Moved to Learn: Dalcroze Applications to Choral

Pedagogy and Practice

by

Caron Daley

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements

for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts
Faculty of Music
University of Toronto

Copyright by Caron Daley 2013

Moved to Learn: Dalcroze Applications to Choral Pedagogy and

Practice
Caron Daley
Doctor of Musical Arts
Faculty of Music
University of Toronto
2013

Abstract
Over a century ago, mile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) began experimenting with a
pedagogical approach that would give students access to their personal musical voice and a
system of technique to express that voice with ease and sensitivity. Music education had lost
sight of certain key qualities of exceptional musicianship; qualities such as flow, nuance,
imagination, and individuality, so valued in expressive performance, were absent in music
pedagogy. According to Jaques-Dalcroze, the antidote to musical arrhythmy (a lack of musical
ease and expressivity) lay in the integrated use of the whole body in both musical perception and
performance, a coordination he termed eurhythmy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the
applications of Dalcroze Eurhythmics to the choral context, including the ways in which the
Dalcroze approach shapes the philosophical, pedagogical and musical outcomes of choral
pedagogy and practice. More specifically, how do these two areas interact in relationship to the
following topics: (1) conductor, chorister and choir as instrument, (2) conductor and chorister
score study, (3) conductor and chorister gesture, and (4) choral pedagogy and rehearsal
techniques? The original writings of mile Jaques-Dalcroze provide a framework for the
discussion, while interviews with two groups, Dalcroze master-teachers with choral conducting
training and/or experience, and Dalcroze-trained choral conductors illustrate the specific
ii

applications of the choral context. Study participants reported the use of the Dalcroze approach
for three main purposes in the choral context: (a) to develop choral skills, including vocal skills,
aural skills, kinesthetic skills, ensemble skills and music literacy skills; (b) to prepare the whole
body for accurate and expressive performance of choral repertoire (conducting and singing); and
(c) to develop non-musical outcomes that support choral conducting and singing, including
mental acuity, creativity, a contextualized view of self and others, self-confidence and risktaking, and enjoyment in music making.

iii

Acknowledgments
This dissertation would not have been possible without the incalculable efforts of Dr. Hilary
Apfelstadt. Her constant encouragement buoyed me up through the entire dissertation process,
and since 2001, her mentorship and guidance have steered me on a straight path. Thank you for
your deep commitment to educational and professional ethics. You have inspired me to be a
choral leader, to work longer and later hours, and to be the best conductor I can be.
I would also like to thank Dr. Lori-Ann Dolloff for her generous spirit and her creative and
inspired teaching. Thank you for introducing me to narrative research, without which, this
project would not have been possible. And a special thank you to Dr. Gillian MacKay, whose
kind and frank leadership helped me dodge bullets and make my way into the working world of
academia.
A special thank you to my parents for always asking me, How is the dissertation? To my Dad,
for continually challenging me to finish the degree. And to my Mom, for showing incredible
interest in my research material. Thank you for housing me, feeding me, teaching me lots of big
words, and for never flagging in your support, including the incredible proofreading job.
Thank you to Wanda and to Katheryn, for being there from the beginning, and for helping me
work out my research questions in real time and in real life.
I am extremely grateful in this last year to my colleagues at Trinity Western University. Thank
you for being so welcoming and accommodating, and for showing honest caring about my
personal and professional formation.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v
List of Appendices ....................................................................................................................... viii
1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Purpose of the study ............................................................................................................ 4
1.2 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Organization of the Study ................................................................................................... 9
1.4 Significance of the Study .................................................................................................. 10
1.5 Definition of Terms........................................................................................................... 11
2 Review of Literature ................................................................................................................ 13
2.1 Use of the Dalcroze Approach (and Related Body-based Approaches) as an
Instructional Technique in the Choral Context ................................................................. 14
2.1.1

Research studies .................................................................................................... 14

2.1.2

Other sources ........................................................................................................ 17

2.2 Use of the Dalcroze Approach (and Related Body-based Approaches) in Musical
Analysis............................................................................................................................. 24
2.2.1

Research studies .................................................................................................... 24

2.2.2

Other sources ........................................................................................................ 25

2.3 Use of the Dalcroze Approach in Conductor Training ..................................................... 27

2.3.1

Research studies .................................................................................................... 27

2.3.2

Other sources ........................................................................................................ 29

2.4 Use of the Dalcroze Approach in Vocal Training ............................................................ 31

2.5 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 32
3 Body as Instrument: Arrhythmy to Eurhythmy ....................................................................... 34
3.1 A Whole-Body Orientation for the Choral Context .......................................................... 35
3.2 Rhythm: Arrhythm and Eurhythm .................................................................................... 42
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3.3 A Choral Body .................................................................................................................. 48

3.4 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 53
4 Perception to Performance: Dalcroze-based Score Study and Gesture in the Choral
Context ..................................................................................................................................... 55
4.1 Building a Body-based Vocabulary for Choral Performance ........................................... 56
4.1.1

Rhythmics ............................................................................................................. 62

4.1.2

Plastique ................................................................................................................ 64

4.2 Sound and Gesture ............................................................................................................ 66

4.3 A Dalcroze Approach to Score study and Conducting Gesture ........................................ 71
4.4 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 78
5 Dalcrozian Pedagogy in the Choral Context: Implications for Rehearsal and Relationship ... 80
5.1 Dalcroze Pedagogical Sequencing .................................................................................... 81
5.1.1

Experience: Developing Musical Consciousness ................................................. 83

5.1.2

Analysis: Cognition and Notation ......................................................................... 88

5.1.3

Improvisation/Composition/Performance ............................................................. 91

5.2 Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Solfge and Improvisation in the Choral Context ....................... 92
5.3 Dalcroze-based Rehearsal Techniques ............................................................................. 97
5.4 Issues of Integration ........................................................................................................ 102
5.5 Revisiting the Conductor Role ........................................................................................ 105
5.6 Summary ......................................................................................................................... 108
6 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 109
6.1 Recommendations for Further Research ......................................................................... 113
References ................................................................................................................................... 115
Appendix A - Informed Consent Form ....................................................................................... 126
Appendix B - Interview Questions for Dalcroze Master-teachers .............................................. 127
Appendix C - Interview Questions for Dalcroze-trained Choral Conductors............................. 129
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Appendix D - Interview Transcripts ........................................................................................... 131

Appendix E - A Dalcroze-based Score Study Sequence for Conductors - Toms Luis de
Victorias Amicus Meus, No. 1 from the Tenebrae Responsories (1584) ............................. 232
Appendix F - Dalcroze Rehearsal Techniques for John Taveners The Lamb (1974) ............... 238
Copyright Acknowledgements.................................................................................................... 249

vii

List of Appendices
Appendix A Informed Consent Form
Appendix B Interview Questions for Dalcroze Master-teachers
Appendix C Interview Questions for Dalcroze-trained Choral Conductors
Appendix D Interview Transcripts
Appendix E A Dalcroze-based Score Study Sequence for Conductors - Toms Luis de
Victorias Amicus Meus, No. 1 from the Tenebrae Responsories (1584)
Appendix F Dalcroze-based Rehearsal Strategies for John Taveners The Lamb (1974)

viii

Introduction

Over a century ago, mile Jaques-Dalcroze began experimenting with a pedagogy that would
give students access to their personal musical voice and a system of technique to express that
voice with ease and sensitivity. According to Jaques-Dalcroze, music education had lost sight of
the key qualities of exceptional musicianship; qualities such as flow, nuance, and imagination, so
valued in expressive performance, were absent in music pedagogy. He noted this disparity in his
solfge students at the Geneva Conservatory. Although these students were technically facile,
they struggled to hear or imagine the simplest of musical exercises away from the piano. When
confronted with pitch or rhythm problems, they resorted to repetitious practice, a technique that
failed to develop their musicianship or interpretive skills. Digital proficiency seemed to have
replaced musical feeling, normative behaviors had suppressed individuality, and the goal of
performance correctitude had diverted attention away from the communicative potential of
music. In 1898, as a young pedagogue, Jaques-Dalcroze asked the question that would frame his
entire career:
Is it not folly to teach music without paying the slightest attention to the diversification,
gradation, and combination, in all their shades, of the gamut of sensations called into play by
the consonance of musical feeling? How has it been possible to carry on a systematic study
of music, while utterly ignoring the principal qualification of the musician? (JaquesDalcroze, 1921b, p. 4)

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) criticized the music education of his day for its incoherence,
specialization, and emphasis on product over process. In a 1905 address to the Association of
Swiss Musicians entitled The Reform of Music Education in the School, Jaques-Dalcroze
extended his criticisms to the teaching of vocal music in schools, questioning whether the
reigning pedagogical approach exposed children to the true nature of music. With a focus on
repertoire learning and instrument-specific technique, students received only instruction in
music, not an education in music.

It gratifies a certain number of parents to be able to say that their children can sing, and so
the schools provide a superficial training calculated to give the appearance of having studied
music. It never unless by chance awakens in their senses and heart a real love of music;
it never makes music live for them. They are trained merely in its external side, and its
emotional and really educative qualities remain hidden from them. They are not even taught
to listen to music. The only music they hear is that in which they are set to execute (JaquesDalcroze, 1921b, p. 30).
Education, by contrast, should target the individuals specific needs and integrate the mental,
emotional, physical and social aspects of music-making: Education is an active force working
upon the will and tending to coordinate the various vital functions (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1930b, p.
97).

An acute observer of the world around him, Jaques-Dalcroze noticed that all nature, humanity,
and art seemed to beat to the pulse of rhythm. From the changing of the seasons, to the tempo of
a persons gait, to the juxtaposition of light and dark in a painting, rhythm was in all things,
providing interest, color, dimension, and meaning. One day, while walking with a student
through the courtyard at the Geneva Conservatory, Jaques-Dalcroze noticed that although this
young student struggled to beat time accurately with his hands in the context of a music lesson
(arrhythmy), he was more than able to change the pace of his gait to match his teachers
quickening and slackening steps (eurhythmy) (Spector, 1990). This discovery led JaquesDalcroze to wonder about the role of the body in musical understanding. Could bodily
coordination inform musical thinking and action?

He proceeded to carry out a variety of unorthodox experiments at the Geneva Conservatory,

giving his solfge students first-hand sensory experiences of musical concepts such as pulse,
meter, tempo, and phrase. With the opportunity to feel the weight of a quarter-note, walk the
moving trajectory of a melody, and embody the tension of a crescendo, Jaques-Dalcrozes
students began to build an individual repertoire of physical responses related to sound. Dalcroze
termed this work rhythmics, and demonstrated that its influence went far beyond the rhythmical

mathematics of music. The study of musical rhythm could convert arrhythmy, a lack of musical
flow, characterized by inaccurate rhythms and unmusical accentuation, and errhythmy, a
technically accurate performance, but a lack of musical expressiveness, into eurhythmy, a flow
among mind, body and spirit, and a musically accurate and expressive performance
(Shenenberger, 2008, p. 536).

Jaques-Dalcrozes work makes substantial commentary on subjects related to the choral art,
including singing, conducting, ensemble music-making, the preparation and performance of
repertoire, and strategies for teaching and learning. Becknell (1970) states that JaquesDalcrozes pedagogical ideas emerged in part from his own early experiences as a conductor (p.
19). As a young child, mile surprised both his parents and the audience by sneaking up on
stage to shadow-conduct Eduard Strauss, brother of Johann Strauss, during a performance
(Becknell, 1970; Spector, 1990). In 1886, he took a position as assistant orchestral conductor at
the Thtre de Nouveauts in Algiers, where he discovered in his conducting duties the
importance and necessity of clear gestures to communicate his musical ideas to the performers,
which eventually evolved into the eurhythmic principles of expressive music through bodily
movement (Becknell, 1970, p. 3).

Jaques-Dalcroze often conducted his own compositions, including his large-scale patriotic
spectacles and festivals, involving choirs of thousands (Henke, 1993). He worked diligently to
have singers exemplify his eurhythmic principles, as expressed in this review of a production of
Glucks Orfeo ed Euridice, conducted by Jaques-Dalcroze in Hellerau, Germany in 1913:
When Orfeos chorus of furies appeared to the audience to be a perfect circle of heads, a
circle which remained so through a long series of maneuvers, it was the intense feeling of the
music and of the training that came as a result of it that made the stage realization so
impressive. When the chorus, its back to the conductor, made its precise moves without a
visual sign from the pit, astonishing as it was, it was the rhythm in the music, the rhythm in
the air, the rhythm in the body, that caused the powerful cohesion of effort. The most
astonishing effect occurred in periods of rest, either rest in the music or rest in physical

movement. Even in the rests the chorus recognized the continuing rhythmic flow and they
sustained its pulses to portray the incredible perfection of movement (Spector, 1990, p. 175).

Conducting itself became an essential component of Jaques-Dalcrozes pedagogy and a means

for students to develop both musicianship (conducting oneself) and musicality (conducting
others). In his 1914 essay, Rhythmic Movement, Solfge, and Improvisation, Jaques-Dalcroze
includes a variety of conducting games and exercises as a part of a core curriculum, while his
Rhythmic Movement Vol. 1/2 introduce a unique system of whole-body conducting, or the
Dalcroze armbeats (1920, 1921a, 1921b). In numerous instances, Jaques-Dalcroze names the
conductor as the archetypal eurhythmician and exemplar of his approach, in addition to
specifically recommending his pedagogical ideas to the training of conductors (1921b, p. 89,
p.226). In his 1907 essay, The Initiation into Rhythm, Jaques-Dalcroze describes how the
conductor models musical eurhythmy:
Observe the movements by which a conductor of an orchestra [choir], endowed with
temperament, represents and transmits rhythm. Does he [she] confine himself [herself] to
movements of the arm alone in seeking to convey to the instrumentalists [singers] the image
of the rhythm they are to create? By no means. His [her] knees will stiffen, his [her] foot
will press against the platform, his [her] back will straighten, his [her] finger and wrist
movements harden. His [her] whole body will be seen to cooperate in his [her]
representation of the rhythm: each articulation, each muscle, contributing to render the
rhythmic impression more intense; the aspect of his [her] whole person becoming, in short,
the reflected image of the movement of the music, and animating the executants his [her]
own representation of the rhythm being transmuted to them (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 87).

1.1 Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the applications of the Dalcroze approach to the choral
context, including the ways in which Dalcroze training shapes the philosophical, pedagogical and
musical outcomes of choral pedagogy and practice. More specifically, how do these two areas

interact in relationship to the following topics: (1) conductor, chorister and choir as instrument,
(2) conductor and chorister score study, (3) conductor and chorister gesture, and (4) choral
pedagogy and rehearsal techniques?

Conductors with Dalcroze training, or Dalcroze teachers with conducting experience, have, by
nature, inquired into the integration of these two disciplines in their own work. Their study of
the Dalcroze approach has informed their personal musical formation, their pedagogical
approach, and their performance as conductors. As a teacher of Dalcroze Eurhythmics and a
choral conductor, I have informally inquired into the intersection of these two areas for over a
decade. My training in the Dalcroze approach (2002-2011, Dalcroze Certificate in 2011)
coincided with my graduate study in choral conducting, and the formative stages of my
professional choral conducting career (2003-2013). In order to broaden and formalize this
inquiry, this study investigates the work of eight practitioners in these two fields, including three
Dalcroze master-teachers with choral conducting training and/or experience and five Dalcrozetrained choral conductors.

The following research questions will be explored: (1) What do the original writings of mile
Jaques-Dalcroze reveal about choral pedagogy and practice? (2) What recommendations do
Dalcroze master-teachers make regarding the application of the Dalcroze approach to the choral
context? (3) How do Dalcroze-trained choral conductors use the Dalcroze approach in the choral
context? (4) How can the Dalcroze approach facilitate teaching and learning in the choral
context?

1.2 Methodology
As a methodology, the Dalcroze approach focuses on experiential learning, and as such,
instructional procedures tend to be passed on from teacher to student, in the context of the
classroom, rather than through textbooks (Dale, 1993). Jaques-Dalcroze insisted that
participation, not observation, in a Dalcroze class was essential for understanding the approach:

The minute work of analyzing and constructing rhythms can only be appreciated in the lessons,
and then only by persons who are themselves actually taking part with their whole body and
mind (1921b, p. 147). Likewise, any teacher desiring to practice the Dalcroze approach, or
integrate it with another discipline, must have a wealth of personal experience and training in the
approach (Apfelstadt, 1985; Comeau, 1995; Jaques-Dalcroze, 1920; Landis & Carder, 1972;
Rosenstrauch, 1973).

