This book has two ancestors. Lowell Mason, who established vocal music in the curriculum of the Boston Public Schools in 1838, believed that children ought to be taught to sing as they were taught to read. In other words, Mason viewed music literacy as the foundation of school music teaching and the key to broader understanding of the art. A little more than one hundred years later Carl Orff developed a different approach to pedagogy, one in which the student was presented with musical problems and expected to improvise independent solutions. Music insight and independence were the result of this experimentation with all elements of music. It is the special contribution of this book to forge a fresh approach to music teaching and learning from these two very different sources. This well-crafted synthesis offers the busy teacher help in organization and evaluation, as well as an abundance of ideas for classroom improvisation and musical experimentation. Finally, every page of this book is full of the conviction of a caring, able, experienced teacher. Arvida Steen's exemplary work demonstrates that young children can master musical material in a typical school situation - and that exploration is the means to mastery. Many children's lives have already been affected by her teaching; this book ensures that many more will benefit from what she has learned.

Jane Frazee Director, Institute for Contemporary Music Education University of St Thomas

There is no question that Orff-Schulwerk has become established in the practices of many American general music teachers. Summer workshops can be found in nearly every corner of the United States and Canada. The American Orff-Schulwerk Association and Music for Children-Canada continue to develop chapters, hold national conferences and attract increasing numbers of members. Listings for music positions in elementary, middle-school and college-level institutions will often request Orff certification. Since its introduction to North America in the late 1950s Orff-Schulwerk has taken root and flourished in music classrooms everywhere.

Surely the reason for this success lies in the fact that Orff-Schulwerk is a teaching approach which promises that we and our students will interact as partners in making music. Playing instruments, singing and moving are treated as ensemble experiences, requiring mutual awareness in order to create successful musical expression. Students are not passively involved in their education. Rather, the room is full of their purposeful activity. We teachers are the guides who introduce the focus of the lesson, and then encourage the students to develop it until they take over, making music on their own. The responsibility for music belongs to all of us, teachers and students.

This cooperative approach to music making has been facilitated by Carl Orff's view that music can grow, organically, from small motives to phrases and sections, from simple to evolving complexities. Since these initial ideas are small ones, they can be provided by the children as well as by the teacher. Hence, the development of the lesson can involve every member of the class; all ideas may be examined through individual and group effort that may lead to improvisation and perhaps ultimately, to composition. The fact that the student is an integral part of this process is, of course, powerful and exciting.

Consequently, if improvisation based on the musical ideas of students is to be an integral part of music making, the structure of the lesson will need to be flexible, allowing for student responses, suggestions and pace of learning. This emphasis on improvisation also means that instruction is not given for its own sake, which students take or leave. Rather, instruction through improvisation invites the interaction of students with the music, each other and the instructor. Music taught with this in mind promises to be flexible and adaptive to student's abilities and motivations.

For Orff-Schulwerk teachers, a principal aim of this interaction is the development of the musically self-sufficient student. To achieve such independence students must be able to remember music, as well as read and write their own musical ideas and those of others. Reading, writing and remembering become important to students when their ideas are encouraged and when they realize they have many musical possibilities from which to choose. For instance, my students want to remember, read and write when they realize that they can then compare and select from an ever wider body of musical materials. They are also motivated to master these skills when they realize they will be able to preserve what they and their class create. It is this linkage of skill with motivation that is one of the great strengths of Orff-Schulwerk. When students are involved in the processes of creation they will want to acquire the tools needed to make them, ultimately, musically independent.

The same interplay between motivation and skill acquisition is involved in performance. Children quite naturally speak, sing, move and play instruments. Yet their contributions are obviously limited by their skill level. There is no better way to create the desire to raise that level than to include their contributions in the musical output of the class. The level of skill our students use when performing, as well as when reading and writing, is an acknowledgement of their independence and understanding of music. As their awareness of their musical control and expressiveness is enhanced they will perform with increasing independence from our instruction.

Musical growth for students in an Orff-Schulwerk program is assured because participation with others is central to instruction. We share with our students the responsibility for modeling musical behaviors. They share with us the responsibility for expanding the themes of each lesson. The enhanced responsibilities of student to student as well as student to teacher leads virtually without exception to increased student motivation and to student growth.

In an Orff-Schulwerk classroom our growth as music teachers is also assured. To guide and open up instruction to embrace our students' ideas require quick analysis. We must be able to make musical decisions based on knowledge of rhythm, melody, form, timbre, range and technique. In order to encourage our children to contribute their ideas we must be able to recognize, remember and perform them as we hear them. The tools of orchestration enable us to adapt and adjust settings during the lesson to match the cornfort level of individuals and classes. These skills are important when we plan each lesson and when we respond to unanticipated problems presented by each class. If we are open to learning about music with our students we model the behaviors we value in our students. A classroom where everyone is learning is an exciting place to be. With so many reasons to recommend the approach, we are sometimes unprepared for its difficulties.

When we begin to use Orff-Schulwerk in our teaching we are often confronted with unexpected problems. Instruction that in theory appeared to be so much fun and free of encumbrances may be, in practice, full of pitfalls; a structure to hold a series of lessons together isn't always clear. Nor did Carl Orff provide much in the way of a solution. Instead, he was determined to avoid the old practices of his day that stressed learning through lectures rather than learning through participation. Hence, when we look to Music for Children for method and structure - as distinct from materials - we find little that is relevant for American elementary school children. Since most of us are under the stress of teaching many large classes in quick succession, the lack of method and structure can lead to confusion.

