*The official title of our class, as listed in the OASIS catalog, is “Swing Ensemble for Pitched Percussion.” 

My abbreviation for us is Swing-En – a good name for these episodes.

A New Beginning

The cancellation of classes in the fall of 2000 proved a blessing.  Time was needed to REsuscitate, REthink and REvise Orff for Adults.

But help was at hand!  The symposium “Music as Lifelong Learning” preceded that year’s AOSA conference.  Karl T. Bruhn, the keynote speaker, became a personal guru.

Mr. Bruhn, recognized worldwide as the “Father of Music-Making and Wellness,” spoke directly to me when he said:

• 86% of adult education students take classes for personal and social reasons.
• Adults stop taking classes when they feel that the class expects more of them than they are willing to give.

In fact, Mr. Bruhn set the tone for a new approach. ADULTS were all-important! Everything revolved around adults, their desires, wants and needs. First, appropriate music was chosen with senior adults in mind. Then, Orff arrangements were created for class participants wielding the mallets. The purpose of Orff for Adults became clear and easily stated:

• The goal of all classes is to make music together successfully and joyfully.

Isn’t that just what Orff and Keetman did in “Music for Children?” A conversation with Norm Goldberg provided another idea.  Norm thought In the Mood would be a favorite with seniors. He was right!

With revisions about content and teaching strategies in place, how could enrollment and socialization issues be resolved? Diane Quitmeyer, Manager of the OASIS Center for Music, was uniquely qualified for the task. Diane is a classically-trained musician, an MTBC (Board-Certified Music Therapist), and has an MBA. Besides that, Diane is my friend and a collaborator in this adventure. The business side of her determined that we needed a new class title and description for the catalog. We had tried several – Orff for Adults, Music Circle, Orff – a Music and Movement Experience for Adults, Learning Music in a New Way. All of these titles had led us to the cancellation of classes due to lack of enrollment. I mentioned Norm Goldberg’s suggestion, and our new title and class description became:

IN THE MOOD

If you love music and would like to join others in an ensemble,
you’ll enjoy this class.  Learn to play tunes like In the Mood,
 Feelin’ Groovy and Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy on
special instruments that require no previous experience.
10 one-hour sessions,
but participants enroll for 5 weeks at a time.

Diane had solved the marketing problem by making the class sound fun and interesting and by asking members to commit themselves to only five weeks instead of ten. Of course, we hoped that they would re-up.

What about socializing? Diane figured out that one, too. She proposed starting classes with a Wellness Tip. Each tip was a handout and topics ranged from Correct Breathing and Positive Thinking, Chair Dancing, Spirituality, to Healthy Romance. Before each class, we read the information that Diane gathered and discussed the suggestions she included. It was magic! Gradually, strangers became acquaintances, friends, then extended family – as well as a musical ensemble. Several of those first “In the Mood-ers” attend classes today. But we didn’t know that when we were discussing the new program over lunch one afternoon in 2001. We just knew that we now had a framework to build on. And, thanks to Diane, I felt confident.

Revisit Mary Lou’s previous Swing-En posts,
which chronicle her journey of joyous music making with senior adults.

The post Orff for Adults: Swing-En V first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

IV

 *(The official title of our class, as listed in the OASIS catalog, is “Swing Ensemble for Pitched Percussion.”  My abbreviation for us is Swing-En – a good name for these episodes.)

September, 1999 . . . the very first Orff class with senior adults.  Armed with a terrific set of goals and objectives (see last posting), I had planned a surefire lesson.

We, my seven students and I, sang a pentatonic song about mallet technique.  We learned the names of the Orff instruments in our ensemble and how to hold the mallets.  We went on to play a bordun and quickly advanced to playing the bordun in all of its forms.  Next, after singing the song again, we learned to play the melody – though not alternating mallets, as I had hoped.  But, we did accompany the melody with two forms of the bordun.  I was ecstatic and told the class how much they had accomplished!  I may not have known how to teach senior adults, but even I could read the expression on their faces, “What in the world have we gotten ourselves into?”  Next was the social component of class – conversation, coffee and calories.  I started the conversation with a question about musical backgrounds.  Did anyone take piano lessons, sing in a choir or play in a band?  The “socializing” became musical resumes.  Obviously, I did not know how to engage my new students.