Jaques-Dalcroze wrote a number of methods books, but he encouraged teachers to develop their
own exercises, suited to the needs of individual students and contexts (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1920,
1921b; Kerr-Berry, 2001; Spector, 1990; Walker, 2007; Willour, 1969). Despite this orientation,
Dalcroze teachers Aronoff (1979b, 1982), Bachmann (1991), Brice (2004), Choksy et al., (1986),
Driver (1951), Enders (1941), Findlay (1971), Gell (1949), Landis & Carder (1972), Mead
(1994), Pennington (1925), Schnebly-Black & Moore (1997), and Vanderspar (1984) have made
significant contributions to the literature on Dalcroze pedagogy in the form of methods books,
many of which include lesson plans.

Spector (1990), Dalcrozes most recent biographer, insists that there are no empirical means of
evaluating the Dalcroze method. Jaques-Dalcroze preferred to seek out human exemplars to
demonstrate the affects of his approach on a musical education (Spector, 1990, p. 255).
Quantitative studies do exist, however, including five research studies testing the impact of the
Dalcroze approach on elementary music students pitch and rhythmic aptitude (Berger, 1999;
Blesedell, 1991; Crumpler, 1982; Joseph, 1982; Rose, 1995). A number of authors have adopted
a qualitative research model, including two whose studies investigate Dalcroze instructional
procedures with adult students. Stone (1985) argues for the need for more studies examining
teaching behaviors and instructional practices in the field of Dalcroze, stating that in the
teaching of Dalcroze Eurhythmics there is virtually no definition at all; what exists is a tradition
or mystique about the method which is maintained by the devotedThe method is maintained
by disciples and passed from one generation of teachers to another by mentorship. (pp. 218219). Her study researches the work of an exemplar Dalcroze teacher, revealing recurrent
themes in instructional design and delivery, student perceptions in Dalcroze learning, and the

effect of choice of music on student experience. Alpersons (1995) study is similar, describing
the work of four Dalcroze master-teachers, exploring their teaching strategies, modes of
communication, goals, and viewpoints, as well as examining the students experiences of
participating in Dalcroze training. She notes that although the Dalcroze approach is experiential
in nature, this does not preclude a research study; qualitative methods match the qualitative
nature of the Dalcroze approach (p. 242).

For the purposes of this study, a qualitative research model, and in particular, narrative inquiry,
was deemed most effective. Johnson (2003) suggests that narrative inquiry is a suitable research
method for studying somatic or body-based approaches, such as the Dalcroze approach (p. 19).
Juntunen (2004) uses a narrative inquiry model to access Dalcroze master-teachers pedagogical
content-knowledge, sewing the respondents stories into a fictive conversation with JaquesDalcroze himself. In her 2007 book, Deepening Musical Performance through Movement,
Pierce weaves her thoughts through letters between two fictitious music students, Sorelich and
Toms, using narrative voices to illustrate the personal and reflective nature of movement
exploration in music.

In the same way that the Dalcroze approach is both personal and contextual, qualitative research
aims to represent the lived experience of the participant and the contextually-situated nature of
their practice (Bresler & Stake, 1992). The individual practices of Dalcroze teachers, including
Dalcroze practitioners in the choral context, are diverse and varied. This study recognizes the
multiplicity of manifestations of the Dalcroze approach and respects the various ways in which
the ideas of Jaques-Dalcroze are applied by each practitioner.

In order to provide a philosophical and pedagogical grounding for the study, I used the original
writings of mile Jaques-Dalcroze as primary source information on Dalcroze pedagogy and its
application to the choral context. These writings comprise scripts from public lectures, methods
books, and essays on the applications of his work to dance, theatre, and therapy. His entire

corpus is in French. The following English translations of his writings will be examined:
Rhythms as a Factor in Education (1909), From Lectures and Addresses (1911-1913), and
Moving Plastic and Dance (1916), in The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze; The Influence of
Eurhythmics upon the Development of Movement in Music (1917-1918) from Proceedings of
the Musical Association, 44th Session; collected essays in Rhythm, Music and Education (1921);
collected essays in Eurhythmics Arts and Education (1930); Eurhythmics and its Implications
in The Musical Quarterly (1930); and Remarks on Arrhythmy (1933) in Music and Letters.
The following methods books will be examined: Rhythmic Movement, Vol. 1/Vol. 2 (1920,
1921); Ear-training Music and Movement (1939); Sixteen Rhythmic Games for Children and
Young People (1939); and Rhythmic Solfge (1994). These materials comprise all of the
available English translations of Jaques-Dalcrozes original writings.

In order to situate the Dalcroze approach, including the original writings of Jaques-Dalcroze,
with the current practice of its approach in the choral context, I conducted semi-structured
interviews with two groups: (1) Dalcroze master-teachers (defined as holders of the highest
Dalcroze designation, the Diplme Suprieur) who either have choral conducting training or
have previously worked with choirs or currently work with choirs; and (2) Dalcroze-trained
choral conductors (defined as choral conductors with significant Dalcroze training, including
university-level training or Dalcroze Certificate or Dalcroze License holders) who regularly
incorporate the Dalcroze approach in their work with choirs.

Three master-teachers, labeled Master-teacher A, B, and C, and five choral conductors, labeled
Conductor A, B, C, D, and E, participated in the study. Participants were recruited from the
Dalcroze community, including members of the Dalcroze Society of Canada and the Dalcroze
Society of America, based on their professional reputations and by recommendation from
various Dalcroze teachers. In total, I approached ten potential study participants, three Dalcroze
master-teachers (all of whom agreed to participate) and seven Dalcroze-trained choral
conductors (all of whom agreed to participate). I was unable to schedule interviews with two of
the Dalcroze-trained choral conductors within the desired time frame. Interviews were
conducted between March 2012 and July 2012 (one interview required a quick clarification in

January 2013), via Skype, and/or phone, and/or in-person, and were 60-120 minutes in length,
depending on the participants level of elaboration and speed of delivery. Interviews were
conducted in English. Master-teacher C and Conductor A are native French speakers, using
English as a second language. Master-teacher C and Conductors A and D are Canadian, while
Master-teachers A and B and Conductors B, C, and E are American.

The study participants represent a cross-section of Dalcroze and choral conducting practitioners.
Master-teachers A-C and Conductors A-E teach various ages, children to seniors, and work in a
variety of educational contexts, including a community music school, a high school, a summer
music camp, a church, and a variety of universities. Master-teachers A-C are internationally
known and recognized for their work in Dalcroze teacher-training, and are among a group of
only ten Dalcroze Diplomates in North America. Master-teacher A currently conducts two
childrens choirs, Master-teacher B has a Masters degree in choral conducting, and Masterteacher C has experience as both a choral and an orchestral conductor. Conductor A is a former
Dalcroze teacher who now teaches university-level choirs and conducting. Conductor B is an
active Dalcroze teacher who teaches university-level choirs, music education and conducting.
Conductor C is not a Dalcroze teacher, but is particularly well known for his over 40 years of
using Dalcroze-based approaches with university-level choirs. Conductor D is an active
Dalcroze teacher who teaches high-school and church choirs. Conductor E is an active Dalcroze
teacher who teaches high-school and university-level choirs and conducting.

1.3 Organization of the Study

The study begins with a review of literature on the use of the Dalcroze approach (and related
body-based approaches) in the choral context, presenting sources on choral instructional
technique, musical analysis (score study), conductor training and vocal training. Chapter 3
inquires into the educational foundations of the Dalcroze approach, exploring whole-body
musical perception, arrhythm and eurhythm, and the notion of a choral body. Chapter 4
examines the applications of the Dalcroze approach to learning musical repertoire, including

10

score study (chorister and conductor score study), bodily gesture (chorister and conductor
gesture), and choral performance (choral singing and conducting). Chapter 5 explores the use of
Dalcroze pedagogy in the choral context, including the Dalcroze pedagogical sequence, specific
applications of the three common areas of Dalcroze instruction (eurhythmics, solfge,
improvisation), issues of integration that arise, and the role of the conductor in a Dalcroze choral
paradigm. Appendices A-C include the informed consent form and interview questions.
Appendix D presents the interview transcripts. Appendix E leads the reader through a bodybased score study sequence of Toms Luis de Victorias Amicus Meus, No. 1 from the Tenebrae
Responsories (1584). Appendix F offers Dalcroze-based teaching strategies for John Taveners
The Lamb (1974).

1.4 Significance of the Study

The goal of this research study is to increase knowledge and awareness about the Dalcroze
approach and to suggest a pedagogical and practical framework for its inclusion in the choral
context. The findings of this study may be of interest to a variety of musicians and teachers.
First, the study aims to enrich the field of choral pedagogy, including choral music educators
who currently use Dalcroze approaches in the choral context; choral music educators who use
any type of body-based learning in the choral context; choral music educators who are looking to
integrate the Dalcroze approach in the choral context; and choral music educators who are not
currently using any type of body-based learning in the choral context, but who are interested in
learning about the philosophical and pedagogical foundations for this type of approach. Second,
this study will be of interest to those in the field of conductor training, offering both choral and
instrumental conductors new techniques for score study, gesture, and rehearsal technique. Third,
general music educators will find applications to the classroom vocal music context. Fourth, this
study adds to the corpus of Dalcroze-based literature regarding the applications of the Dalcroze
approach to cognate fields.

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1.5 Definition of Terms

Body: The whole-body instrument of musical perception and performance, including the ear,
physical body, emotions, mind, voice, and personhood of the musician (Farber & Parker, 1987).
The body is defined as the primary instrument of the conductor, chorister and the choir.
Choral context: The choral teaching, learning and performance framework.
Chorister: The choral singer.
Conductor: The choral conductor.
Dalcroze approach: The music education approach established by mile Jaques-Dalcroze,
inclusive of all of his ideas over the course of his lifetime, and the subject-specific areas of
eurhythmics, solfge, improvisation, and plastique anime. Synonyms for the Dalcroze approach
appear throughout the document as: Dalcroze, eurhythmics, solfge, solfge-rhythmique,
improvisation, plastique, and plastique anime.
Dalcroze techniques: Any application of the Dalcroze approach, including rehearsal techniques
in the choral context.
Eurhythmics: The primary branch of a Dalcroze education, aimed at developing feeling for
bodily rhythm and aural perception of rhythm (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b)
Gesture: Bodily movement (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b).
Improvisation: The tertiary branch of a Dalcroze education, aimed at the integration and
spontaneous realization of all of the elements learned in eurhythmics and solfge (JaquesDalcroze, 1921b).
Plastique anime: A related area of the Dalcroze approach aimed at the corporeal representation
of musical compositions (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b).
Score study: The process by which the conductor and choral singer gain experience and
understanding of a specific piece of choral repertoire.

12

Solfge: The secondary branch of a Dalcroze education, aimed at developing pitch and tonerelationships through the use of fixed-do solmization (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b).
Whole-body: The integrated usage of the musicians personal resources, including all physical,
emotional, and mental resources.

13

Review of Literature

The cross-applied nature of the Dalcroze approach has inspired research projects in a number of
cognate fields. Mathieu (2010) reports that 34 Ph.D. dissertations, six M.A. theses, and 29
scientific articles have been written on Dalcroze between 1966-2006, covering a range of
academic fields and areas of study. Jeong (2005) adapts Dalcroze approaches to the Korean
music education system, while Phuthego (2005) examines the similarities between Batswana
music teaching and learning and the Dalcroze approach. Nalbandian (1994) and Jang (2002)
explore the applications of the Dalcroze approach to piano pedagogy. Caldwell (1995) and
Schnebly-Black & Moore (2004) offer an extensive look at the applications of the Dalcroze
approach to the private lesson setting. Dutoit (1970) and Frego (2008, 2009) investigate its
usage in the field of therapy. Bachmann (1991) argues that the Dalcroze approach may be crossapplied to any variety of fields, and she includes both singers and conductors in her list: Those
who have been sufficiently persuaded of the value of Dalcroze Eurhythmics to regard it as
indispensible to the development of their own work, or to encourage its adoption in the circles
they move in or share their enthusiasm for it with others, will be found in every walk of life.
They include theatre people-actors and producers, opera directors and ballet masters, dancers and
choreographers; painters, architects and designers, musicians, conductors, composers, singers
and instrumentalists; writers, critics, and poets; scientists, doctors, psychiatrists,
educationiststhe list is endless (p. 22).

Jaques-Dalcroze encouraged teachers to adapt his approach to a multiplicity of contexts, as he

himself demonstrated through his writings on eurhythmics in dance, theatre and therapy (Dutoit
1971; Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, 1930b). In relationship to the choral context, Jaques-Dalcroze
suggested that his educational reforms, focused on whole-body pedagogy, would bolster
participation in choral societies and help choirs remain on the forefront of pedagogical practice
(1921b, p. 17, 1930b, p. 137). Hibbard (1994) notes the central influence of the Dalcroze
approach in the development of body movement as a common choral pedagogical tool. Benson
(2011) agrees, suggesting that choral conductors have been using movement to build on the work
of mile Jaques-Dalcroze since the 1950s and 1960s (p. 1).

14

Applications of the Dalcroze approach to the choral context may include any philosophical,
pedagogical or musical application to any of area of choral pedagogy and practice (score study,
gesture, rehearsal, or performance). The following resources will be reviewed: research studies,
methods books, journal articles, a video, and a conference presentation attended by the author.
The literature evinces the following themes: (a) the use of the Dalcroze approach, and
specifically Dalcroze eurhythmics and solfge, and related body-based approaches, as an
instructional technique in the choral context; (b) the use of the Dalcroze approach, and related
body-based approaches, in musical analysis; (c) the use of the Dalcroze approach in conductor
training; and (d) the use of the Dalcroze approach in vocal training.

2.1 Use of the Dalcroze Approach (and Related Body-based

Approaches) as an Instructional Technique in the Choral
Context
2.1.1

Research studies

A number of research studies have sought to investigate the use of body movement, including the
Dalcroze approach, as a choral instructional technique. McCoys 1986 quantitative study
measures how the inclusion of body movement affects choral performance proficiency, meter
discrimination ability, and attitude of students. Using two test groups, a less advanced and a
more advanced high school choir, McCoy asked conductors to use the following movementbased strategies in their preparation of the repertoire: (1) strategies that physicalized pulse and
subdivision, (2) strategies aimed at improving sense of meter, and (3) strategies exploring
dynamics and phrasing. McCoys results indicate that movement as a choral instructional
technique benefitted the choirs sense of tempo and vocal balance, in addition to positively
influencing the attitude of choral singers towards more active participation (p. 61).

Ramona Wis 1993 study provides a theoretical rationale for the use of movement in the choral
context using Lakoff & Johnsons (1987) work on physical metaphor. Wis applies the notion of
metaphorical mapping to the choral context, where bodily experiences help singers connect the
experiential to the abstract (p. 15). A physical metaphor is any gesture or movement that is able

15

to get at the essence of the musical idea and involve singers in a concrete, bodily way (Wis,
1999, p. 25). The author examines the use of gesture and movement in two exemplar
conductors, and reports that movement was most commonly used in the warm-up, to teach skills
and to encourage concentration, in the rehearsing of the repertoire, and as a corrective solution to
a musical or vocal problem (1993, p. 246). Wis likens the metaphorical mapping suggested by
Lakoff & Johnson to Dalcroze-type activities, where choristers can physicalize musical concepts
in order to improve their understanding (1993, p. 16).

The choral conductor can also capitalize on this metaphorical process by using what is
intimately known - his [her] bodily experience within a physical world - the choral educator can
rely on the humans natural metaphorical thought processes to map or project new or abstract
concepts and to increase understanding (1993, p. 245). For use in the choral context, the
conductor should aim for gestures that are both easy to demonstrate and perform and
representative of the character and quality of the musical or vocal concept (Wis, 1999, p. 30).
Wis catalogues a list of gestures and their vocal/musical analogues for use in the choral setting,
incorporating many sports-related gestures. She suggests four main benefits of using physical
metaphor in the choral rehearsal: (1) use of gesture promotes singer success, (2) use of gesture
promotes singer engagement, (3) use of gesture can act as a quick assessment tool for the
conductor, and (4) gestures used in rehearsal can be incorporated into the conductors gesture as
a physical reminder to the choir (Wis, 1993, p. 32).

