The Dalcroze Method:

Three branches

Eurhythmics: Although the term has come to encompass the entire Dalcroze method, Eurhythmics is actually one of three branches that make up a Dalcroze education. In brief, eurhythmics uses kinetic exercises to develop musical skills.

Solfege: Dalcroze Solfege is most unique in its connection with Eurhythmics. It incorporates the auditory, cognitive, and rhythmic skills developed through Eurhythmics; uses the voice to study pitch relationships; and links these experiences to music theory and notation.

Improvisation: Solfege and Eurhythmics are synthesized at the piano, where all musical skills combine spontaneously to create music involving all concepts— phrasing, rhythm, melody, harmony, and dynamics of time and energy.

These branches are not discrete, but interrelate and overlap. For example, improvising movement in response to melodic phrases may occur in the Eurhythmics class; conducting a rhythmic phrase in mixed meters while vocally improvising melody may occur in the solfege class; and creating rhythmic and harmonic variations on a given melody may occur in the improvisation lesson. All of these activities involve all of the branches. Where there is no separate class time for Solfege and Improvisation, the Eurhythmics class is likely to take on a more comprehensive scope.

As no parameters of music are overlooked, the Dalcroze approach forms a complete education in music — eartraining, sightsinging, theory, performance, and profound musicianship.

Three essential pedagogical principles

Listening: Jaques-Dalcroze was mystified to find that theory was taught on paper, using the eye and the intellect, but without the students' having any idea of the sounds they were working with. He introduced music as sound into the theory class, and found ways for students to interact with it in a pedagogical process.

Theory Follows Practice: The experience of music precedes its abstract representation and analysis. A good Eurhythmics teacher never introduces a musical idea in notation and then attempts to explain it verbally. Instead, a sequenced series of exercises, developing logically from the known to the unknown, leads the students through a total experience of a particular concept to the point that they have mastered it in hearing and performance. Then and only then, the teacher links the students' understanding to notation, theory, analysis, and performance. This process ensures that the concept holds deep musical meaning from the start, rather than beginning with a purely intellectual view and somehow tacking on musicianship later. Notation easily follows as a representation of a known experience, avoiding much rote drill for elementary levels and providing a new perspective for advanced and professional musicians.

Improvisation: As a pedagogical principle, improvisation occurs on three levels. First, the teacher brings music into the class by improvising at the piano. As described above, the skilled Dalcrozian's improvisation is an expression of his/her own experience of the method, and in turn, it becomes a way of imparting this experience to students. The piano guides the class as a foundation for listening, and thus provides the impetus for students' activity.

Second, students improvise in movement, singing, and with instruments. As in any subject, the ability to manipulate concepts, rather than merely repeat memorized information, shows true understanding. The process of improvisation also develops understanding, as students come to "own" the musical idea in ways that are deeply absorbed. In addition, observing improvised activity gives the teacher a clear reading of what the student has grasped and what needs continued work.

Third, the teacher improvises pedagogically. As a result of a thorough Dalcroze training, including study of Dalcroze pedagogy, the teacher embodies a working knowledge of the philosophical principles of the method. This allows an invaluable flexibility in the classroom. If students are unable to perform an exercise, the teacher is not "stuck"; instead, s/he is able to seek and develop the missing skills, change course, even create new exercises on the moment.

Teaching Dalcroze Eurhythmics

Teacher-training programs involve study and juried examinations in Eurhythmics, Solfege, Improvisation, and Pedagogy. There are three levels of training: the Dalcroze Certificate, which requires a bachelor's degree in music; the Dalcroze License, requiring a masters degree in music; and the Diplome, which is only granted through studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jaques-Dalcroze never codified his "method" in a rigid way; in this sense, it is much more a philosophy than a method. What he developed was a way of teaching and learning -- a set of skills, strategies and principles that work within a pedagogical process for both teacher and student.

Although Jaques-Dalcroze began developing his work about a century ago, it is neither that new nor that old. His educational philosophy -- involving a natural and humanistic approach, child- centered curricula, knowledge through experience and discovery, and a process moving sequentially from the known to the unknown -- directly agrees with the philosophies of earlier educational theorists, most notably the Swiss lineage that includes Rousseau and Pestalozzi. It is also in accord with the work of Dewey, Bruner, and much contemporary educational theory.

In the century since its inception, Eurhythmics has branched out to varied approaches. Each teacher finds a personal way of teaching Eurhythmics depending on individual skills, interests, cultures and teaching situations. The method is passed down through direct experience with individual mentor teachers. Just as experience is the basis of learning, it is also the basis of teaching. Thus as time has passed, variations on the method have developed. Some teachers work primarily with children; some are interested in the psychic and aesthetic experience of Eurhythmics; others may apply its therapeutic value; while still others focus on its creative movement aspects or other extra-musical benefits.

A Personal Perspective

My own approach to Eurhythmics holds to its original purpose of teaching music skills, from children to professional musicians. Because my lessons focus on specific skills and concepts, I am concerned to near-obsession with the sequential development of each lesson. The complex puzzle of creating a well-structured lesson involves a painstaking, logical layering of skills and ideas in an incremental progression leading to a definite conclusion.

