi before
him. Jaques-Dalcroze felt that students could practice and learn musical expression through
the active discovery of time, space, and energy. He believed that as music moves, so should
musicians; therefore, rhythm is elemental to this philosophy. Jaques-Dalcroze taught that
through rhythmic movement, musicians could experience symmetry, form, tension and
relaxation, phrasing, melody, and harmony. Experience should teach the musical elements.
DESCRIPTION
The Dalcroze approach, often identified as Eurhythmics, consists of three related
components. The first component is solfge, or ear training. Jaques-Dalcroze believed that
students must learn sophisticated listening skills and develop "inner hearing." Musicians
should be able to hear what they write and write what they hear. Music notation is
meaningless unless realized in real performance or in the imagination. Solfge is taught using
the fixed-do approach, based on the French system. Students develop a sensitivity to pitches,
their relation to each other, and to the tonal framework. What makes Dalcroze solfge unique
is that it is always combined with rhythm and movement, both locomotor and nonlocomotor.
The second component of a Dalcroze music education is improvisation. Improvisation
skills are developed sequentially and used in many ways. An instructor may play the piano
while students improvise movement, react spontaneously to verbal instructions, or change in
musical character. In the reverse, a student might improvise movement while another
accompanied with a drum, at the piano, or in song. Students soon develop skills to be able to
improvise musically and expressively on their own instruments. These spontaneous
performance activities are designed to improve response time and communication accuracy
(Mead, 1994).
Dalcroze
The final piece in the puzzle is the eurhythmics itself. Often considered the core of the
Dalcroze approach, eurhythmics was actually the last part to be developed. It is of equal
importance with rhythmic solfge and improvisation, but not more. The term eurhythmics is
from the Greek "eu," meaning good, and "rhythmy," meaning rhythm, proportion, and
symmetry. This idea embodies Dalcroze philosophy in two ways. First, human beings can
experience symmetry, balance, and rhythmic accuracy in music through symmetry, balance,
and rhythmic accuracy in movement. Second, the three components of the Dalcroze approach
(rhythmic solfge, improvisation, and eurhythmics) are interdependent and must be taught
together. The three complement and reinforce each other, providing a complete and balanced
musical education. Modern music educators and music therapists often identify the approach
as Eurhythmics, though all three facets are implied.
A typical introductory Dalcroze lesson involves activities or games that require total
mental and kinesthetic awareness. The lesson is presented in a somatic approach that allows
the participant to hear and react physically to the musical stimulus, which produces body
awareness and sensations. These physical sensations are transmitted back to the brain as
emotions and a more developed comprehension of the experience. It is common to begin a
Dalcroze lesson with walking to improvised music and responding to changes in tempo,
dynamics, and phrase in quick reaction games. Through these activities, the students begin to
understand how physical adjustments, such as energy and flow of the body weight, need to
occur in order to physicalize the music. Through these basic instructions, the teacher can
address musical elements such as pulse, beat, subdivision, meter, rhythm, phrase, and form.
Intermediate Dalcroze lessons can address polymeters, polyrhythms, canon, tension and
relaxation, breathing, conducting, counterpoint, and the interactions of anacrusis, crusis, and
metacrusis. Creativity is pervasive throughout the lesson. All classes are in a group setting
where the participants interact with partners or small groups to develop the nonverbal
communication skills and creativity necessary in music and movement.
Plastique Anime, or more often referred to as plastique, is the culminating experience in
a Dalcroze class. A plastique combines the skills addressed throughout the class, and from
previous rhythmic experiences, into a loosely based choreography that is both physically
expressive and musical. The students are provided with the basics of the requirements and
are asked to spontaneously create an interactive composition with the music. Someone who is
stepping into a Dalcroze studio at that moment would see music in motion and might not be
aware that the movement is spontaneous.
Modern music education benefits from Jaques-Dalcroze's teaching in many ways.
Today's teachers focus on active learning on the part of the students. This implies less
instruction and more experience for the students (Caldwell, 1993). Dalcroze philosophy also
places emphasis on musical behavior and expression, and their demonstration through
observable movement. Visible evidence of musical understanding through experience takes
some of the mystery out of the verbal definitions of musicality.
Another aspect of modern music education inherited from Jaques-Dalcroze is the
celebration of the individual. Teachers expect to provide appropriate musical experiences for
all their students. Creativity and imaginary play are encouraged through improvisation.