Therees Tkach Hibbards 1994 dissertation provides a comprehensive overview of existing

research on the use of movement in the choral rehearsal, including references to the Dalcroze
approach. Her qualitative study examines one exemplar conductor to discover a rationale for
using movement and sample techniques for implementation, with the goal of postulating a
grounded theory for the effective use of movement in choral instruction (p. 7). Hibbards
subject, exemplar conductor Professor Smith, uses movement for the following purposes: to
coach vocal production, to reinforce musical concepts, and to teach stylistic interpretation. He
finds that using movement captivates and motivates his students the act of doing music
physically improves all aspects of choral music-making, notes Smith (p. 261). Hibbard

16

acknowledges the use of Dalcroze Eurhythmics as a music-through-movement philosophy for

use in choral pedagogy, commenting, Choral educators have discovered that incorporating
Dalcroze Eurhythmics into the choral rehearsal enables singers to develop a sensitivity toward
musical concepts by physically expressing the rhythms, listening to the music, and concentrating
on the different elements of the choral work (p. 70).

Chagnons 2001 study compares the use of movement by five choral conductors working with
adult singers, including three whom he interviews and observes, and the two exemplar
conductors from Hibbards and Wis studies. He outlines three major pedagogical themes, and
notes the influence of Dalcroze Eurhythmics on musical interpretation in particular: (1) use of
gesture to teach vocal/musical concepts and the integration of gestural experiences into the
conductors gesture, (2) use of movement to teach vocal technique, and (3) use of movement to
aid singers in musical interpretation influenced by Dalcroze Eurhythmics (p. iv). The third
conductor named in the study, identified as Conductor Brown, trained with Robert Fountain (a
prominent choral conductor using Dalcroze techniques) and Inda Howland (a Dalcroze masterteacher) and incorporates a host of specifically Dalcrozian techniques in the choral context.
Conductor Brown uses movement to help singers comprehend the notation of their part, express
the flow of the musical line, visualize the texture, memorize their music and, in general, develop
a sense of unity as a singing ensemble (p. 31). Whole-body movements are emphasized, with
the choral rehearsal space resembling more of a dance studio than a traditional rehearsal space.
Conductor Browns approach adapts Dalcrozes philosophy that rhythm is a result of the
interrelationship of musical concepts. He perceives music in terms of physical representation
and sensationMuch attention is given to the quality of the singers movements in relation to its
influence on the sound of the choir. Instead of asking singers to alter a particular musical
element, Brown often modifies the choirs singing by suggesting refinements to their physical
motion (pp. 66-67).

Bensons 2011 study is similar, studying three university-level conductors, Janet Galvn,
Therees Tkach Hibbard, and Sandra Snow, to determine their philosophical rationale for using
movement, their specific movement-based strategies, the effectiveness of movement strategies as

17

perceived by the conductor and choral singers, and a codified list of specific gestures shared by
the three conductors (p. viii). Both Galvan and Hibbard reference Dalcroze training as a
formative influence. They use Dalcroze-based activities to teach rhythm or help integrate the
music with the singing body (p. 74). Hibbard makes unique use of a Dalcrozian technique,
exploring movement activities to pre-recorded music before singing rehearsals begin (p. 75).
Benson categorizes these conductors uses of movement into six categories (the same categories
put forth by Galvn (2008) in her discussion of movement in the choral rehearsal in The School
Music Program: Philosophy, planning, organizing, and teaching): (1) as an aid to vocal
technique, (2) to improve intonation, (3) to improve musical phrasing, (4) for rhythmic
internalization and clarification, (5) to lead to understanding of style and cultural context, and (6)
to bring music to life (p. 74).

Manganello (2011) inquires into the use of movement and its effect on musical expressivity in
middle school choral students. Through observing two choruses conducted by the same
conductor, Mrs. H., Manganello investigates the conductors rationale for using movement, the
development of a movement vocabulary and its musical analogues, and the impact of movement
techniques on students abilities and experiences. She concludes that both the conductors and
the students use of body movement make a positive impact on independent musical thinking,
listening, student assistance and mentoring, and the integration of school and community cultures
(p. 155). Using Mrs. H. as a model, she suggests that choral directors may develop their own
movement approaches for use with choirs, in addition to studying and applying established
movement methodologies, such as the Dalcroze approach (p. 182).

2.1.2

Other sources

Wilhelm Ehmann (1968) presents perhaps the most multi-dimensional source on the integration
of Dalcroze principles and pedagogy into the choral context in his methods book, Choral
Directing. Ehmann was a student of Jaques-Dalcroze, and although the name of Dalcroze is
used sparingly, Ehmanns reliance on whole-body movement, mind-body alliance, and
somatically-informed musicianship is inimitably Dalcrozian: In the singing activities and choral

18

work of our own time we should experience a freeing of the whole person through a harmonious
body-soul relationship within ourselves (p. 2).

Ehmanns book contains a detailed description of the conductors and singers bodily
participation in the choral art. He calls choral singers dancers on the spot, and insists that the
entire body become engaged in choral singing, not just the larynx (p. 2). Choral directors should
also pay close attention to their bodily posture and deportment in order to facilitate musical
communication: His [her] own posture should be such that his [her] body becomes an
instrument which permits all its resonances to come alive (p. 2). Ehmann names the choral
director the leader of the dance, and incites the conductor in be in tune with the rhythmic
wave of the music (p. 78, p. 126).

Like Jaques-Dalcroze, Ehmann adopts a broad definition of rhythm, and recommends its usage
in developing ensemble skills for the choir:
Rhythm is the unifying, binding element and the governing principle in music. Rhythm is a
stronger factor than sheer sound in unifying individual singers into a close-knit choral unit.
Therefore there is no means which is so suitable for thoroughly fusing a group of
individualists into a unified musical group as rhythmic training (p. 93).
Ehmann suggests that choirs should undertake athletic exercises outside of rehearsal, such as
hiking, swimming, gymnastics, or calisthenics in order to develop bodily coordination for
singing. The central problem facing musicians is a lack of body involvement, according to
Ehmann: Our life as well as much of our music making has become static. Today one speaks of
a piece of music as being written in time, when we should really be saying that it moves in
time (p. 80). A dearth of natural and life-related movement activities results in grotesque
musical results and misinterpretations of musical works, argues Ehmann, a statement that
echoes Jaques-Dalcrozes sentiments on arrhythmy (p. 80).

19

In the context of the choral rehearsal, movement activities should fall into two categories:
stationary and mobile. Stationary activities are movements performed on the spot, such as using
hand gestures to represent the movement and direction of a melody or voice part, swaying
backward and forward to show the movement of the phrase, or conducting oneself while singing
(with an emphasis on musical flow, not time-beating) (pp. 83-85). Mobile activities may include
walking the rhythm of the music while singing, freely walking or dancing while singing, or
creating a movement choreography to represent the counterpoint or form of the music (pp. 8790). These movement exercises will transmit directly into the singing voice, states Ehmann:
Through such exercises the singers get a visual concept of the structure of the piece, of the
movement, and relationship of the parts to each other; the singers literally experience the music
composition in their own bodies, and the acquisition of new concepts and a new grasp of the
music is now absorbed and translated into the singing act itself with the result that the music has
become more animated and alive (p. 89).

In the opening to his chapter on choral ear training, Ehmann suggests that too little has been done
to adapt the work of Dolcroze [sic] to the choral context, and in particular, the integrated areas of
choral ear training, gesture and movement, and rhythmic training (p. 65). To that end, he
outlines six goals for this type of training in the choral context, emphasizing the physical,
emotional, mental, social and artistic goals of the Dalcroze approach: (1) To help the individual
singer in the choir to relax and to stimulate and develop him [her] musically, (2) To blend the
members of the choir into a well-tuned, thoroughly trained musical unit, (3) To strengthen and
support the individual processes through listening, gesture, movement and rhythm, (4) To
provide practical guides and approaches for grasping musical structure of the works to be sung
and to realize this structure in performance, (5) To help the choir to discover and interpret the
character and essence of the music which is being sung, and (6) To enable a choral society to
find fulfillment in music as a way of life, quite apart from the virtuosic choral techniques of the
director who happens to be responsible for its direction at the time (p. 65).

20

Gordon (1975) endorses the use of the Dalcroze approach to lead choirs beyond technical
proficiency and towards artistic performance (p. 12). He directly references the twenty-two
exercise concepts outlined in Jaques-Dalcrozes 1914 essay, Rhythmic Movement, Solfge and
Improvisation (1921b), and presents a list of Dalcroze exercises for the choral context, adapted
from master-teachers Robert M. Abramson, Wilhelm Ehmann, Elsa Findlay and Jo Pennington.
In keeping with Jaques-Dalcrozes rhythmic curriculum, Gordons list organizes exercises under
the following topics: meter, tempo, rhythm, dynamics, phrases and phrase endings, structure, and
general alertness and self-control. According to Gordon, the Dalcroze approach unifies the
choir, and creates a cohesive interdependence among individuals a most desirable benefit for
performing ensembles (p. 12).

John Hylton (1987) also connects the Dalcroze approach to the training of musically sensitive
choristers: According to Dalcroze, rhythm is movement, and each of music's basic elements
may be internalized by discovering physical movements that parallel musical events. The use of
movement to develop sensitivity to choral music is based upon this same idea (p. 33). Hylton
stresses that the quality of the movement will determine the quality of the musical and vocal
outcome (p. 33). He suggests the use of ensemble conducting as a means of clarifying the music
(use of beat-pattern), or to explore the phrasing and expressive aspects of the music (freeconducting). Body movement should also be used in the choral warm-up, both to prepare the
singers for the dynamic motion required in vocal coordination, and to help singers develop
ensemble unity, including the mental alertness and sensitivity necessary to attend to musical style
(p. 32). Body-centric warm-ups may also be used any time during the rehearsal to correct a
musical problem or energize the ensemble, states Hylton (p. 33). Apfelstadt (1985) agrees,
suggesting the use of movement at any point in the rehearsal when physical energy is lacking (p.
37).

Herbert Henke, a Dalcroze Diplomate, choral conductor, and former professor of Aural Skills at
Oberlin College, has contributed three key articles on the application of the Dalcroze approach to
choral score study, choral musicianship training and choral rehearsing. In his 1990a article,
Choral musicianship via the Dalcroze approach, Henke argues that solfge-rhythmique is the

21

most applicable of the branches of Dalcroze education to the choral setting (p. 226). Solfgerhythmique trains choral musicians to develop superior musicianship, as Jaques-Dalcroze would
define it: What are fine musicians doing as they perform? They listen to the sounds they are
producing and react quickly to make the adjustments their hearing tells them are necessary.
They have an inner sense of rhythm which seems to energize their entire physical being. They
are concentrating fully on the task at hand (p. 226). In addition, solfge-rhythmique aids choral
singers in mentally imaging pitch and rhythm, critical skills for literacy (Henke, 1984).

Henke offers sample solfge-rhythmique exercises for the choir under three categories (1) aural
perception: exercises that develop pitch discrimination, including an emphasis on whole and half
steps, inner singing, and canonic singing; (2) rhythmic sensitivity: exercises for developing inner
pulse and subdivision; (3) reading ability: singing C-C scales, manipulating sight-read melodies
and rhythms with retrograde, canon, and complementary rhythm (1984, p. 13). He advocates
extracting a rhythmic or melodic figure from the music to use as a music-learning device. This
figure acquaints the ears to the musical material of the repertoire, and acts as a signal throughout
the rehearsal, alerting the choir to perform various physical behaviors (stand-up, sit down, etc.)
(1990a, p. 227). Henke cautions, It will be important that the exercise not be carried on too
long without a change in tempo, key, dynamics, etc. It is this variety that develops musicianship
and makes even the most simple exercise a musical one (p. 228). A Dalcroze-inspired choral
rehearsal has the following characteristics, according to Henke (1990a): (1) musical sensitivity,
(2) changing musical material, and (3) whole-body interaction with the music (p. 229). Solfgerhythmique also invigorates the work of the choral conductor, breaking the routine of constant
repetition and animating chorister response in rehearsal (Henke, 1990b, p. 225).

Henkes 1990b article takes a different tack, exploring specific Dalcroze techniques to prepare a
feelingful rendition of Mendelssohns choral piece, How Lovely are the Messengers (p. 284).
Henke suggests the Dalcroze approach to help singers understand and deliver the message of the
music. He begins with Dalcroze solfge warm-ups: (1) sing a Bb+ scale on syllables or numbers
and alternate between aloud and silent singing, and (2) practice singing whole and half steps in
the context of various scale patterns excerpted from the piece. He then catalogues a number of

22

Dalcroze-based rehearsal techniques for the piece: (1) intone the text while tapping the metrical
emphasis, matching syllabic stress to metrical stress; (2) tap the rhythmic complements on rests
in the voice parts; (3) link arms and gently sway to one side through the musical phrase; and (4)
silently sing certain note vales (pp. 285-286).

In their 2003 presentation for the American Choral Directors Association, entitled, Dalcroze
Eurhythmics for Conductors and Singers, Frego and Reames outline nine benefits of the use of
the Dalcroze approach in the choral context: (1) energizing the body, breath, and tone; (2)
internalizing specific rhythmic challenges through movement; (3) internalizing repertoire
through visual, aural, and kinesthetic experiences; (4) providing concrete experience for abstract
music; (5) assessing learning through an informal visual observation; (6) developing inner
hearing through solfge rhythmique; (7) encouraging opportunities for creative movement and
improvisation; (8) transferring movement to conducting techniques for singers; and (9)
connecting movement to the National Standards, specifically 3, 6, 8 (conference handout). Frego
and Reames lead the group through a variety of movement experiences in relationship to three
pieces from the choral repertoire. Their handout itemizes a three-part rehearsal sequence for
integrating the Dalcroze approach: (1) objectives (musical goals for the chorister); (2) a
Dalcroze experience(s) without the score; and (3) a Dalcroze experience(s) with the score
(conference handout).

Frego (2005) further elaborates on the usages of the Dalcroze approach in the choral context in
the video, Creating artistry through movement: Dalcroze Eurhythmics in the choral setting,
prepared in conjunction with the Indianapolis Childrens Choir and their conductor, Henry Leck.
The use of a video format vividly depicts a variety of choristers and choral conductors
participating in eurhythmics classes, including a short segment dedicated to the modified use of
eurhythmics in a traditional choral riser formation. Frego demonstrates a variety of games and
exercises aimed at developing chorister musicianship, emphasizing the development of personal
and group pulse. He also highlights the use of eurhythmics to develop chorister focus, both to
sustain active participation throughout a choral piece, and to react quickly to the conductors
changing gesture. In his demonstration with conductors, Frego teaches a bi-lateral movement

23

game, linking the experience to the dual role of the conductors gesture in keeping tempo and
showing expression.

Leck emphasizes the ability of Dalcroze Eurhythmics to develop skills for musical artistry,
because truly what this is all about is not just creating metronomesnot creating
exactnessits creating techniques that allow you to become artistic (Leck, 31:42). He
encourages music educators to make use of kinesthetic learning as a foundational element in both
musicianship training and in musical enjoyment, stating, because we teach in classrooms often,
or on choral risers, we often feel that we dont really have the room or the inclination to do motor
teaching. But its really quite essential to their development as musicians, and more than that,
its essential to their joy of what they are learning (Leck, 11:30). Both Leck and Frego
participate in the video demonstrations, highlighting the fluid connection between a eurhythmic
experience and a choral singing/conducting experience.

Crosby (2008) adopts a similar approach to Henke (1990b), giving specific Dalcroze-based
strategies for the preparation of Toms Luis de Victorias O Magnum Mysterium. For Crosby,
the Dalcroze approach is an antidote to the typical sedentary choral rehearsal and a means of
connecting desirable vocal results with lived experience: Singers are constantly expected to
demonstrate motion, expression, and energy in their vocal production, but often, these students
are not provided with tools that facilitate understanding of rhythmic movement. One music
educator who sought to rectify this was mile Jaques-Dalcroze (p. 31). Crosby dissects the
musical challenges of the Victoria, and suggests Dalcroze-based strategies for three specific
aspects of choral learning: rhythmic internalization, breath energy, and phrasing. Rhythmic
internalization strategies include free body movement to a recording, an exploration of macroand micro-beats, and silent singing. Breath energy is explored through physical gestures that
mimic the motion and coordination of the vocal mechanism. Crosbys phrasing exercises help
singers achieve an understanding of the legato articulation, imitative counterpoint, and dramatic
direction of the piece.

24

Dalcroze educator Shenenberger (2008) links Dalcroze strategies to a variety of choral selections
in her article Using Dalcroze Eurhythmics in the choral rehearsal in The school choral
program: Philosophy, planning, organizing and teaching. Dalcroze techniques may be used to
explore the rhythmic level of the music, the technical challenges of the music, or the
plastique level, the time, space, energy, and direction in the music, states Shenenberger (p.
539). She stipulates that Dalcroze experiences involve the entire body, and notes that wholebody involvement with the music improves resonance, breathing, body energy, and rhythmreading skills (p. 538).