A second problem is that the Orff approach abounds in choices. Published lessons and settings encourage the use of movement, speech, song and instruments. In the flurry of introducing many activities we run the risk of losing the focus on learning and knowing music. Instead, we end up concentrating on the activities rather than the musical concepts present in each performance. The proliferation of materials published and presented at workshops and courses encourages activity-centered teaching and requires us to be skillful in selecting materials and planning lessons for specific learning tasks.

But if an abundance of activities can pose problems so can too great an emphasis on structure. When we sense an absence of structure we strive to provide it, sometimes to the detriment of our underlying Orff philosophy. Lessons beautifully taught that remain at the imitation stage of development are not lessons that acknowledge a philosophy of group interaction and improvisation.

Orff's challenge to us is not to see how closely we can imitate his classroom practices. Instead, he challenges those of us attracted to his philosophy to adapt his pedagogical examples and his musical ideas to the new situations in which we find ourselves. He did not guide the development of curriculum or materials. He left it up to each generation of teachers to reinterpret his ideas for themselves. There is no promise of a safe method here. There is rather the basic idea that is open to each of us to interpret for ourselves. The goal of this book is to help each of us develop a curriculum and lessons that address our children's needs with our best thinking and planning.

The possibilities and problems sketched above lead inevitably to three questions facing every music teacher.

• How can I form a curriculum that addresses my students' needs?
• How can I choose the best materials for my lessons from the abundance of materials available?
• How can I plan lessons that have a clear focus, and are also open to frequent student conmbutions?

Exploring Orff addresses these critical questions in the chapters that follow. A curriculum outline is presented, but it will be viewed as a flexible tool which will help us respond to the changing characteristics of our classrooms and schools. Suggestions for several arrangements of goals within a grade level, and from grade to grade, are given. The outline may also be used as a reference to connect it and the materials that follow with a curriculum you are already using. The link between curriculum goals and student progress -lesson planning - is addressed in a chapter which discusses the elements of a good plan. In Part II a flexible curriculum is outlined. Lesson suggestions for each objective are given, illustrating various ways to encourage individual and group participation. Following the lessons references are made to materials from other Orff-Schulwerk publications which may be used to address the same goal.

The pioneering work of designing a curriculum for teachers of the Orff approach was Discovering Orff by Jane Frazee with Kent Kreuter (New York: Schott, 1987). This invaluable book introduces the reader to Orff media, pedagogy and orchestration theory. A curriculum for grades one through five demonstrates the application of Orff's ideas to teaching elementary music in American schools. The book is a basic resource for the teacher who wishes to understand the Orff philosophy and classroom application.

I was attracted to this approach by the curiosity and passion for learning demonstrated by Orff teachers. That is the spirit in which Exploring Orff is written. Orff-Schulwerk is applied in a wide variety of teaching styles and environments, demonstrating that many interpretations are possible. This book seeks to support your using this approach by adding my thoughts concerning curriculum and lesson planning. A variety of materials and resources are offered to give flexibility to your program as you guide your children to explore, learn and apply their understanding of music.

This book cannot help but reflect my own experiences with my children and our shared journey toward musical independence. This book will achieve an even greater goal if it can help you and your students achieve your objectives while exploring music through Carl Orff's challenging approach to learning together.

When I began this project I had a strong sense of purpose but knew very little about how to proceed. I am very grateful to have had the encouragement, the benefit of probing questions and the professional knowledge of my editor, Kent Kreuter. When the writing is especially clear we can thank him.

John Harper of Schott Publishers, London, has long been a friend of Orff-Schulwerk in America. I thank him for his support of this project. Though we have worked together at a great distance, I have appreciated the good humor and expertise of Simon Mathews, Schott Production Manager for this book.

This book reflects my experiences at The Blake School and I am indebted to H. John Stander, former Head and now Tyler Tingley, Head of School, Beth Passi, Lower School Director, and my colleagues for their encouragement and understanding. A sabbatical leave gave me the opportunity to begin this project. I am particularly grateful for the children who teach me each day as we make music together.

My love for music and teaching was given early direction by the inspired pedagogy of Jos Wuytack. Hours of lively discussion with Eunice Boardman broadened my interest in curriculum and teaching sequence. In recent years Richard Gill has stimulated me with new, creative Orff approaches to music learning and music literature.

I am indebted to the music teachers with whom I have been privileged to work: Nancy Miller, who combines teaching, movement and music with joy; Judy Bond, who assures us of a wonderful musical adventure with 'It will all work out'; Mary Goetze, who nourishes the artistry of the child's voice with clear sequences and beautiful music; and Cindy Hall, who makes the most simple music come alive with drama and playfulness. Two colleagues have been particularly helpful by reading and commenting on the material at several stages of this book's development. I am thankful for the insights and criticism of John Woodward and Jay Broeker.

Finally, I acknowledge my greatest debt to Jane Frazee. She is a master Orff teacher, and ardent, effective champion of artistic teaching, my mentor and friend who continues to challenge and amaze me by demonstrating how much more I can learn about the art of teaching and the art of making music.

Arvida Steen