Music class is student oriented, with groups of students actively thinking about, listening to,
and analyzing and creating music (Johnson, 1993).
Dalcroze exercises and pedagogical principles are easy to apply to most teaching
situations (Johnson, 1993). Multiage classrooms are becoming popular; Dalcroze exercises
can be adapted to suit a variety of student skill and experience levels. Dalcroze teacher
training allows instructors to become creative and flexible in the give-and-take of modern
education. The ability to be spontaneous in the classroom is valuable for all educators.
Teachers can follow through unexpected teaching opportunities with ease, and provide
students with a model of an adaptable and creative personality.
DALCROZE PHILOSOPHY
Jaques-Dalcroze intended for his approach to develop musical understanding through
eurhythmics and to help students develop immediate physical responsiveness to rhythmic
stimuli. Developing muscular rhythms and nervous sensibility would ultimately lead to the
capacity to discriminate even slight gradations of duration, time, intensity, and phrasing.
Through rhythmic movement, students would begin to think and express themselves more
musically. Initially, Jaques-Dalcrozes conception of eurhythmics was designed for the
education of conservatory musicians but soon expanded to the early musical education of
children, and to those with special needs. His philosophy grew to include his belief in the
development of a more musical society through rhythmic training in the schools (Campbell,
1991).
Jaques-Dalcroze believed the learning process involved direct sensory experience. He
advocated kinesthetic learning. Through movement, learning comes through experience in
addition to observation. Varied musical experiencesincluding movement, singing,
improvisation, music reading and writing, and playing instrumentsreinforce musical
learning (Johnson, 1993). Moreover, Jaques-Dalcroze believed that the way to health was
through a balance of mind, body, and senses. Many people have discovered that they can
improve and refine skills by rehearsing a combination of movements, first in the real body
and then imagining going through these movements with special fluidity in the kinesthetic
body. One can then return the same movement in the real body, allowing the improved flow
of kinesthetic rehearsal to carry over into actual movement (Abramson, 1980).
Jaques-Dalcroze placed special emphasis on child-centered learning. He developed a
particular interest in the natural development of the child (Johnson, 1993). Across ages,
Jaques-Dalcroze developed music teaching strategies that were age and ability-level
appropriate. His approach to music learning was broken down into experiences for the
primary grades, intermediate grades, and upper grades (Mead, 1994).
Dalcroze
REFERENCES
Abramson, R. M. (1980). Dalcroze-Based Improvisation. Music Educators Journal. January,
1980.
Brick, R. M. (1973). Eurhythmics: One aspect of audition. Volta Review, 75(3), 155-160.
Brown, J., Sherrill, C., & Gench, B. (1981). Effects of an integrated physical education/music
program in changing early childhood perceptual/motor performance. Perceptual and
Motor Skills, 53(1), 151-154.
Caldwell, J. T. (1993). A Dalcroze perspective on skills for learning music. Music Educators
Journal, 79(7), 27-28.
Caldwell, J. T. (1995). Expressive singing: Dalcroze eurhythmics for voice. Englewood
Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Campbell, P. S. (1991). Rhythmic movement and public school education: progressive views
in the formative years. Journal of Research in Music Education, 19, 12-22.
Carder, P. (Ed.). (1990). The eclectic curriculum in American music education (2nd ed.).
Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference.
Collins, D. L. (1993). Teaching choral music. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Dutoit, C. L. (1971). Music movement therapy. Geneva, Switzerland: Institut JaquesDalcroze.
Frego, R. J. D. (1995). Music movement therapy for people with AIDS: The use of music
movement therapy as a form of palliative care for people with AIDS. International
Journal of Arts Medicine, 4(2), 21-25.
Hibben, J. K. (1984). Movement as musical expression in a music therapy setting. Music
Therapy, 4, 91-97.
Hibben, J. K. (1991). Identifying dimensions of music therapy activities appropriate for
children at different stages of group development, Arts in Psychotherapy, 18, 301-10
Jaques-Dalcroze, E. (1920). The Jaques-Dalcroze method of eurhythmics: rhythmic
movement, Vols. 1 and 2. London: Novello, 1920. (Orgininal work published in 1918)
Jaques-Dalcroze, E. (1921). Rhythm, music and education (H. F. Rubinstein, Trans.). New
York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. (Original work published in 1921).