2.2 Use of the Dalcroze Approach (and Related Body-based

Approaches) in Musical Analysis
2.2.1

Research studies

A number of authors have suggested ways to use the Dalcroze approach, and related body-based
approaches, to help access a musical score. Moores 1992 dissertation presents a uniquely
Dalcrozian approach to musical analysis, discussing the two major musical-theoretical models
adopted by Jaques-Dalcroze. First, he describes the rules of accentuation, nuance and phrasing
as created by Swiss theorist Mathis Lussy (1828-1910) and endorsed by Jaques-Dalcroze in his
books on solfge-rhythmique. Second, he explains Jaques-Dalcrozes schemes for corporal
movement, or the plastic realization of music, plastique anime (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1920, 1921b).
For each piano piece, Moore applies the rules of accentuation, nuance and phrasing, and
develops a plastique anime. Moores realizations of the selected piano pieces are highly
stylized, but he suggests that this is simply one interpretation. Jaques-Dalcrozes aim was to
help students find an intuitive expression of the music as a result of personal movement and
music exploration (p. 144).

Uristas 2001 study focuses on Lakoff and Johnsons notion of image schema as a jumping-off
point for music analysis and performance. She mentions the Dalcroze approach as a music-tomovement method that successfully links sound to bodily gesture in musical perception and

25

performance. In particular, Jaques-Dalcrozes non-stylized movement analogues for various

musical rhythmic devices act as a useful music-movement metaphor (p. 194). Conscious
movement to music serves as a temporary exaggeration that pulls out the dynamic possibilities
living within the musical structure (p. 196). Exercising the kinesthetic sense in musical
perception and performance is a key component in musical expressivity, according to Urista.
The performers level of kinesthetic involvement with the music will have an impact on the
audiences ability to empathize with both the sound and the gesture of the music (p. 170).

Theorist Christine Walkers 2007 study examines the work of four master Music Theory and
Aural Skills teachers (including Herbert Henke, Stephen Moore and Diane Urista, mentioned
above) incorporating the Dalcroze approach in undergraduate musicianship and literacy training.
A Dalcroze approach to teaching music theory activates mind and body simultaneously, helping
beginning and advanced students develop an embodied understanding of musical-theoretical
concepts (p. 67). More specifically, the Dalcroze approach helps students learn musical theory
from the perspective of musical motion. They learn to distinguish rhythm from meter (as
separate layers of motion), to measure the distance of intervals (with an emphasis on the use of
whole and half steps in scales), and to feel the energy and release of tension in a harmonic
progression. Walker presents examples of specific Dalcroze eurhythmics, solfge and
improvisation exercises utilized by the teachers to develop tonal retention (tonal memory),
interference (developing a strong sense of internal pulse), changing meter, scales as foundations
for chords, arrested flow (ability to quickly change musical actions), and antecedent-consequent
phrase relationships.

2.2.2

Other sources

Pierces 2007 book, Deepening musical performance through movement, gives instrumental
performers (and by extension, conductors) a number of body-based techniques for developing
expressive musical interpretation. Each chapter explores a specific musical parameter (melody,
phrase, meter etc.), and suggests simple movement exercises designed to draw the musician into
a kinesthetically reflective conversation with the music. Pierce argues that musical interpretation

26

is more often taught too late in the music-learning process. As a result, it fails to translate into
expressive performance:
Those who tell themselves or their student, Play more passionately or Bring out the
sadness are likely to elicit not passion but contrivance. The process of learning a piece
often buries intimate sensory experience rather than kindling it. One common snare is the
rehearsal approach of getting the notes under control and later figuring out an interpretation.
The piece is learned by translating notational signs into sounds without contacting, digesting,
and bringing forth their connotations. An outer shell of accuracy may be attained in melodies
and rhythms, perhaps even in articulation and dynamics. The performer has done what was
asked and feels ready to turn to interpretation. But by now the piece has acquired a curious
stability a way of being played that is difficult to uproot. Interpretation has already taken
place unawares: a superficial exterior has spread over the piece and with each repetition the
covering thickens (Pierce, 2007, p. xiv).

Pierce outlines ten musical elements and their kinesthetic equivalents: cadence, melody, ictus,
harmonic rhythm, phrase, climax, musical continuity (Pierce terms this reverberation),
moments between phrases (juncture), character/affect, and tone of voice (p. 4). For example,
an exploration of melody may make use of as arm contouring musical enactment. Pierce
suggests seven stages in developing this relationship between arm contouring and the
performance of a melody: (1) sing the melody on a neutral syllable and move your hand in a
pitch ladder to show lows, highs, and intervals; (2) sing again, and let your arm glide through
the pitches in a continuous up and down motion; (3) allow the arm contours to circle back and
overlap using more vertical and horizontal space; (4) involve the entire trunk in the arm
contouring, engaging the core; (5) sit and listen to the melody, swaying slightly in the spine, and
then play your instrument as allowing the spine to sway; (6) focus on small passages and match
the sound you are making with the kinesthetic sensations you have in your memory; (7) notice
the affective quality of the movements, and name the emotions involved in the melody (pp. 5060).

27

Embodiment affects each musician differently, states Pierce. Performance outcomes may visibly
reveal the embodiment work, or there may be little or no visible sign (p. 6). The goal is to
connect the musician to the music with a sense of immediacy and availability: The search is for
an unfettered (childlike) response to a piece that moment by moment calls forth the available
technical command and awakens precise hearing of the musical instants that can be grasped both
intellectually and imaginatively (p. 8). She relates this to Jaques-Dalcrozes term plasticity, the
process by which the musician becomes the music (p. 6). Pierce also comments on the effects of
an embodied approach on the teacher. She notes that the teacher of movement is involved in a
reflective process as well, engaging with the music and the students from a joint place of
exploration:
The teacher is participating, carrying on parallel research, and thereby modeling with his
[her] own movement the guidelines of the process. He [she] is also revealing the look of
proprioceptive work, of study being carried on from inside the very things studied-the music,
its movement, his [her] own movement. This active, inner engagement has quite a different
appearance from that of someone who is giving thought to a topic or who knows the answers
already (p. 7).

2.3 Use of the Dalcroze Approach in Conductor Training

2.3.1

Research studies

Beyond its use with the choir, Ehmann (1968) also endorses the use of the Dalcroze approach in
the training of conductors (p. 81). Henke (1984) and Grau (2009) agree, indicating that
eurhythmics study can positively influence conductor preparation. Mathers 2008 study is the
most comprehensive in scope on the topic of the use of the Dalcroze approach in conductor
education. It investigates five theories of expressive movement and non-verbal communication
useful in the training of expressive conducting: those of Laban, Dalcroze, Delsartes, Alexander,
and Feldenkrais. Mather questions why more studies on the relationship of the Dalcroze
approach to conducting have not been pursued. He reiterates a point made by Jaques-Dalcroze,
stating that the musicians, and specifically conductors, abilities to be musically expressive is
dependent on their level of skill in expressive movement (p. 2, Jaques-Dalcroze 1921b).

28

According to Mather, Dalcroze training enhances expressive conducting by promoting the

integration of mind and body, and by representing a process-oriented educational model that can
be adopted in the early stages of teaching conducting (p. 108, p. 122).

Mather reviews the available literature on the use of movement methodologies in conductor
textbooks, and names James Jordans Evoking Sound (1996) as the most kinesthetically focused
textbook available to date (p. 21). With little exception, the conducting textbooks reviewed by
Mather promote the acquisition of conducting technique before they discuss expressive fluency
(p. 39). Amongst university-level conductors sampled, expressive movement activity ranked
as the sixth of nine most popular methods for the teaching of conducting expressivity, after selfobservation, observation of other conductors, practice away from the ensemble, conducting
class/course/workshop, and discussion with teachers/other students (p. 18).

Mather notes that the Dalcroze approach is uniquely applicable to conductor education with its
emphasis on musicianship skill development. Exercises that explore rhythmic pulse, subdivision
and arm disassociation are of particular use to conductors, states Mather (p. 104). Dalcroze
training aids in the development of a personal conducting vocabulary: As eurhythmics
movements are personal and not prescriptive, they allow conductors to develop their own
movement solutions, based on their own bodies and movement patterns (pp.111-112). The
Dalcroze emphasis on proprioception helps conductors convey information back to themselves,
which helps synchronize cognitive ideas about the music with conducting gestures (p. 123).
Mather describes what a Dalcroze lesson for conductors might look like:
An initial warm-up activity, for example, focuses awareness on breathing and various parts
of the body. Using music improvised on the spot, conductors practise moving different parts
of their bodies to reflect the beat. Changes to the localisation of the beat should be smooth
and instantaneous. Conductors then step the beats, alternating between forward and
backward movements. Changes should be smooth and instantaneous, with almost no time to
think between the instruction and the reaction. Conductors then practice internalising the
beat through sound and silence. When the music stops, conductors should continue to feel the

29

pulse of the music. As a variation, the conductors silently feel the beat while the music
plays, and show the beat in some way when the music stops. Conductors should change the
speed of their movements as determined by the pulse of the music heard. They should show
different pulses simultaneously in different parts of their bodies. Finally, conductors respond
to the music in canonic form, such exercises being particularly challenging for conductors
proprioceptive sense. Canonic exercises require a relaxed concentration and heightened
awareness. They are excellent for sensing movements, and developing fine motor skills
within the body. Best of all for conductors, these exercises are all carried out through the
medium of music (pp. 124-125).

Mathers includes a 13-week course incorporating all of the movement theories examined (Laban,
Dalcroze, Delsartes, Alexander, and Feldenkrais). Dalcroze techniques are represented in
activities teaching (1) moving to the beat (week 1); (2) fermata, gestures of syncopation, and
canonic exercises (week 5); (3) starting on beats other than 1, subdivisions, and irregular meters
(week 6), (4) exercises practicing arm disassociation (week 12), and (5) non-verbal rehearsing
(pp. 213-219).

2.3.2

Other sources

Dickson (1992) endorses the Dalcroze approach in conductor training in his article, The training
of conductors through the methodology of kinesthetics. Kinesthetics is a more musical
approach to teaching conducting, suggests Dickson, lamenting that many conducting programs
often limit by teaching only abstract mechanics and techniques of gesture which, in many cases,
are divorced from the music-making process. As a result, conducting robots are created who
understand the mechanics of gesture, but have little concept of the music itself its shape, flow,
and direction (p. 15). Kinesthetic learning prevents conductors from disconnecting from the
music, or what Jaques-Dalcroze would have called arrhythm: When movements are in harmony
with the flow of the music, conductor, choir, and audience experience a oneness with the music.
When movement and music contradict each other, on the other hand, a distorted form of the
music is experienced (p. 20).

30

Dickson describes conductor training as a process of exposing conductors to the entirety of the
kinesthetic learning process, and proposes a three-stage methodology for this purpose. Stage-one
prioritizes musical perception, awakening body responses to music through listening and free
movement activities. The goal of stage one is to develop a vocabulary of physical responses and
to build body concepts of space, time, and motion. Stage-two guides students to form thoughts
about their kinesthetic experience and to apply kinesthetic experience to the development of
conducting gestures. Stage-three trains conductors to use kinesthetics in the context of the
rehearsal as a means to establish the general character of a piece, discover appropriate phrasing
and line shape, and correct a myriad of problems (p. 19).

McCoys 1994 article, Eurhythmics: Enhancing the music-body-mind connection in conductor

training, directly aligns the goals of eurhythmics study, as outlined by Abramson (Choksy et al.,
1986) in Teaching Music in the 20th Century, with the conductors work. The mental and
emotional goals of eurhythmics teach conductors musical sensitivity, concentration, and empathy
towards the ensemble. The physical goals of eurhythmics improve the conductors ease,
accuracy, and expressivity, and connect kinesthetic experiences with specific musical outcomes:
The conductors use of time-space-energy-weight-balance is critical to the communication of
tempo, articulation, and dynamics. For the conductor, the physical elements of time-spaceenergy-weight-balance are analogous to the tone produced by the performers. The combination
of these elements in gesture provides a kinesthetic experience of the music for the conductor and
a visual map through the music for the ensemble (p. 21).

McCoy provides a number of specific eurhythmics exercises designed to attune the conductor.
She recommends the use of continuous canon to improve multi-tasking, replacement games to
aid in shifting between internal and external tempo, a partnered drum-game to explore anacrusis
and crusis, and a game where partners attempt to discern emotional states from body gestures
and attitudes. Whole-body games explore phrasing, ball-pass activities for mixed-meter, and
rope-pulls for tension-release round out McCoys list of examples, each of which is furnished

31

with a musical example to accompany the exercise. In conjunction with her discussion on mixed
meter, McCoy suggests that preceding score study with a kinesthetic experience can prevent
cognitive interference and negative self-talk (p. 27).

2.4 Use of the Dalcroze Approach in Vocal Training

There are no dissertations or theses available on the application of the Dalcroze approach to the
voice studio, however, Caldwells 1995 book, Expressive singing: Dalcroze Eurhythmics for
voice, presents a range of applications to the teaching of voice. Caldwell avoids discussing vocal
pedagogy, and instead, suggests the benefits of the Dalcroze approach to student learning.
Dalcroze techniques teach musical behavior rather than repertoire or concepts, bettering the
students ability to pay attention, turn attention to concentration, remember, reproduce the
performance, change, and automate, all of which are behaviors necessary for effective musical
study (p. 63). Apfelstadt (1985) agrees, suggesting that movement-based learning improves
transfer and internalization. Singers develop skills through movement activities that affect their
overall musical growth (p. 37).

Caldwell advocates the teaching of vocal technique in tandem with the teaching of musicality.
Technical problems arise from musical problems, believes Caldwell, specifically a lack of
physical coordination, faulty aural perceptions, or a lack of awareness of the harmony or
structure of the music (p. 97). Using body motion and gesture also generates genuine affective
response to music. Incorporating expressive elements early on in the music learning process
develops better sight-reading and builds a more coherent performance, states Caldwell (p. 42).
The author suggests a sequence for learning a score musically, based on the principles of JaquesDalcroze: (1) begin with the text, noting what emotions and moods are experienced as you read
it; (2) listen to multiple recordings of the piece, working away from the score; (3) develop a
gestalt/feeling for the entire composition; (4) examine the score, noting all of the composers
markings; (5) speak the text in a dramatic fashion, noticing breathing, range, and expression; (6)
speak the text out of rhythm, using the musical rules (Dalcrozes adaptation of Mathis Lussys
rules of expression); (7) speak the text in rhythm, paying attention to phrasing; (8) play or sing

32

the composition with the score; (9) play the accompaniment in chords out of rhythm while
singing the melody; (10) conduct yourself as you sing; (11) improvise a new text as you sing the
printed melody; (12) improvise a new melody as you sing the printed text; (13) sing through 4-6
times at a slow tempo while looking at the score; (14) sing through 4-6 times at a slow tempo by
memory; (15) sing at tempo looking at the score; (16) sing at tempo from memory; (17) sing 4-6
times faster than normal by memory (pp. 123-134).

In addition to spelling out strategies for students, Caldwell also advises on the role of the teacher.
Dalcroze-inspired teaching should create an environment where students experiment with
different skills and attitudes, and leave lessons with not only better skills but enlivened
imaginations and a joy of music making (p. 137). In a Dalcroze-inspired lesson, music should
teach music. Teacher-talk reduces the amount of music that can occur. Teachers should view
themselves as performing artists, and should model an embodied approach to music: In an ideal
lesson, the teacher becomes the music through the use of voice, face, and gesture, and the
environment in the studio becomes a musical environment (p. 155).

2.5 Summary
In the last forty-five years, there have been a number of investigations into the applications of the
Dalcroze approach to a variety of cognate fields, including the choral context. In the last twenty
years in particular, there seems to be a surge of interest in the integrated use of body movement
as a choral rehearsal technique. Research studies prefer a qualitative approach to this topic,
using conductor observation as a primary means of assessing practice. Although the influence of
Jaques-Dalcroze is always noted, these studies do not reveal a singularly Dalcrozian approach.
A variety of sources do offer specifically Dalcrozian pedagogical techniques for the choral
context (often by Dalcroze-trained teachers), including Ehmann (1968), Gordon (1975) Henke
(1990a, 1990b, 1993, 1994), Moore (1992), McCoy (1994), Dickson (1995), Frego & Leck
(2005), Frego & Reames (2003), Crosby (2008), and Shenenberger (2008). The area of choral
instructional technique is most heavily represented in the literature, and specifically, the use of

33

the body-movement, or eurhythmics, to develop choral skills and the artistic performance of
choral repertoire.

