Emile Dalcroze

Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (July 6, 1865 – July 1, 1950) was a Swiss

composer, musician and music educator who developed Dalcroze
Eurhythmics, an approach to learning and experiencing music through
movement.
Dalcroze eurhythmics influenced Carl Orff's pedagogy, used in music
education throughout the United States.
• Dalcroze was product of Swiss and Viennese conservatoires and his
mother was Pestalozzian music teacher
• Age 25 he was appointed professor of harmony and solfege at the
Conservatory of Music in Geneva; ; found students to be technically
advanced but unable to feel and express music-found they couldn’t
deal with the simple problems of rhythm and their sense of pitch,
tonality and intonation was defective; they couldn’t hear the
harmonies in their theory exercises and were unable to invent simple
melodies and chord sequences
• This lack of felt understanding of the reasons for the rules and the
purpose of the music led to poor musicianship.
• Dalcroze's method teaches musical concepts, often through movement.
The variety of movement analogues used for musical concepts develop an
integrated and natural musical expression in the student. Turning the body
into a well-tuned musical instrument—Dalcroze felt—was the best path for
generating a solid, vibrant musical foundation.
• The Dalcroze method consists of three equally important elements:
• eurhythmics,
• solfège
• improvisation.[1]
• Together, according to Dalcroze, they comprise the essential musicianship
training of a complete musician. In an ideal approach, elements from each
subject coalesce, resulting in an approach to teaching rooted in creativity
and movement.
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 abstract—we hear it moving through time
Movement is concrete—we 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
Dalcroze lessons contain
• Set-up with quick reaction games and focus activities
• Provide opportunities for the instructor to see ability levels of all.
• Allow opportunities for participants to assess their own abilities
• Introduce the theme through movement—ensuring success by all
• Add sequential challenges in the way of games
• Introduce nuances in music to measure participants’ reactions
• Create improvisation opportunities for the participants
• Introduce singing/chanting activities that respond to the music
• Facilitate large and small group cooperative activities
• Provide problem solving and creative development
• Culminate the theme in a Plastique animée, using composed or improvised music
•
• In a eurhythmics class, students typically are barefoot and are moving
in some way – in locomotion around the room, in gestures with hands,
arms, heads, upper bodies, either in groups or alone. Their
movements are responsive to the music that is sounding in the room.
The teacher probably is improvising this music at the piano, although
sometimes recorded or composed music is used. The task typically is
to move in space using certain guidelines that are specific to the
occasion or musical piece. The teacher shapes the music not only to
the rules of the task, but to what he or she observes the students
doing. The students, in turn, shape their accomplishment of the task
to the nature of the music – its tempo, dynamics, texture, phrase
structure, and style.
Let’s Watch
• https://dalcrozeusa.org