Jaques-Dalcroze, E. (1931). Eurhythmics, art and education (F. Rothwell, Trans.; C. Cox,
Ed.). New York: Barnes. (Original work published in 1930).
Johnson, M. D. (1993). Dalcroze skills for all teachers. Music Educators Journal, 79(8), 4245.
Martin, F., Dnes, T., Berchtold, A., Gagnebin, H., Reichel, B., Dutoit, C., Stadler, E. (1965).
mile Jaques-Dalcroze: Lhomme, le compositeur, le crateur de la rhythmique.
Neuchtel, Swisse: Baconnire.
Mead, V. H. (1994). Dalcroze eurhythmics in today's music classroom. New York: Schott
Music Corporation.
Odom, S. L. (1998) Jaques-Dalcroze, Emile. International Encyclopedia of Dance, Vol. 3.
New York: Oxford.
Pennington, J. (1925). The importance of being rhythmic. New York: Knickerbocker Press.
Spector, I. (1990). Rhythm and life: The work of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze. Stuyvesant, NY:
Pendragon Press.
Swaiko, N. (1974). The role and value of a eurhythmics program in a curriculum for deaf
children. American Annals of the Deaf, 119(3), 155-160.
RECOMMENDED ADDITIONAL READINGS
Aronoff, F. W. (1983). Dalcroze strategies for music learning in the classroom. International
Journal of Music Education, 2, 23-25.
Bachmann, M. L. (1991). Dalcroze Today. An Education through and into Music (D. Parlett,
Trans.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Dale, M. (2000). Eurhythmics for Young Children: Six Lessons for Fall. Ellicott City,
Maryland: MusiKinesis, 2000.
Driver, E. (1951). A Pathway to Dalcroze Eurhythmics. London: T. Nelson and Sons.
Findlay, E. (1971). Rhythm and Movement: Applications of Dalcroze Eurhythmics. Secaucus,
New Jersey: Summy Birchard, 1971.
Joseph, A. (1982). A Dalcroze Eurhythmics Approach to Music Learning in Kindergarden
Through Rythmic Movement, Ear- training and Improvisation. Doctoral dissertation,
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.
Moore, S. F. (1992). The Writings of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze: Toward a theory for the performance of musical rhythm. Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University. (University
Micro-films International, MI 48106).
R. J. David Frego
School of Music
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
Philosophy of a Dalcroze-based lesson:
The human body is the first instrument
Rhythm bridges what we hear with what we do
Lessons integrate rhythmic skills with ear-training and improvisation
Music is abstractwe hear it moving through time
Movement is concretewe see it moving through space
Rhythmic movement manipulates time, space, and energy
Movement generates feelings, which form emotions
All lessons develop listening skills, reaction, focus, self-control, coordination,
cooperation, self-expression, imagination, and creativity
Further reading:
Findlay, E. (1971). Rhythm and movement: Applications of Dalcroze
Eurhythmics. Miami: Warner.
Frego, D., & Leck, H. (2005). Creating Artistry Through Movement. (DVD).
Milwaukee, Hal Leonard #08744511. ISBN: 0634098381.
Mead, V. H. (1994). Dalcroze eurhythmics in todays music classroom.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
www.dalcrozeusa.org/
Discovering Space:
Discovering space in eight beats, four beats, and 16 beats
Awareness of ones own space and the space of others
Locomotor and nonlocomotor realization of space
Pulse & Beat:
Circular clapping and quick reaction games
Disappearing beat game
Subtract or add one beat
Substitute beat with a clap
Rankin Family: Fare Thee Well, Love (Tell My Ma)
Subdivision: Circular clapping; change size of circle on hip or hop
Tapping on a partners hand; use vertical space
Rock, Paper, Scissors game
Walking the subdivisions
Walking and tapping the subdivisions
Ennio Morricone: The Mission (Falls)
Subdivision Canon:
Walk the previous pulse
Move the walking pulse up to the hands
Move the hand pulse up to the tongue
Overlapping and continuous canon
Meter:
Canon:
Visual Canon: four beats behind; two beats behind; one beat
Interrupted canon with partners and ropes
Interrupted canon individually
Overlapping canon with partners and individually
Brother John Canon with movement