To date, there are no sources that specifically address the impact of the integration of Dalcroze
approaches on the conductors view of self and choristers. Additionally, the author was unable
to locate sources on the use of Dalcroze approaches in conductor score study, including the
impact of Dalcroze-based score study on choices made for conducting gesture and rehearsal
technique. The use of Dalcroze pedagogy in the choral context is also an underrepresented area
in the literature, including how choral conductors integrate Dalcroze pedagogical sequencing and
which aspects of the Dalcroze methodology (eurhythmics, solfge, improvisation, plastique
anime) are most often incorporated. Although literature on the integration of Dalcroze
eurhythmics and solfge exists, the author could not find research material on the use of
Dalcroze-based improvisation and plastique anime in the choral context. As well, to date, there
are also no quantitative or qualitative studies inquiring into the application of the Dalcroze
approach in the choral context by solely Dalcroze-trained practitioners.

There is a need for a more in-depth study inquiring into the lived experiences of Dalcroze
teachers who are also choral conductors, and choral conductors who are Dalcroze-trained. If the
conductor is the archetypal eurhythmician, then it follows that choral conductors who also teach
the Dalcroze approach, or Dalcroze teachers who also conduct choirs, may have some very
important insights about the integration of the Dalcroze approach into their work. How has their
personal study of the Dalcroze approach changed their pedagogy and practice as choral
conductors? How do they manifest the principles of the Dalcroze approach through their score
study, gesture, and teaching? What aspects of the Dalcroze approach are most applicable to the
choral context, and if so, why are the other areas underrepresented? The following chapters
explore these questions, with the goal of exposing, in richer detail, how the fields of Dalcroze
Eurhythmics and choral conducting can intersect.

34

Body as Instrument: Arrhythmy to Eurhythmy

Investigating the applications of the Dalcroze approach to the choral context begins with
revisiting Jaques-Dalcrozes ideology of the body and its role in a musical education. JaquesDalcroze (1921b) envisioned the body as the central conduit for musical thought, action, and
expression:
I look forward to a system of musical education in which the body itself shall play the role of
intermediary between sounds and thought, becoming in time the direct medium of our feeling
aural sensations being reinforced by all those called into being by the multiple agents of
vibration and resonance lying dormant in our bodies; the breathing system punctuating the
rhythms of words, muscular dynamics interpreting those dictated by musical emotions. The
child will thus be taught at school not only to sing, listen carefully, and keep time, but also to
move and think accurately and rhythmicallyThat would constitute at once instruction in
rhythm, and education by rhythm (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, 8).

A suitable pedagogy for this body-instrument should cater to all of the physical, emotional,
mental and social parts of the musician. Second, a body-based pedagogy should foster
ameliorative practice, resourcing the musician for independent and imaginative functioning.
Third, body-based music learning should occur in a stimulating and supportive environment that
facilitates both individual and corporate learning. According to Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b)
educating the body-instrument to be responsive and expressive should be the first and primary
goal of music education. All other types of musical education, including instrumental study,
should be an outgrowth of this work.

Jaques-Dalcroze imagined an embodied approach for music education, where musicians could
both perceive and perform music within the context of first-hand bodily experience. Abramson
& Reiser (1994) assert that teaching and learning any new musical skill requires every organ and
limb of the body to become involved; musical information that is embodied promotes musical
eurhythmy (p. 9). Conductors, B, D, and E emphasize whole-body learning as a hallmark of

35

the Dalcroze approach. Conductor B asserts that musicians become the music through a wholebody approach:
Because the body is the instrument, and therefore, people are learning music so
kinesthetically that its not just like a piano player whose fingers are touching, its the entire
body. So, that way of understanding it, really becoming the music no other methodology
does that.

3.1 A Whole-Body Orientation for the Choral Context

The whole-body experiences of the Dalcroze approach begin with somatic inquiry. Thomas
Hanna (1995) describes the human soma as the body as perceived from within by first-person
perception (p. 341). In the context of the classroom, Master-teacher B calls Dalcroze activities
live experiences, musical encounters, and a real-time relationship with music (personal
communication, May 21, 2012). These live encounters foster sensory experiences of the music
from within the musicians body. Master-teacher A describes the somatic emphasis as
foundational to the approach, and distinguishes the use of the body in the Dalcroze context from
the use of the body in the dance context:
We are never, for example, in the Dalcroze worldI have never had the experience of a
teacherthe teacher never says, Beautiful arms, like they do in ballet class. And, most of
the eurhythmics classes I have been in dont provide mirrors because we have to feel the
movement on the inside, not judge it as to how it looks.

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) insisted that a musical-somatic experience should begin with what the
musician hears. His early musical reforms targeted a lack of training in aural perception as the
main source of musical arrhythmy. Musical training that was overly focused on instrumentspecific techniques could actually impede aural perception, while conversely, the development of
acute aural consciousness would aid in the development of instrument-specific technique
(Jaques-Dalcroze 1921b, p. 117; Jaques-Dalcroze 1930b, p. 126). In a Dalcroze Eurhythmics
class, aural perception is immediately connected to body movement. Jaques-Dalcroze (1931b)

36

believed that the sounds of music aroused spontaneous motor responses in the hearer. Students
are asked to respond physically to sound, and to do so in a personalized and instinctive manner.
Initial Dalcroze exercises may ask students to show me what you hear, as Master-teacher A
explains:
One of the hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach is the whole person moving. And moving,
and heres the thing, the person moving shows what she hears. And thats a basic phrase,
Show me what you hear. So, the student has to show. And, theres not much
interpretation that has to happen. Show me what you hear the student doesnt have to
stop and think how do I show it? It is pretty automatic. And its a very interesting equivalent
Im showing what I hear. Isnt that interesting? I show what I hear when I move. And that
is absolutely basic to the approach.
Master-teacher A suggests that initial musical-aural experiences in the choral context will also
inspire a spontaneous movement response:
So, when you are working with students in a choral group, and theyre starting to sing, or
youre introducing a song, some of them will start moving right away, and very often a
choral group moves together. They will sway together, or they will, if its a jazzy piece, they
wont sway; theyll do a kind of bouncy, sideways motion, or whatever the general nature of
the music evokes in terms of movement. Or, they may not move at all. They are showing
you what they hear.

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) termed aural perception consciousness of sound, and its body-based
counterpart, kinesthetic perception, consciousness of rhythm: To be completely musical, a child
should possess an ensemble of physical and spiritual resources and capacities, comprising, on the
one hand, ear, voice, and consciousness of sound, and, on the other, the whole body (bone,
muscle, and nervous systems), and the consciousness of bodily rhythm (p. 79). According to
Jaques-Dalcroze, consciousness of sound is the ability to appreciate all of the dimensions of
sound internally, without recourse to an instrument, while consciousness of rhythm is the ability
to perceive and realize musical rhythms in the body (p. 79).

37

The development of consciousness of rhythm depends on the bodys integrated use of what
Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) termed the muscular sense, or as it is known today, proprioception.
Proprioception is the bodys subconscious awareness of its position, weight, balance, and
direction (Schnebly-Black & Moore, 1997, p. 28). Also called kinesthesia, proprioception is
responsible for the bodys measuring of tension and relaxation, the basic action of musical bodily
eurhythmy, according to Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b). By teaching the muscles to respond
accurately and efficiently in all gradations of time (speed), space (direction), and energy
(gravity/force/weight), the Dalcroze approach improves bodily accuracy and efficiency of
response, and gradually brings muscular response into conscious awareness (Jaques-Dalcroze,
1921b). Dalcroze training aims to make proprioceptive information available to the musician,
turning the body into what Juntunen & Westerland (2001) call a site of transformation (p.
209). Dalcroze brings the perspective towards embodied and transformational agency instead
of plain bodily reaction and causal response (Juntunen & Westerland, 2001, p. 209).

Stewart (1999) calls the whole body a resonating chamber, able to meld internal
(proprioceptive) and external (aural) sensations (p. 70). According to Schnebly-Black & Moore
(1999), the Dalcroze approachs dual focus on aural and proprioceptive sensation sharpens the
musicians processes of perception, attention, memory and action (p. 24). Master-teacher C
explains how the aural and kinesthetic aspects of perception become integrated so that the whole
body is involved in musical perception:
Well, I guess eurhythmics is an intense aural training, you know, thats what eurhythmics is
all about. Everything has to do with how you perceive the music. Its not just moving for
moving. Its moving in relationship to the sounds that you are perceiving. So, its aural
training. Eurhythmics is aural training. So, the ear is extremely important. Its like your
whole body is an ear! An oreille. Your whole body is that.

38

Jaques-Dalcroze desired that the ear and body should register much more than the technical
parameters of the music. Aural and kinesthetic images should build both musical accuracy and
musical expressivity: The practice of bodily movements awakens images in the mind. The
stronger the muscular sensations, the clearer and more precise the images, and thereby the more
metrical and rhythmic feeling is developed; for feeling is born of sensation (Jaques-Dalcroze,
1921b, p. 124). The integrated use of aural and kinesthetic images constitute what JaquesDalcroze termed the inner ear:
I therefore set about devising exercises to enable my pupils to recognize the pitch of sounds,
estimate intervals, apprehend harmonies, distinguish the different notes in chords, follow the
contrapuntal effects in polyphonic music, distinguish keys, analyze the relations between
hearing and vocal sensations, sensitize the ear, and by means of a new system of
gymnastics applied to the nervous system open up between brain, ear, and larynx the
necessary channels to form of the entire organism what one might call the inner ear
(Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, pp. 4-5).

Dalcroze master-teacher Virginia Mead (1994) describes the inner ear as an internal musical
storehouse, a memory bank of aural and kinesthetic images that can be utilized and recalled in
any musical performative activity (p. 5). Abramson (1986) calls inner hearing as, the ability to
summon musical sensations and impressions by thinking, reading, and writing music without the
aid of an instrument (p. 30). Conductor C corroborates the use of body movement to develop
and exercise the inner ear in the choral context. He makes use of silent-singing during opera
season in order to reduce singers voice usage, and notes that when the choir is moving, they are
easily able to track the music mentally:
I try to find ways to have rehearsals where they are not singing all of the time. So, I will
have them move the section, and then I will say, sing. They will have been moving for
fifteen measures, and they are quite amazed when they come in dead on the note, dead on
pitch, so I know that their inner ear is working.

39

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) believed that the experiential use of the body would also heighten
affective response in the musician. Master-teacher A suggests that images generated in
movement spur the imagination into action and generate musical ideas, a form of qualitative
analysis that bears exploring in the choral classroom:
Its the imagery that brings us close, and back again to body movement, which I think, often
helps us find images when we are moving, all of a sudden we start feeling, Oh, Im a
butterfly, or, you know. All kinds of images emerge with movement. So, I think that
when the students are moving, we need to be aware of the fact that we have to address the
issue of what does that feel like to you, and what does that bring up for you?

Farber (1999) suggests that the kinesthetic sense has a role in developing the musicians
imagination. She defines three roles for the kinesthetic sense: The kinesthetic sense gives us a
present image of present physical experience, the kinesthetic memory gives us a present image of
past physical experience, and the kinesthetic imagination gives us a present experience of a
musical reality beyond our physical powers to enact (p. 5). Ehmann (1968) agrees that concrete
bodily exploration is insufficient to represent the laws of motion inherent in music (p. 92).
Bowman (2004) suggests that the development of bodily imagination contributes to depth in
musical artistry: A crucial part of what distinguishes highly imaginative musical performances
from merely competent ones is a performers ability to draw upon bodily and gestural resources
outside the purely musical realm. Competent or craftsmanlike performance draw on
conventional ways of moving, orienting, and behaving, whereas highly musical ones draw
deeply on other bodily resources, exploring new ways to move on the instrument, or finding in
patterns of other embodied experience novel, imaginative ways to move musically (p. 42).

According to Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b), the beginnings of musical artistry lie here, in the
reawakening of the body in music education. Even the most preliminary music lessons should
invoke the aesthetic: The aesthetic sense should be cultivated contemporaneously with the study
of the elementary laws of the art, and, from the first lessons, the child should be made to realize
that the training is directed as much to the heart as to the brain, and that he must try to love as

40

well as to understand (p. 36). In the study of repertoire too, the primary response to music
should be affective: Young people are taught to play the compositions of Bach, Mozart,
Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt, before their minds and ears can grasp these works, before they
have developed the faculty of being moved by them (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1909, p. 14). Masterteacher C describes this as a primary focus in her work with university-level music students. Her
goal is to use the Dalcroze approach to reconnect them with instinctual musical feeling:
One thing that I try to do is to connect the students to their own instinct. I feel sometimes
when I work with the students studying in music that they lost their musical instinct. Its not
that they lost it. Its there, but it seems that a lot of emphasis is made on theory and
virtuousity and all the technical aspects, it seems, at one point, they tend to disconnect from
their own instincts - their own emotion in a certain way. Its like they dont allow their
instinct and their emotion to participate in what they are doing. So thats why Im trying to
have them move very spontaneously to music. I dont impose any movement, and codified
movement. Im trying to make them at ease so that their own natural movement this idea
of the motion of the emotion comes out.

For Conductor A, emotion and motion are synonymous. She describes her musical involvement
as a choral conductor as a whole-body experience. She translates her feelings about the music
into gesture, and asks that the choristers do the same translate their feelings about the music
into their singing. Her ability to successfully lead the group depends on the entire ensembles
whole-body involvement:
The principles that I recognize during this kind work is the principle of the body as an
instrument. The basis of musical art is human motion. Human emotion, sorry. Human
emotion, which could be translated through human movement. Musical ideas can be
translated by the body. And, any body movement also can be expressed musically. So, it is
always the journey, in the music, in the body, in the music and the body. And, when I
conduct, it is exactly what I feel. I just love it. I think its the reason why I need that my
choirs really sing with all the person, with all the body, with all the love also. I need it to be
able to conduct. So, I ask for it, you understand. I need it. If I dont have this, I cannot
conduct. Im not there! Im not connected!

41

Dalcroze experiences do more than simply generate a larger volume or higher quality of sensory
input for later cognitive processing. The experience of apprehending music through the body is a
sort of thinking-in-action. In describing the dancers mode of perception while performing a
dance improvisation, Sheets-Johnstone (1981) describes a similar phenomenon, suggesting the
dancer is thinking in the language of movement, not translating thought into movement (p. 400).
Stubley suggests that the act of listening to music is a form of bodily knowing, and a means of
inhabiting the sounds that resists cognitive or conceptual analysis (1996, p. 5). Juntunen &
Westerland propose that Dalcroze training improves the musicians ability to think-in-action,
interacting with music while simultaneously making music (p. 209).

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) envisioned the mind-body as a single entity, without division (p. 310).
Master-teacher C explains Jaques-Dalcrozes position further, emphasizing the indissociability of
the mind and body, and the forward-thinking nature of the Dalcroze work:
There is something very authentic about eurhythmics, and in that respectDalcroze used to
sayI know and think simply because I feel and experience. Dalcroze said that. This is a
translationThat is very interesting because he was saying that he understands, he knows, he
thinks that means he is becoming aware of something, he understands something, because
he has experienced it and he has felt itSo, for him, knowledge is possible because we have
an emotion and the feeling of that emotionSo that is interesting because the word that you
used, moved to learn, thats the idea of this emotion. To be moved by something it
makes it possible for us to understand that something, otherwise it will not be possible. And
the emotion in our system is linked to movement. So, its very interesting. What is
fascinating to me nowadays is to realize that scientists are demonstrating that Dalcroze was
right with his intuition at the time, at the beginning of the 20th century.

42

3.2 Rhythm: Arrhythm and Eurhythm

According to Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b), rhythm is the foundation of all artistic endeavor,
including music:
Rhythm is the basis of all vital, scientific, and artistic phenomena. It produces alike the
element of order and measure in movement and the idiosyncrasies of execution. The study of
rhythm conduces to the formation of an individuality for all purposes of life that is, a
manner of expressing oneself according to the rhythm most natural and native to ones being
(Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 171).

