Music Learning Theory & Orff Schulwerk

A Meeting of the Minds

Joan: It was several decades ago that I was first exposed to the ideas of Edwin Gordon. Even as a young teacher studying my first Level of Orff Schulwerk at the time, I knew that Music Learning Theory (MLT) was something important and I needed to investigate. Since then, I have done much reading, attended as many workshops as possible, and worked directly with Music Learning Theory teachers. A few years ago, I was excited to meet and work with Dr.Wendy van Gent of Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD while I was living in Bismarck, ND.

Over the years I have come to appreciate the importance Music Learning Theory places on the diverse richness and vastness of the many tonalities and meters that we have access to in the Schulwerk. Exposing my students to as many tonalities and meters as possible at younger ages while passing beanbags, moving, and working with speech pieces helped them to develop a rich palate of meters and tonalities for musical understanding and musicianship. I found that integrating a multitude of tonalities and meters with my younger students through exploration and responding activities enabled them to understand and create at a higher level when teaching the pieces in Volumes II & IV.

The importance Gordon places on the Laban efforts and movement to experience effort, flow, weight, time and space fit so well with my movement curriculum that I had already developed. The emphasis on learning musical language using the Whole-Part-Whole approach helped solidify my belief that integrating Music Learning Theory into my Orff-based classroom was important in developing a sequential curriculum where my students could explore and develop a meaningful musical vocabulary gained through learning by doing.

Wendy: My journey to MLT came after my public school teaching career. When I left the classroom to pursue my terminal degree, I had the good fortune to work with Dr. Cindy Taggart at Michigan State University. The seeds she planted grew as I began to understand why my teaching techniques and choral program in Virginia Beach, VA were so successful. MLT provided the foundation for the next step in my career as I became a Music Teacher Educator. I embrace the many techniques and methods of delivery for music teachers, and work to connect them to MLT as an explanation of how to refine them before delivery. In other words, “How can I improve my lesson using Orff-Schulwerk techniques while I am planning?” Here are the basic tenets of MLT that can guide lesson planning and delivery:

What is Music Learning Theory?

A Fundamental Definition

We learn music the same way we learn language (Gordon, 2007, 2008; GIML, 2019).

MLT is an explanation of how the brain learns when learning music. It differs from a method or technique of delivery in that it is a learning theory. While multiple methods of delivery can be effective, Dr. Gordon developed his own based on his theory. This ‘Gordon Approach’ should not be confused with MLT. Rather, the reason his techniques are so effective is because they are connected to the theory about how we learn music. I believe that many techniques can be effective, and improved by understanding how our students learn.

Why Should We Consider MLT?

Research

MLT is based on a large body of research. Research conducted and published since the 1970s supports the explanation of learning music through techniques Dr. Gordon expressed. In my opinion and experience, that makes it worthwhile.

Logical

MLT is highly logical. MLT suggests that all humans are born with an aptitude for music. If we use the language/music thought, then if all people are born with an aptitude for language (communication), then all people are born with an aptitude for music.
For example, consider these sequences for language and music (Shouldice, 2015):

Language

1. Listening
2. Speaking
3. Thinking/Conversing
4. Reading
5. Writing

Music

1. Listening
2. Singing, Chanting, Moving,
3. Playing
4. Audiation/Improvising
5. Reading
6. Writing

What does MLT look like in an Orff-Schulwerk lesson?

Next week we will take a look at a lesson Joan has been doing in her classroom for many years. Using MLT thought-processes, Wendy will explain why this lesson has been so successful in helping students develop higher order thinking skills and musical understanding. When one plans lessons integrating the thought process of MLT with the processes of imitate, explore, create, our students are able to think and act with purposeful musicianship.

References

Bolton, B. M., Taggart, C. C., Reynolds, A., Valerio, W. H., & Gordon, E. (2001). Jump right in: The music curriculum: Book 2 Teacher/Student Editions. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications, Inc.
Gordon, E. (2007). Learning sequences in music : a contemporary music learning theory (2007 ed.). Chicago: GIA Publications.
Gordon, E. (2010). Essential preparation for beginning instrumental music instruction. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications.
Gordon, E. (2019). The Gordon Institute for Music Learning. Retrieved from http://giml.org/mlt/audiation/
Shouldice, H. (Producer). (2015). An overview of two core ideas of Gordon’s Music Learning Theory (MLT): Audiation and Sequential Music Learning. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/2vl3tSFC0HY