Orff Xylophones in the Orff Approach. A Guide to Incorporating Percussion in Music Education
The Orff Approach is a developmental approach used in music education that combines music, movement, drama, and speech into lessons that are similar to a child's world of play. It was developed by the German composer Carl Orff and his colleague Gunild Keetman in the 1920s and has been used worldwide since. Carl Orff continued to work on the development and spread of his teaching method until the end of his life.
Orff believed that percussive rhythm was a natural basic form of human expression, and he and colleague Gunild Keetman co-composed much of the music for the five-volume series Music for Children, first published in 1950 and still available and used today. Music played on Orff instruments is often simple and easy to play, even for first-time musicians.
In addition to speaking and singing with the voice, instruments used in Orff-based teaching include pitched and non-pitched (or “unpitched”) percussion and a recorder. Orff wanted children to be able to play high-quality instruments that fit their size and abilities, and in 1928 K. Maendler began to develop special pitched (or “barred”) instruments under the direction of composer Carl Orff.
These instruments were modeled after wooden instruments from Africa and bronze instruments from Indonesia and were designed for children to play with. One of the unique features of Orff instruments is their removable bars, which allow students to have greater success by removing bars that are not used.
The bars on an Orff xylophone are typically made of wood or composite material. The wood or composite material gives the Orff xylophone a warmer, more organic sound, whereas metal bars can produce a brighter, more metallic sound.
Using a set of Orff instruments is part of a comprehensive learning approach that allows children to become sensitive listeners and considerate participants as they play together in an ensemble. The instruments have distinct timbres, which help clarify and define all parts. The teacher can create an “orchestra” or ensemble with a large or small group of students, and the parts played in an Orff ensemble may consist of layered rhythmic and/or melodic patterns to accompany singing, storytelling, and movement/dance.
In the Orff Schulwerk method, the xylophone is often used in ensemble playing, with multiple players playing the same or similar rhythms at the same time. This results in a rich, layered sound that is distinct from the sound produced by a single player on an ordinary xylophone.
Overall, the Orff xylophone has a distinctive sound that is characterized by its deep, resonant tone, warm and organic quality, and rich, layered sound in ensemble playing.
A complete music Orff class should have a combination of soprano, alto, and bass xylophones and metallophones, soprano and alto glockenspiels, and appropriate mallets and diatonic instruments with chromatics. Recorders are also used in the Orff approach for older elementary students.
To ensure success, it is helpful to remove bars not included in the desired pentatonic scale. Students should have two mallets and in the beginning, two students can play each instrument by limiting the pitches to an octave. The students can create their own ways to play tones or musical phrases or patter, and the teacher can add one instrument at a time to the ensemble.
According to Orff, “Experience first, then intellectualize” and a successful and creative musical process provides the basis for a positive learning experience.
Soft yarn or felt mallets should be used on xylophones and metallophones, rubber mallets on metallophones, and small hard plastic or wood mallets on glockenspiels.
The sound of this Orff xylophone differs from concert xylophones, as it has a softer, longer-lasting, and tender sound that is perfect for children singing. The resonator box is divided into chambers, which helps to improve the resonance and enhances the sound through the stepping of the chambers.
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