Traditional music education had not only lost sight of the key qualities of superior musicianship,
it seemed to have underestimated the power of music to teach eurhythmic coordination.
According to Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b), music is the closest art to life, offering endless
opportunities for the integration of human action and reflection. Bachmann (1993) explains:
Music already exercises the synthesis he [Jaques-Dalcroze] is looking for: while drawing
together the components of personality, it acts as an ever-present model of that final
synthesis. For it is in music that tones, timbres, and rhythms, nuances, pauses, accents,
tempi, and all the physical and dynamic phenomena of the world of sound, find themselves
brought into conjunction, arranged, superimposed, measured, and shaped by the power of
creative thought (p. 13).

Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b) referenced the Greek notion of music, as the totality of our sensorial
and psychic faculties, the ever-changing symphony of spontaneous feelings created, modified,
then refined by the imagination, ordered by rhythm and harmonized by consciousness (p. 58).
As such, music lives inside the person, and the role of music education is to facilitate the
connection between the inherent music that lives inside of us, our sentient awareness and action,
and the music we learn and perform (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1930b). Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b)

43

explains further, saying, Rhythm is a means, not an end in itself. Its function is to set up the
relationship between the music we hear and that we have within ourselves (p. 116).

Training in the Dalcroze approach aims to develop eurhythmy, the coordinated functioning of the
body in the service of the music. The body is understood to be a holistic entity, with no division
between the aural, proprioceptive, affective, and cognitive aspects of bodily consciousness.
What is rhythm? Is it spiritual or corporeal? Assuredly it is both. There is no rhythm which
is not manifested physically; the rhythm of sounds, for instance, implies the rhythm of
breathing or that of those portions of the body which are moved by a musician when playing
an instrument. Thus it may be said that no rhythm can take place without the participation of
the bodily powers. Neither can any succession of rhythms come about without the
collaboration of the mind, for this requires a coordination, a definite sequence, an equal
distribution of forces in time and space. Everything rhythmic therefore implies complete
union of mind and body, creating the miracle of their close inter-penetration (JaquesDalcroze, 1930b, p. 360)

Music education at the time of Jaques-Dalcroze failed to help musicians coordinate mind and
body, resulting in what Jaques-Dalcroze termed arrhythm, the excessive cognitive controlling or
interrupting of the natural actions of the body (1921b, p. 101; Juntunen, 2004, p. 202). Arrhythm
may manifest itself in a variety of ways, as muscular inflexibility, lack of balance or sense of
space, excess intellectual interference, failure to concentrate, or too much or too little selfconfidence (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 326). Physiologically, arrhythm is a dis-order,
confusion, or resistance in the nervous system, or a stoppage in the communication between
brain and body (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 116). Musicians may experience ease with one
aspect of music learning, such as hearing rhythms, while experiencing difficulty with another,
such as executing those rhythms corporally (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 324).

44

Applied in the choral context, the Dalcroze approach targets arrhythm in both conductors and
choristers. Jordan (1996) suggests that conductors demonstrate arrhythmy when they over-think
and analyze the sound while conducting the ensemble. This type of cognitive controlling also
prevents choristers from spontaneous involvement in music, causing arrhythmic responses in the
choir, states Jordan (p. 140). Conductor C agrees, describing his conducting as an activity that
requires whole-body eurhythmy. Any disconnect in his mind or body causes a disruption in the
flow of information from the composer to the conductor to the choir to the audience. Conductor
arrhythmy also changes the choirs sound:
I tell my conducting students, once I start a piece, I do not move my feet, almost as if I am
getting the music from the floor, and my whole body is pliable. But Im not going to move
my feet. Its almost an honor thing with me. I am honoring the music by staying there as if
Im receiving it from the soles of my feet through my body and then out through my hands
with the gesture that I want to show. You can come up and try knock me over, and you will
not be able to knock me overThe whole body has to be integrated. The whole approach of
movement and being integrated and what youre doing has everything to do with my gesture
and my being on the podium. That once Ive started, Im grounded, and I am not going to let
go of that piece until the end. I think I told you that Dalcroze-teacher I that I worked with at
Institution I she came to my recital, and she nailed every time I left the score. She heard
something change in the group. And it was frightening to me. And she was deadly
accurate

For the chorister, arrhythm may manifest itself in inaccuracies in rhythmic and textual execution,
problems with intonation, a lack of vitality in the choral sound, or difficulties with maintaining
active focus throughout a phrase, a piece, or a rehearsal. Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) describes
vocal arrhythmy in this 1905 criticism of vocal music in Swiss schools:
What wonder, considering the time that must be lost between the volition and the realization
of their movement, that in practicing a song their little larynxes should be unskilled, their
vocal chords inflexible and inexact, their breathing ill-regulated, to say nothing of their
attempts to punctuate and measure the time, and to emit each note at the right moment! Not
only, then should the ear and voice of the child receive adequate training, but, in addition,

45

every part of his body which contributes to rhythmic movement, every muscular and nervous
element that vibrates, contracts, and relaxes under the pressure of natural impulses (pp. 7-8).

Caldwell (1995) suggests that vocal technical issues (arrhythmy) arise when over-cognition
causes bodily tension. Musical problems are kinesthetic problems, he purports (p. 108).
Integrating the body into vocal training helps singers connect their interior experience of the
music, their affect, with their exterior manifestations of the music, their actions, helping to
reduce over-cognition: My experience has been that the coordinating process between affect
and body is quick and almost without effort; the effort comes when the brain tries to overcome
the body and redirect its actions (p. 109). Conductor D uses the Dalcroze approach to teach
choristers to sing without tension:
I am convinced that much of what goes wrong with amateur singers is the result of tension.
And anything which gives them a reason to move while they are singing is a) likely to solve
vocal issues, and I think b) illuminate for them the difference between free singing and tense,
constricted singing.

McCoy (1986) suggests that singers receive less proprioceptive feedback in the music-learning
process than do instrumentalists. The Dalcroze approach facilitates connections between the
internal functioning of the voice and its externalization. Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b) includes
training in voice as an integral part of developing whole-body eurhythmy. He suggests a number
of types of exercises that synthesize body movement with the voice, and incites teachers to use
vocal gymnastics to develop the mechanism of the larynx, the diaphragm, and the lungs, with a
view to the effective production of sound (p. 3, p. 26). The voice also aids in the development
of aural musicianship, states Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) while correspondingly, aural training
strengthens vocal production.
There is so intimate a connection between the vocal and the aural processes, that the
development of the one virtually involves the development of the otherthe efforts
necessary to assure the accuracy of vocal sounds conduce to the steady development of aural

46

faculties. In other words, while training with the aid of an instrument may tend to develop
the hearing, that based on singing is calculated to refine the listening capacities (JaquesDalcroze, 1921b, p. 34).

Abramson (1980) points out that coordinating the various resources needed for music-making
requires disordination as well, referencing Jaques-Dalcrozes 1935 volume, Coordination et
disordination des mouvements corporels: Exercices pour l'harmonisation des actes moteurs
spontanes et volontaires et le developpement de la concentration. Abramson defines
disordination as, Training either side of the body (either brain hemisphere) and any part or parts
of the body to articulate dissimilar designs and unequal energy levels (p. 64). The conductor is
an exemplar of the principle of disordination, using one arm to create strong, assertive sounds
while simultaneously gesturing with the opposite arm to bring forth sounds of melting
tenderness (Abramson, 1980, p. 64). Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) also names the conductor as a
model for bodily disordination, or polyrhythmics and polydynamics: Who [the conductor] will
express violence with one hand and tenderness with the other, and at the same time signalizes
rhythms of different durations, and we have a perfect illustration of the combination of
polyrhythm with polydynamics. It is essential that the rhythmician should possess absolute
freedom of limb (p. 89).

The notion of disordination may prove helpful in teaching the independence of various
mechanisms used in choral singing: for example, do not correct flat intonation with an increase
in volume, slower does not mean softer, a higher pitch does not necessitate a raising of the chin,
sing the consonants mf and the vowels pp. Conductor C likens the voice to the violin. A
violinist can move the bow faster (speed), or put more pressure on the strings (force) in order to
alter the dynamic; but neither of these activities necessitates a change in the tempo of the music.
Teaching choral singers to disordinate the speed or force of their actions from the tempo of the
music is critical, suggests Conductor C. Singers are unaware of how these parameters can
coordinate and disordinate to create expressive outcomes, and as a result, sound stagnates
(personal communication, June 6/12, 2012).

47

Master-teacher C describes the singing voice as the closest instrument to body movement
(personal communication, May 21, 2012). In her eurhythmics classes, the singing voice is used
to help promote whole-body eurhythmy. Students come to understand the meaning of
embodiment through the integrated use of the voice with the body, she remarks. Likewise, the
development of an expressive singing voice relies on the coordinated use of the body:
The voice for me is very important, because when I am able to have the people use their
voice in a very incarnate way, I feel they really understand what I am talking about when I
use the word embodimentI just think that when people are really able to connect, to really
connect their voice with their whole body, they really feel what it means when we talk about
the connection with the bodyFor the voice to really be expressive, what you need is to train
the bodyYou know, for the choir, the voice is important, but for the voice to develop, you
need to have a body which is able to produce nice sounds, nice vocal sounds. You know, the
body is the first instrument, so we always come back to the same thing.

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) advocated for a preliminary ear-voice-body training for all musicians,
including singers and conductors whose primary instrument continues to be the body in
performance. The sounds of the singing voice and the gestures of the conductor should be an
outgrowth of whole-body coordination:
I challenge any singer, be he the greatest genius in the world, to interpret plastically and with
rhythmic feeling the simplest music, before he has undergone a special education designed to
make his muscular actions correspond with sound movementsThis rhythmic training
should likewise have a place in the education of conductors(1921b, p. 266).

Marie-Laure Bachmann comments that the profession of rhythmician, according to the methods
of Jaques-Dalcroze, consists in knowing how to create links (Brice, 2004, p. 7). Dalcroze
teacher, Virginia Mead (1993), describes these links: Links are constantly being made between
the ear that hears, the eye that sees notation, the body that feels, and the mind that comprehends

48

and sends messages back to the body for a response (p. 45). Mead names the conductor as a
model of this type of integration (p. 45).

Bachmann also notes that the Dalcroze approach build links between eurhythmics and other
areas of musical activity, such as choral conducting. She retells a story of working with choral
conductors where she asked them to sing a piece of music silently (in the inner ear) and allow the
music to move their bodies through space, across the floor. The activity was aimed at the
forging of links, in this case between the inner ear and the body, and to encourage them [choral
conductors]to observe or to discover what links ought to exist between Eurhythmics and their
own particular sphere of activity (1991, p. 40).

3.3 A Choral Body

Authors agree that Jaques-Dalcrozes century-old reforms seem contemporary in the current
discourse on the inclusion of embodied and somatic practices in music education. Juntunen
states that arts education ignores embodiment in favor of reason and abstractions (2001, p. 206,
2004b, p. 199). Bresler (2006) argues that the field of music education prefers the visual and
textual to the auditory and textural, aspects of experience which are embodied (p. 30). In the
choral context in particular, Garnett (2009) argues that embodied teaching is too rare, stating
elements of dance or movement are integral to many choral styles, whether as individual
response to a styles rhythmic character, bodily percussion such as hand-clapping, or explicit
choreography. In all cases, an inability to participate fluently in this movement would be seen as
a significant skill deficit that has a directly detrimental impact on the performance. Yet
principles for good practice in the performance of physical movement and teaching strategies to
develop it are markedly absent from the practitioner literature (p. 71).

Bowman (2010) criticizes efforts made in the field of music education to integrate mind and
body as superficial and failing to translate into concrete and ameliorative musical practice.
Music education could make itself more relevant by adopting an embodied approach, reflecting

49

what may be most distinctive about music; its roots in experience and agency, the bodily and
the social (p. 33). Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) proposed that a whole-body approach to music
teaching and learning should service the individual musician with the mental, emotional,
physical, and musical skills for increased accuracy, expressivity and individuality (Choksy,
Abramson, Gillespie & Woods, 1986). Music education should have an ameliorative orientation,
helping musicians become both independent and imaginative. Jaques-Dalcroze comments, No
mere theoretical instruction can bring about the development in youthful musicians of the desire
for beauty, the consciousness of self, the will to act, the power to construct (1930b, p. 179).

Shusterman (2008), the creator of somaesthetics, the study of the use of the soma in perception
and aesthetic development, agrees with Jaques-Dalcroze. Music learning should target sensory
involvement with music, and increase creative self-fashioning (p. 2).
It was through discovering that nine out of every ten pupils understand and live music so
little that I resolved to give all my time to the development of the childs musical powers, so
that he might subsequently be passed on to his instrumental and technical studies under
conditions which would enable him to regard this very techniques as a means of asserting
himself, of carrying out his personal determination and feelings, instead of allowing it to
become a means of slavishly imitating the thoughts and feelings of others (Jaques-Dalcroze,
1930b, p. 51).

In practical terms, Conductor B notes that her use of the Dalcroze approach in the choral context
has made a significant impact on choristers level of engagement. Experiencing the music in
their own bodies promotes musical decision-making, ownership and independence. She
describes the Dalcroze approach as opposite to a spoon-feeding approach:
Because their body is making connections to the music if they are listening to a recording, or
if they are singing it and they are reacting to it in a certain way, they got to make a decision
about how they move their body the conductor didnt. So, it gives them a feeling of
empowerment, almost. And, then again, there is more buy-inIts not you be the teacher

50

and them being passive. They are more actively engaged. Theyre making themselves learn
it, you are not just spoon-feeding them notes. Youre not spoon-feeding them rhythms.
Youre not spoon-feeding themeven the cognitive - if you have a difficult rhythm and
asking them mathematically to figure it out they dont own that. Most of the time, they
dont own that until their body has its ownand theres real learning going on. The
engaging, energizing, the active Its a whole different ball game

Conductor B adds that choristers remember the music better from rehearsal to rehearsal when she
uses Dalcroze approaches (personal communication, June 6/September 24, 2012). Conductor A
agrees that engaging the body in rehearsals embeds musical information much more deeply. She
recounts a story when choristers forgot her verbal directives about the music, but were easily
able to recall their movement experiences:
I remember one day we were singing Baroque repertoire and there were a lot of hemiole.
And, they didnt feel them at all. The text, the words, were written with the tonic accents and
the hemiolas, but they couldnt do this, so I make them move it this time, and it was
incredible! The week after, they came back, and we sang again this part and it was [sticks
tongue out and makes a noise], and I said, Dont you remember what we did last week?
They looked at me and I said, I made you move, remember? So, I told them, If you are
not able to sing with those tonic accents, I will make you dance this week! I just had to
show them a little bit what we did, and, Oh yes, yes! and they laughed, and I told them, If
you are not able to sing, we will dance! So they sang, correctly. So, I think its interesting,
because I think it was embodied. It was embodied.

Conductor C agrees that mental retention and integration of the entire choral score is increased
through the use of the Dalcroze approach. He describes an instance where choristers
remembered a year-old piece with ease:
Once theyve done it kinesthetically in their bodies, they will never forget that piece. I think
I mentioned, at an ACDA convention, I asked the kids that were in the group the year before

51

to stand, and I played a C major triad for them, and they immediately danced and moved
Byrds Laudibus in Sanctis. They hadnt sung it in a year. It will stay with them forever.
Its just part of their being. And, its integrated more than just their part. They hear the other
parts as well. So, thats why I use this approach. Its a meaningful learning experience for
them.

Used in the choral context, Conductors A-E note that the Dalcroze approach aids in developing
individual musical agency as well as the musical agency of the entire choir. Ehmann (1968)
introduces the concept of a choral body, a unified entity that emerges from the independent
musicianship of the choristers. The conductor, too, can enter into this choral body, and consider
him/herself a member and at one with the choir (p. 112).
The individuals awareness of an animated, vibrant body should be transferred to the entire
choir. We speak deliberately of a choral body. The different sections should grow
together to form this choral entity, becoming members of one body. The total choral
body requires its own kind of corporate awareness, so that it can project the music with
animation and vitality (p. 6).
Similitude of experience is not the goal, but rather an interdependence between the various
participants of the choral ensemble that can both preserve the development of each independent
musician while increasing the expressive potential of the whole ensemble.

