The Magic of the Orff Approach: the Best Examples on YouTube for Music Teachers

The Orff Schulwerk, also known as the Orff Approach, is a unique developmental method of music education that combines music, movement, drama, and speech. The approach was developed by the German composer Carl Orff and his colleague Gunild Keetman in the 1920s, and it has since been adopted worldwide as a successful approach to teaching music.

Teachers use the Orff Approach to encourage their students to enjoy making music both individually and in groups. Students of the Orff Approach learn music by participating in different musical lessons and activities that teach them not only the basic concepts of music like rhythm, but also the aesthetic qualities of music. The Orff Approach's activities awaken the child's total awareness, sensitize the awareness of space, time, form, line, color, design, and mood - all concepts that musicians are aware of, yet find hard to explain to musical novices. It is also important to note what Orff Approach may be successfully used to teach music not only to children, but also to adult beginners with no prior music experience.

In this article, we will take a look at some of the best activities and games that illustrate Orff principles.

1. Xylophones, including the special Orff Xylophones, are often used in Orff approach, both solo and in student ensembles. This video, as some others on this page, was made by Robert Amchin, Professor of music education at the University of Louisville, and his site contains lots of information on Orff Approach for the musical teachers.

2. Hula Hoop vocal improvisation. Games like this one help students understand connection between movement and sound. 

3. In this activity, students follow a well-known melody using just a pair of sticks to understand and practice the concept of rhythm and tempo.

4. Folk songs and melodies are often chosen for Orff lessons depending of students' own heritage.

5. Orff Approach includes not just performing music, but, sometimes, dancing to it instead.

6. Orff Approach encourages cooperation and group learning. In group activities, each of students may have only one simple instrument, but together they learn to create beautiful melodies. In this particular activity, only 4 students start to play a melody, and others are free to join whenever they feel like it.

7. At the first glance, Orff Approach may look less "serious" than traditional way of teaching music, but Orff students are known for performing complex melodies with professional instruments in big ensembles like this one.