Someone once asked me whether I am of the "old school" or the "new school" of Dalcroze Eurhythmics. While I don't believe Dalcrozians are so distinctly separated into two camps, it's an interesting question. Certainly I am of the "old school" in adhering to the foundational principles and purposes that Jaques-Dalcroze espoused. However, Eurhythmics teaching begins with the student, and the method is beautifully flexible to respond to changing needs and circumstances. It would be foolish try to teach in America today in the exact way that Jaques-Dalcroze taught in Geneva, Switzerland a century ago. As he responded to his students, time, and culture, so we must respond to ours. In that sense, "old-school" thinking requires us to move forward with "new school" lessons as time goes on.

One of the main differences between new and old approaches is in the use of movement. In Jaques-Dalcroze's corseted, physically-inhibited culture, he found it necessary to provide an "initiation into movement" and experimented with finding various new ways to move. This aspect of his work had a profound influence on the development of creative movement, rhythmic gymnastics, and modern dance.

Our approach to movement today needs to be appropriate to our current climate, neither approaching our students from Jaques-Dalcroze's perspective nor borrowing from now-developed movement disciplines outside of our expertise. While many of my colleagues disagree, I believe there is a dangerous tendency for Eurhythmics to become a weak form of creative movement or dance, rather than a uniquely powerful form of music experience.

My perspective is unique among Dalcrozians as I am also a professional ballet and modern dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Although one might assume my Eurhythmics classes would be more dance-like than other teachers' classes, I am influenced in the opposite direction. While my work is very physical, I draw a clear line between movement for music's sake and movement for its own sake, the line I fear is becoming blurred in our field. In teaching Eurhythmics, the value of my knowledge of movement technique is in refining students' movement toward a kinesthetically musical experience, not merely an exploration of movement itself.

Infinity and Limitations

Why isn't the Dalcroze approach as well-known and widely-implemented as other methods? Ironically, some of its most valuable aspects impede its commercial viability and create challenges for its implementation in school programs.

Administrators and parents are likely to judge a music program on the basis of performance, and class time can be woefully limited. Teachers under pressure to produce an appearance of progress in short time may prefer methods that provide "quick results" rather than the "deep results" of the Dalcroze approach. While Dalcroze studies have profound affects on musical performance, the method is not oriented toward immediately visible results. The more subtle results of Eurhythmics work from the inside out, and inner progress is hard to see. It may be more difficult for people to get excited about students' abilities to hear, read, understand, and improvise music than to see them performing onstage.

The fastest way to get visible performance results is through methods mired in rote. To a Dalcrozian, this is a strange way to teach "the language of music." Children don't learn language by parroting phrases they don't understand, although that can give the appearance of understanding. Instead, children's early language development involves improvisation with meaning and syntax. A focus on solid music skills and literacy in the early grades will provide greater long-term progress, relieving high school choral directors, for example, of the need to rote-teach or begin literacy studies in rehearsals.

While I loathe the idea of turning my classes into rehearsals for parents and administrators, I am realistically concerned about the performance expectations for music programs, and the viability of the Dalcroze approach in schools. As an alternative, I have developed ways for performances to grow from class activities, without compromising my curricula. Through original plays with music encompassing concepts and skills developed in class, students can devote the majority of class time to learning, with a direct transfer to performance. At present I am working toward making these curricula and plays available to other teachers. Although they can't make someone a "Dalcroze Teacher" just by using them, they do provide specific ideas for an active approach to teaching that will result in performance without educational compromise.

Teacher training is another aspect of the Dalcroze approach that makes it less commercially marketable than other methods. It is not as simple as learning how to implement a set of materials. Instead Dalcroze teacher training begins with the time-consuming development of a teacher's own musical skills through the Dalcroze process. A thorough study of Eurhythmics, solfege, and improvisation form the foundation for Dalcroze pedagogy. The challenge is not one that can be met by all teachers, even after years of study.

The piano requirement frightens many teachers away. Piano improvisation is so central to the method as the basis for students' listening and activity that it cannot be avoided. However, the teacher-training process is designed to bring teachers to the point that they can improvise effectively in class. Coming to a Dalcroze institute with piano skills is certainly helpful, but I have seen many musicians develop improvisatory abilities without prior piano expertise. The method is profoundly effective, although it does take work for it to work.

The aspects of the Dalcroze approach that limit commercial appeal are the same aspects that provide infinite freedom and inspiration for the teacher. My own training has brought me a depth and breadth of new music skills in all areas -- performance, perception, and theoretical understanding. The pedagogical training and philosophy have brought to my teaching new joy, spontaneity, creativity, and enormous flexibility to be responsive to my students and learn from them. Above all, my Dalcrozian experience has opened an infinite pathway in exploring music and teaching, and a lifelong journey toward musical insight and personal development.

© Monica Dale, 1998

Used with author's permission
© MusicStaff.com

The Dalcroze Institute in Geneva If you would like to translate this article, which is in French, to English, Please click on this link: Dalcroze Site: English Translation

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