Master-teacher B suggests that the Dalcroze approach balances a sense of leadership with a sense
of following (personal communication, May 21, 2012). Master-teacher C agrees that the
Dalcroze approach creates a cooperative learning environment where students learn both from
the teacher (conductor) and from one another. Skills such as watching the conductor are
balanced with skills such as adapting your voice and your energy to other choristers (personal
communication May 21/30, 2012). Conductor C describes the counterpointing of chorister
independence (from the music) with chorister interdependence (as an ensemble) as his primary
goal in incorporating the Dalcroze approach:

52

Thats my major goal to get them independent of the notation. And independent from
everybody else while being dependent on them as well. Thats the other challenge that I
strive for By that I mean that they are making independent musical choices themselves,
while being dependent on everybody elses choices

He describes a specific movement exercise, done in pairs, that requires choristers to be both
independent and dependent on one another. He notes how this exercise has made a deep impact
on the choristers, both in terms of the depth of their musical understanding, and as a means of
deepening interpersonal exchange. Simultaneously leading and following, as Conductor C
explains, has a transformative influence on choral musicians.
The other that makes a big impact is if I just pair up people. Two people, and they cant be
singing the same part, and they stand facing each other, shoulders down, with hands in front
of them, like patty-cake. And your hands are not allowed to touch the other hands of your
partner. They are two or three inches away you can feel the heat of the other person. And
you look directly into their eyesand sing the entire piece while their arms follow and lead
each other. So, they are not allowed to touch the palm of the other hand, but that palm
follows the opposite palm. So your right hand and left hand might be going up, might be
going down, might be going sideways, and around. They determine, each of them determine,
where they should move. So, theyre both in charge, and they both have to follow the other
person at the same time. And this brings an incredible silence over the group. When it starts,
I feel this incredible kinetic energy around the room, when it gets going its just silent about
each of them. They get so interconnected with each other with their eyes. Theres also a hug
afterword. Ill do this with high school kids that dont know these kids and have been
squirrely during all of our demonstration and then half of them try to move with us, but this
one just stops them dead in their tracks. They know what that piece meant when they get
done. They have seen it in the eyes of the people they are working with. Itll bring high
school kids to tears without saying a word to them, just singing a song to them and having
high school kids follow their arm movements, because they end up leading and following
each other. So, thats an exercise that has been incredibly uplifting. Its a game-changer.

53

The Dalcroze approach prioritizes group learning. Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b) remarks that the
collective learning of music forges links between students and promotes joy:
This joy is evidently also created by the fact that lessons are taken in common, to musical
accompaniment. Music forges a link between the pupils. A multiple life animates every
organism, constituting a single rhythm traversed by many currents, all differing in
expression, though inspired by one will (1930a, p.365).
Master-teacher B also describes joy as an outcome of a meaningful ensemble experience, such
as the one that may be found in the choral context:
I keep coming back to Dalcrozes statement that joy is the most powerful of mental
stimuli. And the more I work with this, the more profound I find that is, because its
inherently a joyful thing to be allowed to use all of our abilities. It makes one feel whole,
and thats profoundly joyful. To interact with other people if its done in a way which
is useful - leading to something - nobody likes to be part of a crowd. A stampede of
humans. But to actually be in an organized, structured event that is creative with other
people is very deeply powerful, I think.

Seitz (2005) comments that the Dalcroze approach is embodied on many levels, including
socially embodied (p. 422). Juntunen and Westerland (2001) remark that Dalcroze was
successful in counterpointing the first-person and third-person in music education, thereby
creating learning experiences that are both personally and socially contextualized. Shusterman
(2008) agrees, stating that the Dalcroze approach brings musicians a contextualized awareness of
self. Master-teacher B asserts that the Dalcroze approach reaches the musician, the human
being, and the teacher. She calls the approach nourishing, adding that it teaches us about
ourselves (personal communication, May 21, 2012).

3.4 Summary
Jaques-Dalcrozes ultimate goal was for the student of music, be it conductor or chorister, to
develop the coordinations necessary for musical eurhythmy, which he describes as An un-

54

interrupted current between imaginative conceptions and practical results (Jaques-Dalcroze,

1930a, p. 364). Used in the choral context, the Dalcroze approach grants a primary educational
focus: the development of musical eurhythmy through the coordinated usage of the musicians
whole-body. Music education, including choral education, should serve to promote these
coordinations, including the coordination of experience and memory, experience and
imagination, the automatic and the conscious, and the conscious and the individuals personality
[temperament and fantasy in the original] (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 174). Dalcroze techniques
give conductors and choirs the means of achieving musical eurhythmy through the balance of
independent and somatically-informed musicianship with a sense of corporate awareness and
teamwork.

Master-teachers A-C and Conductors A-E note this orientation in their work, highlighting in
particular the usage of the Dalcroze approach to target vocal coordination (as a function of total
body coordination), the usage of the Dalcroze approach to coordinate movement to music with
affective response, and the coordination of independent musicianship skills with a sense of
heightened participation and ownership in the choral ensemble.

55

Perception to Performance: Dalcroze-based Score

Study and Gesture in the Choral Context

In the Dalcroze approach, the body is utilized as an instrument of both the perception and the
performance of music (Farber & Parker, 1987, p. 45; Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 79). Dalcroze
experiences work to (1) enlarge the field of perception and organize incoming sensorimotor
information, and (2) refine bodily response and build a vocabulary of movement for use in
music-making. The Dalcroze approach provides for what Marie-Claire Dutoit (1972) calls a
double education, first sensitizing musical perception, and second, crafting that sensitivity into
expressive musical performance (p. 52). Bachmann (1991) explains:
Music assumes two roles in Dalcrozian education. In the first place it actsas an underlying
support of time and energy enabling the maintenance and control of the stability of
experienced sensations. In the second, it affords, by reference to various works, an area of
application offering many opportunities to put the technique acquired to the test by adapting
it to new expressive or formal demands (p. 213).

Master-teacher C asserts that the body and music mutually educate one another. The music
develops the body (perception), and then the body develops the musician (performance)
(personal communication, May 21/30, 2012). Jaques-Dalcroze desired that a body-based
musical education should go beyond the correction of arrhythmy to the development of the
musicians imagination in the service of the repertoire (1921, p. v).
The second result of this education ought to be to put the completely developed faculties of
the individual at the service of the interpreters the human body. For the body can become a
marvelous instrument of beauty and harmony when it vibrates in tune with artistic
imagination and collaborates with creative thought. It is not enough that, thanks to special
exercises, students of music should have corrected their faults and be no longer in danger of
spoiling their musical interpretations by their lack of physical skill and harmonious
movement; it is necessary in addition that the music which lives within them artists will
understand me should obtain free and complete development, and that the rhythms which

56

inspire them should enter into intimate communion with those which animate the works to be
interpreted (1909, p. 17).

4.1 Building a Body-based Vocabulary for Choral Performance

In order to facilitate both musical accuracy and expressivity, the Dalcroze approach aims to
progressively build the musicians vocabulary of movement in service of music. For JaquesDalcroze, rhythm, including musical rhythm, was synonymous with movement. Musical rhythm
inspires human motion and emotion, and likewise, music animates and manifests the natural
rhythms of the human body: From its birth, music has registered the rhythms of the human
body of which it is the complete and idealized sound image (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 119;
1930b, p. 7). In his 1907 essay, The Initiation into Rhythm, he outlines his principles
regarding music and movement as follows:
(1) Rhythm is movement.
(2) Rhythm is essentially physical.
(3) Every movement involves space and time.
(4) Musical consciousness is the result of physical experience.
(5) The perfecting of physical resources results in clarity of perception.
(6) The perfecting of movements in time assures consciousness of musical rhythm.
(7) The perfecting of movement in space assures consciousness of plastic rhythm.
(8) The perfecting of movements in time and space can only be accomplished by exercises in
rhythmic movement. (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 83).

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) used the terminology of time-space-energy to describe the correlated

movements of the body to the rhythm of the music: A properly executed rhythm requires, as a

57

preliminary condition, complete mastery of movements in relation to energy, space, and time
(p. 83). The ability to balance the interrelated use of time, space, and energy would determine
the musicians facility, efficiency and expressivity (Choksy et. al, 1986; Landis & Carder, 1972).
Rhythm, like dynamics, depends entirely on movement, and finds its nearest prototype in our
muscular system. All the nuances of time allegro, andante, accelerando, ritenuto all
nuances of energy, forte, piano, crescendo, diminuendo can be realized by our bodies,
and the acuteness of our musical feeling will depend on the acuteness of our bodily
sensations (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 115).

The time-space-energy equation underpins all musical activity, from the breath of the singer, to
the upbeat of the conductor, to the articulation of an accent in the music. Any change in the
amount of time effects a change in space and energy and vice-versa (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b;
Abramson & Reiser, 1994). Master-teacher C explains how the principles of time-space-energy
are manifest in choral singing and conducting:
The thing is that when you sing, the way that you control your breathing, the way that you
put more or less energy, the way you attack your sound when you sing, its the same thing as
when you conduct the way that you do the gesture through the space. All of these things
are based on the same principles. You know very well, Caron, about the time, space and
energy. So the time, space, energy relationship is always the same. You know, you are
breathing, and you have to control it in that respect. How do you manage your energy in
respect to the amount of time you have, the space that you will have, you know, for your
abdominal muscles to react, you know Its the same thing with the conductor, its just that
its not your abdominal gestures that you are using more, but your arms and your whole
body.

The Dalcroze approach aims to teach musicians to bring the time-space-energy equation into
conscious awareness. This includes providing the body with a range of organized experiences in
muscular contraction and relaxation at various degrees of force and speed in relationship to a
variety of musics (Dutoit, 1971; Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b; Leonhard & House, 1959). Initial

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body-explorations examine the difference between the states of muscular activity and muscular
repose, and the preparation for one from the other (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, 1930b). In music,
these two states are represented by sound and silence, including the preparation, continuation,
and cessation of sound.
Musical rhythm is the art of establishing due proportion between sound movement and static
silence, or opposing them, and of preparing for the one by means of the other, according to
the laws of contrast and balance on which all style depends (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921, p. 149).

The use of a rest in music represents not inactivity but a transference of external hearing into
internal hearing, or the echo of an external sound (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b; Rosenstrauch, 1973).
Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) believed the rest in music was greatly underutilized, and could be an
important contribution to the development of time-duration as an expressive element in music.
The rest in music gave performers (and composers and audiences) the opportunity to explore
musical depth, of the interior/exterior transfer of sound to silence. Ehmann (1968) suggests that
when a singer takes a breath, there is no cessation in internal sound: The singer does not make a
new attack into the next phrase but rather enters into it on the wave of the frequency of the
sound oscillations which have not ceased to vibrate during the rest (p. 85).

Master-teacher A references Jaques-Dalcrozes description of the rest as internal vibration as

uniquely informative to her understanding and performance of music. She asks her choral
students to use rests as moments of preparation, to either listen or to take a breath:
For example, he [Jaques-Dalcroze] describes, just in one sentence, rests as internal
vibration. And, if you think about that, internal means the energy is happening inside. Its
such a beautiful and short to almost the point of being able to disregard it. Internal
vibration. Ive thought of that phrase so much. That has definitely informed my body
work. That rest is internal vibration. So, for years and years and years, I would no more
have my kids read a rest as sh, or say anything, theres another one, sa. What they do
when they see a rest is they take a breath. And I tell them when you see this symbol, its

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called a rest, but it means listen. Thats what it means. And when you see this, and I tell
them, professional musicians see a rest, and most often what they do is listen and take a
breath. So, we all take a breath when we see a rest. So, thats how we deal with it. But, that
phrase, internal vibration, is very important in understanding how our study of music
informs all of the parts of the music.

In Jaques-Dalcrozes (1930b) description of the sequential study of body movement and movingplastic, he begins with exercises dedicated to the alternation between states of relaxation and
states of muscular effort. This work is always coordinated by the breath, which serves to unify
the entire bodily organism, upper and lower body, and to direct the character and connection of
the bodys motor impulses between its various states of activity. A change in movement may
also occur through a shift of bodily balance, or transference of gravity (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1930b).
The starting point for a movement or change in movement is the displacement of the breath or
balance.
The trunk being the heaviest limb of the body, and the first influenced by emotion, owing to
the action of the diaphragm, it follows that the most important and common instigator of all
movements is the breathing (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 280)

According to Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b), developing the bodys sense of rhythm would involve
studying the three phases involved in any bodily gesture: that of setting the gesture in motion,
that of the course of the gesture and that of its termination (p. 69). Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b)
used the following terms to describe these three phases of movement: anacrusis, to denote the
preparation for a movement, crusis, to denote the initiation of the movement, and metacrusis, to
denote the follow-through of a movement (p. 279; Abramson & Reiser, 1994, p. 33). These
three phases, anacrusis, crusis, and metacrusis, comprise musical rhythm. Master-teacher B calls
this timing, and relates it to the choral context (personal communication, May 21, 2102):
Its really all about timing. To me, thats what rhythm is its timing. Its not a metronomic
thing. Its the sense of the arrival, the take-off, the journey between take-off and arrival, and

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all of that is subtly managed. If there are words involved, as there would be in a choral
situation they are managing how the words are said, and what the rhythm of the language
is, and how that informs the rhythm of the music.

In the context of ensemble work, Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) suggests that the entire group must
work to regulate their gestural points of departure and arrival together, collectively managing the
time, space, and energy required for the music. Master-teacher A explains how she practices this
skill with her choir, referencing a sense of felt impulse as a form of movement unique to the
ensemble setting:
So much of what we do is informed by some shared feeling of pulse. And shared is the
operative word here. Because when we are working in a group, we just feel together. Very
often I will say to the group, Ill just sit back, and Ill say, ok, You start. Like my choral
group, Ill sit, and Ill say, You begin this, together. Feel the pulse, and see if all of you can
begin this absolutely together without me conducting. Not that I would put them on stage
with that, but I think its important for them to be able to have that experience, of looking at
each other, and feeling that impulse, and knowing how difficult that is. Figuring out, why is
it so hard to start, and what do we need to do to make that happen? For example, to prepare,
how many beats are we feeling? Whats the process of making this work? And then at the
end also, how long are we going to hold this, and the other thing is, they cant conduct each
other. They have to look at each other, and do it just by feeling it, and moving in a way that
choral groups move, not adding arms, or anything like that. So, thats another example of not
necessarily a felt beat, but kind of impulses that arise from this, what I said, a global feeling
that is informed by beat, and phrase, and when you are talking about a fermata at the end,
you are not talking specifically about beats, but about a kind of aesthetic feeling about the
length of a note and when you cut off exactly together.

Conductor C works to develop his choirs sense of anacrusis through the use of large-scale
movement exercises on the floor. He advises choristers to maintain a sense of anacrusis as they

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continue to perform the music. He likens this to the work of the conductor, who should
continually be in a phase of preparation:
I will count them in, and then on the anacrusic beat, or the beat before the anacrusic beat, half
of them are not moving, as if they are being pushed into the line, not preparing the line. So,
we spend a lot of time observing the fact that they are going to make a full move a beat before
they are going to make a sound. And this goes right back into what I do. This is my job as
the conductor: I give you the context, I give the speed, and all sorts of information in my first
preparation. But, Im always a beat ahead of you, and thats what I want to start to impart on
that basic level. They are always a beat ahead of where they are. Their gesture shows the
next thing that they are singing, not the one that theyre on. And I continue that by saying,
Its never where you are thats important. Its where youve been and where youre going.

Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b) cautioned that the quality of the motor impulse (anacrusis) would
determine both the sound and the character of the metacrusis (1930b, p. 71). Likewise, the
quality of the movement termination, gradual or sudden, would determine the quality of the next
motor impulse. Conductor C references this Dalcrozian principle by asking the choir to use the
inhalation (anacrusis) to imagine and pre-plan for the entire musical content of the phrase:
I ask my students to inhale the phrase. So, they inhale the phrase, the length of the phrase,
the musical high point of the phrase, the diction of the phrase, and how they connect all that
together, so, thats sort of a final goal

Shenenberger (2008) categorizes Dalcroze experiences for the choir into two areas of bodymovement exploration: rhythmics, an exploration of the metrics of the music, and plastique, an
exploration of the line and flow of the music (p. 539).

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4.1.1

Rhythmics

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) believed that the body possesses an instinctual sense of timing, as
evidenced by the heartbeat, the breath mechanism, and natural movements such as walking (pp.
81-82). Walking, in particular, with its rhythmic alternation between equal states of balance,
tension, and weight, afforded the musician a basic physical analogue for the study of musical
beat, subdivision, tempo, duration, and rhythmic pattern (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, 1930b).
Jaques-Dalcroze proposed walking, including establishing regularity of gait, as a primary
musical exercise (1921b).

Master-teacher A describes moving the beat and the tempo as preliminary explorations when
learning a new choral piece. First, the choristers say what they see on the written score. Then,
they immediately begin to move, and tempo is first. Master-teacher A uses these primary
movement explorations to help the choristers build strong connections between the musical
symbols and sound and feeling (personal communication, March 16, 2012):
We look at the tempo marking, and we move it right away its the first thing we doand
the students show it tapping their hand, or moving their head. Thats the beginning, Caron.
That is the beginning of the music. So, they have to get the tempo before anything. So, then,
meter.