The drive home was a sober one.  Never had I felt like such a failure.  How could I possibly conduct nine more sessions?  Should I quit?  Could I quit?  No – I would try to improve.

First, forget about the goals and objectives.  The next class would concentrate on making music and having fun.  At one of the Orff conferences a presenter (thank you, whoever you are) had arranged the “54^th Street Bridge Song” more commonly known as “Feelin’ Groovy.”  The accompaniment was a repeated chordal pattern that we could manage.  The senior adults appreciated the change from the previous week.  Unfortunately, three of the seven class members had quit.  This was a new kind of teaching where the students voted with their feet and did not return if their expectations were not met.

The following eight weeks were a hodgepodge.  I tried materials that I had used with fifth or sixth graders.  But those selections were often inappropriate for the seniors and sometimes were too difficult.  When the spring session began, the four original members re-upped and were joined by three newbies.  I still wasn’t sure about content, but felt better about relating to senior adults.  There were no classes during the summer.

In the fall of 2000 there were only three enrollees.  Orff for Adults was cancelled.  Financially, OASIS could not offer a class without at least seven members.  Now what?

The post Orff for Adults: Swing-En IV first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

III

*(The official title of our class, as listed in the OASIS catalog, is “Swing Ensemble for Pitched Percussion.”  My abbreviation for us is Swing-En – a good name for these episodes.)

 In the fall of 1999, I was hired to teach Orff for Adults.  My new employer was not a school district, but OASIS, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to “promote successful aging through . . . lifelong learning, healthy living and social engagement.”

There was no syllabus or mission statement or even a guideline – just start doing Orff with mature adults.  Recruiting these adults was done by catalog.  OASIS publishes three of these per year listing, in each issue, a variety of about 150 lectures, ongoing classes, trips and other activities. Participants choose according to their interests, register and pay an enrollment fee.  My class would meet one hour a week for ten sessions.  There were no pre-requisites for class membership.   Everyone was welcome.

The first thing I did was create goals and objectives.  It is embarrassing to share these with you now, as my “cluelessness” will be painfully evident, but here goes:

• echo rhythm patterns performed by the teacher using movement, body percussion, metered speech or instruments
• learn the meaning of the term ostinato and use ostinati as accompaniments (to what!)
• learn the meaning of the term bordun and be able to play borduns in simple, broken and arpeggiated forms
• use correct mallet technique and alternate mallets
• learn to improvise in pentatonic and accompany these tunes

There are five more goals, but enough already!  Looking back fourteen years later, it seems impossible that this class could succeed.  And after the initial class, I was sure that it would not!

The post Orff for Adults: Swing-En III first appeared on Teaching With Orff.

Today was the second-last rehearsal before the spring program.  It began for me, as it does for countless Orff specialists everywhere, with setting up instruments, distributing mallets, selecting needed non-pitched percussion instruments . . . and a sense of excitement!  Class members arrived.  Conversations reached forte and even became a bit staccato.

Rehearsal began as players reluctantly turned their attention to the business at hand and picked up their mallets to review last week’s lesson.  Yes, we remembered the bass part, even adding the glissandos on the right beat.  The harmony part was more difficult since it required three mallets and manipulating them felt awkward.  After some repetition, things fell into place and we could even play both parts together confidently.  The melody was new to us today and the rhythm was uncertain.  But with practice and the bass players joining in, the melody gelled.  Harmony players couldn’t wait to add their off-beat chords.

I wandered to the back of the ensemble, found an instrument and joined the bass section.  It was so much fun to play along, but was I shirking my duty?  When asked if they needed a leader up front, the group almost shouted their resounding “NO!”  We had previously decided to begin class earlier next week but today’s rehearsal was so successful.  Should we just start at our regular time?  “NO!” was the unanimous answer.

Does this sound like your classroom?  It could be except for the fact that these musicians range in age from 54-86!  Welcome to the world of “The Swing Ensemble for Pitched Percussion,” senior adults who make music together and have fun.  We want to share our story – how we learn to play the Orff instruments we have come to love, what kinds of music we like to play and why we keep enrolling in class year after year.  We welcome your comments and questions.  Stay tuned for news of our concert experience!

The post Orff for Adults: Swing-En I first appeared on Teaching With Orff.