Conductors C and E also report the use of stepping in the early learning stages with the choir.
Conductor Cs movement exercises begin by having the choir step the basic pulse of the music
while singing. He then asks the choir to try one/all of the following in sequence: (a) step the
melodic rhythm while singing (vocal part) , (b) step the rhythm of the piano part while singing
(vocal part), and/or (c) step in canon with the piano part while singing (vocal part). When the
vocal parts are in duets, he asks that the choristers step in pairs. These sequential activities
develop singer independence and knowledge of the score, including others parts, remarks
Conductor C (personal communication, June 6/12, 2012).

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Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) also advocated for the use of conducting while stepping, to introduce a
simultaneous sense of meter (conducting) with beat/pattern (stepping). Conductor E reports
using this strategy to help choristers correct a common source of rhythmic problems, the
differentiation between the meter of the music and the rhythm of the music (personal
communication, July 19, 2012). In Jaques-Dalcrozes 1920 book, Rhythmic Movement Vol.1, he
suggests the use of over-sized upper-body conducting armbeats to articulate meter. These
armbeats use the full extension of the arms, in what Jaques-Dalcroze calls lines of movement.
The vertical descending line is the strongest, and is reserved for the downbeat of each measure
(p. 7). Master-teacher B reports the use of these large armbeats in eurhythmics classes, and
compares them with the use of small conducting beats in traditional conducting. Use of armbeats
brings structure to the body, suggests Master-teacher B, and facilitates the integration of meter
(armbeats) with rhythm (stepping):
I use the large armbeats as well as small armbeats. Yes, I use the very big ones because I
was taught to use them, and I found them incredibly helpful. They structured me
rhythmically in a way that small armbeats would not have. There was something that was
really physical about stepping a pattern, stepping a canon, with these giant armbeats that
involved the whole upper body. It was an extremely important part of what I did as a
student. I felt that it structured me musically, rhythmically. So that I knew where I was at all
times. Stepping of patterns involving moving of weight around the room in a powerful and
musical way. But, the upper body, if we dont involve the armbeats, is not involved.

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) cautions that metric organization of music must always be subservient
to rhythmic impulses, The metric tradition kills every spontaneous agogic impulse, every
artistic expression of emotion by means of time nuances (p. 314). Findlay (1971) agrees,
stating, Movement, not counting (which is the perception of the time division and not time
itself), is the secret of developing a real feeling for time (p. 5). Ehmann (1968) argues that
counting is detrimental to music making, and that choral singers are typically encouraged to
count the music, arithmetically, but not encouraged to identify the larger rhythmic relationships

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that constitute musical motion (p. 94). Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b) posits a goal: To vibrate
without metre, then to express oneself in metre (p. 54).

4.1.2

Plastique

In 1919, Jaques-Dalcroze defined a new area of musical expression, moving plastic or living
plastic (1921b, p. 258). Its goal is to corporally express the specifics of the music. According
to Dutoit (1971), Plastique requires the study of musical structure, the discovery of the musics
message, its emotional force, its style, its form and its whole character (p. 52). Jaques-Dalcroze
(1921b) offers a list of musical devices and their corporal analogues. Pitch may be represented
by the position and direction of gestures in space. Chords may be represented by arresting of
associated gestures. Form may be represented by the distribution of movements in time and
space (pp. 261-262).

In a typical Dalcroze sequence, stepping and conducting (metrics) are followed by the
exploration of phrase and line (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 54). Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b)
describes the musical phrase/line as a series of connected gestures, driven by a singular
emotional impulse (1930b, p. 81). Gestures within a musical phrase/line must be continuous, as
with the bow on the violinists string, the pianists legato line, or the sustained tone of a wind
instrument (pp. 66-68). Any interruption or breakage in the series of gesture halts the phrase, or
creates a moment of arrival, which must necessarily be followed by another initiation, or
anacrusis (1921b, p. 278).
Untimely stops created by reflection, anxiety or fatigue introduce into the rhythmic current
resistances which change its form but these should not compromise the sure progression to
the end pursued, and both the mind, on the one hand, and the nervous and muscular systems
on the other, should be ready to create connections between the subsidiary currents and to
assure the arrival of the principal current at its goal (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1930b, p. 83).

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Conductor C calls these continuous movements leading on the line (personal communication,
June 6/12, 2012). He relates a story of his early Dalcroze studies where Dalcroze-teacher I was
trying to teach the class about musical line:
Our first classes with her, she would play Pablo Casals recordings, and she would ask us,
Which way did that note go? Did it move left or right? Did it go fast or slow? And we
had no idea what she was talking about. And then, one day I guessed and said, It moved to
the right, and she said, Yes, it did. What she was after is what he was doing to lead us on
the line. And he could change his rate of vibrato, he could change his pressure on his string,
he could change the rate of his bow, and we started to learn that that was how he wanted us
to follow the music and where it was going to lead us to the next level.

Conductors B, C and E report using plastique-style movement exercises with their choirs,
although Conductor E states that he more typically creates a plastique for himself (in score
preparation), then adapts it for use with the choir in various movement exercises. Conductors B
and C use plastique with the choir as a culminating experience in the teaching process.
Conductor B notes that doing a plastique animates the choristers understanding and performance
of the music. After performing a plastique, they bring a different sensibility to their singing:
And the way to do it is to take a piece that they are working on, and find a recording of it,
and let them discover the different musical elements that are in there and bring them to
lifeTo me, thats the culminating experience. And, then, for them to have the opportunity
to sing it after theyve moved to it, you know, again recognizing the articulation and the
dynamics having shown it in their bodies Thats a totally different experience.

Conductor C uses plastique regularly, as a freely-structured activity. The choristers corporal

realization of the music reveals what they hear and understand about the music, and inspires the
rest of the choir to consider multiple musical interpretations. The choir sings to accompany the
movers:

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At the end of all of my exercises, we do tableaux. Each group will be in charge of creating a
tableau and not singing. They can do anything with their bodies that describes the music.
Sometimes its very literal. Sometimes its abstract. Its always incredibly moving and
thought-provoking for the rest of us. Two-thirds of the choir will stand in a circle and sing
the piece while the other third of the choir act out the piece in a very different way.

Master-teacher B underscores that body technique must be built up in order to facilitate musical
expressivity. At times, body work may need to be taught independently of the music in order to
service the music (personal communication, May 21, 2012). She echoes this same movement
vocabulary sequence described above, highlighting the metrics and plastics phases, for work with
the choir. Weight transfer should be the first step, followed by showing the beat, then finding the
walking pace of the music and the beat subdivisions. Exploration of the phrase comes last, with
exercises like painting the shape of the musical phrase. She cautions that developing a
movement vocabulary takes some time (personal communication, May 21, 2012). Conductor E
agrees, stating that he is both the choirs eurhythmics teacher and the choirs choral conductor.
The choirs movement vocabulary progresses little by little, and in conjunction with the
repertoire:
But, when I integrate it, it usually takes the form of my teaching them a movement, and
rehearsing the movement, because by and large, I havent done the movement vocabulary
work with them theres just not the time to where they are going to come up with fitting
movementsYou teach them the movement vocabulary and they gradually expand and
develop it on their own. Um, so when I use it in rehearsals thats almost always the first
thing, lets learn the movement vocabulary, now lets apply it to this piece

4.2 Sound and Gesture

In order to facilitate musical perception and performance, Dalcroze training aims to build a
reciprocal and informative relationship between the realms of sound and body movement
(Findlay, 1971). Music is understood to have originated in movement with any movement of the

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body able to be translated into a sound counterpart, and any sound translatable into movement
(Caldwell, 1995; Choksy et. al, 1986; Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b; Poch, 1982). Conductor E refers
to this notion as phonomimesis, the exact representation of sound in gesture and vice versa,
although he qualifies that for any given movement there may be a number of suitable musics
(personal communication, July 19, 2012). Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) describes this reciprocal
connection between sound and gesture as the mark of superior musicianship:
It may be noted that there is an intimate connection between rhythm in all its shades and
gesture. A complete musician, to mark a sharp, vigorous accentuation, will shoot out his
clenched fist; his thumb and first finger will unite to describe a fine, acute touch; his hands
will sway apart to indicate an effect of delicacy and softnessHis body is an involuntary
medium for the expression of thought (p. 85).

Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b) cautioned that the use of bodily gesture must arise from personal
impulse, and be authentically connected to the emotions or attitudes of the musician. Any
gesture that is artificial, unintentional or superfluous will result in a distorted musical expression
(Jaques-Dalcroze, 1930b). Conversely, the use of a fitting gesture will display ease and beauty
(Jaques-Dalcroze, 1930a). Master-teacher B suggests that a suitable gesture will amplify the
meaning of the music, and vice versa, an unsuitable gesture diminishes the meaning of the music
(personal communication, May 21, 2012).
They are painting the musical line, or they are showing me, in some way, whether this is a
whole step or a half step, or in a di-chord, wheres the feeling, wheres the accent?
Embodied in the gesture is the musical feeling. I mean, there are gestures which simply
dont work. And, if you take the gesture away, youll find that the sound isnt working
either. And you put the gesture back, and tool it so that it does work, so theres the right
gesture for that particular musical event, and it makes a huge difference.

Used in the choral context, Conductors A and E report a focus on developing bodily gestures that
are directly related to the desired choral outcomes. Conductor A pays close attention to the

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quality of the choristers gestures, insisting that the quality of the movement will determine the
quality of their learning:
I ask them to clap rhythms in the hands, or tap on the knees, or draw the phrase with their
arms. They cannot move very much because they are so squeezed, but when I ask them to do
this, as a Dalcroze teacher, I pay very much attention to the movement quality. I dont ask
them to clap, and if they clap poof, poof, poof [demonstrates unmusically] not musically, I
just tell them, No, no, no. Or when I ask them to speak a rhythm, I am very, very aware of
the sound, of the quality of the movement as a Dalcroze teacherIts really important for
me. I think that if we ask to add gesture to music so the music is better learned, the
movement has to have a good quality, a very good quality, and to be linked with the emotion,
but also something very libre, free.

Conductor E also develops gestures in relationship to the desired choral sound. He works to
refine the quality of the movement first, expanding and tooling the choirs movement
vocabulary, and then he associates the gesture with the desired vocal sound. He suggests that if
the choirs sound is not working, then the gesture needs to be reworked:
To have the gesture have the right shapefor them to find an expressive gesture, an
expressive movement that fits that gesture. I dont usually plan these things, but something
comes up, and thats really a reach-up that isnt fulfilled, and you dont get to what it is,
and rehearsing that motion with them, until theyre really feeling that motion, and then
adding the voice on top of that, so that they find it that waySo, look at their motion, and if
its not how you want them to sound, then fix the motion, and spend the time rehearsing and
perfecting the motion until it has all the beauty, all the shape, or all the anger, all the fire that
the piece you are working on needs to have. Um, and then you will get all of that in the
sound, and it will be ever so much more visceral.

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Conductor E underscores the negative results that can occur when the quality of the movement
used in the choral rehearsal is not musical. Unmusical movement will result in unmusical choral
singing. He warns against the deadly Dalcroze circle:
I will say, something that I hate that I have often seen, when choral conductors quoteunquote start using eurhythmics, is theyll just have all of the singers march around in a
circle in time while they sing. I just hate it. I cant stand it. Because so many times when
they are moving in the circle, they are moving in this unmusical, gangly, loafish way, and the
point of eurhythmics is to move the music, and if thats how you are moving, thats how your
music is going to sound. So, the first time I have a choir move across the floor, I will take a
good twenty minutes just getting them to walk in a really graceful way, and I will specifically
take a piece of music that we can then apply that grace to the singing of it, and I almost never
have them go in a circle. If the rooms not big enough, Ill have half of them stay off to the
side, or on the risers, changing directions, in straight lines, changing the direction at the
phrases things like that rather than the deadly Dalcroze circle.

Abramson cautions that a eurhythmic approach must develop a sense of kinesthesia, not just a
sense of tactility. While marching around the room while singing may develop a sense of
rhythmic attack, it may not develop the totality of the movement process, anacrusis, crusis and
metacrusis (1986, p. 38). Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) concurs, stating, We will therefore
designate as musical movement, every movement conforming to the dynamic laws that govern
music (p. 273). Dalcroze teacher, Virginia Mead, agrees, stating that it IS Eurhythmics
whenever I actually SEE MUSIC as something moving in time and space. I see students of all
ages taking on the living quality of music (1995, p. 5).

Conductor C suggests that choral conducting gesture in particular can lose its connection to
sound throughout the choral rehearsal process.
And I think what happens is that we as choral people are in front of the group for so long,
because of all the things we have to teach with diction, as well as all of the musical elements

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in the notation, that gesture becomes less and less important. Everything has been sort of
built into what they are going to sound like. We work on the sound, but we dont work on
the sound as it relates to our gesture, I think. So, Im trying to be true to myself and true to
my group in that my gesture shows exactly what I want, all the time. And, I can change that
gesture at any time, and get a different sound.
In order to revivify the connection between gesture and sound, he stops conducting the choir for
a period of time, to allow choristers to focus on their own bodily explorations of the score. The
choristers movement to music increases their sensitivity to his conducting gesture, states
Conductor C. Once they have experienced the music in their own bodies, he is free to adapt his
conducting gesture to meet any performance acoustic:
So, often times I am doing so much movement before tour tour is the last couple of weeks they dont see me conduct at all, theyre doing totally other kinds of exercises. So I must
remember, a couple days before tour, to actually get in front of them again! And conduct.
And then when we go on tour, then I can change anything I want at any time and I know they
are following my gesture, as opposed to something built in. It has greatly to do with
eurhythmics and how the gesture works.

When asked if they use Dalcroze to teach vocal technique, Conductors A, B and E report the use
of body-based approaches to refine vocal intonation, tone, and breathing; however, Conductor A
references Eutonie, not Dalcroze, for this purpose, and Conductors B and E suggest that their use
of movement in vocal training is not always Dalcrozian. Conductor E qualifies that the use of a
spinning motion with the arms to sustain the breath energy necessary to sing a long note in tune
is not a Dalcrozian approach. The energy of the long note is connected to a musical line, and is
more likely a gliding or pressing motion than a freely spinning motion. A Dalcrozian approach
aims to directly manifest the quality of the music through the gesture and vice versa.

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4.3 A Dalcroze Approach to Score study and Conducting

Gesture
Jaques-Dalcroze envisioned that the study of eurhythmics would affect performance from all
angles, including the perspectives of the composer, the performer and the audience-member.
The study of musical rhythm would result in the acquisition of a sense of time-duration, an
under-explored aspect of music with a range of expressive possibilities equal to that of the range
of pitch or dynamics (1921b, p. 160). Eurhythmics would allow performers to meet the demands
of contemporary repertoire, and give composers a new palate of musical devices, such as silence,
unequal beats, unequal measures, additive rhythms, twice and three times as quickly and slowly,
anacrusis, rhythmic plasticity, and agogic accents (1921b, pp. 149-158). A eurhythmic
sensibility would also allow the hearer and performer of a work to connect more deeply to the
intentions of the composer: Only the possession of a powerful muscular sense can enable the
hearer to substitute for the emotional state of the moment a condition that will respond to the
motor sensibility of the composerthe hearer of a work should be able to say: That is
yourself! [composer] (1921, p. 193).

The use of body movement represents a form of score study, the goal of which, according to
Jaques-Dalcroze, is to discover the musical intentions of the composer. Music education should
approach the study of repertoire from this standpoint, inquiring into the expressive intentions of
the composer, and the feelings evoked by the experience of moving the music.
The student, by gradually training his body in the dynamic and rhythmic laws of music,
becomes more musical generally, and eventually capable of interpreting sincerely and
spontaneously the intentions of the great composersin short, the student will have the
music within him [her], and his [her] instrumental [choral] interpretation will become more
convincing, spontaneous, vivid, and individual (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 284).

A traditionally visual/aural approach to score study is not sufficient, according to JaquesDalcroze (1921b). Musical thought is the result of a state of emotion, and a musical score
may [italics added] record this emotion, comments Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b, p. 105). Dalcroze

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educator, Caldwell (1995), calls the musical score, The physical evidence of a composers
reactions to sounds which sprung from the inner hearing of the composer (p. 125). Masterteacher C warns against a singularly visual approach to interpreting musical notation:
When you are looking at a score, you have to be very careful. Because sometimes what is
written on the paper is not the representation of the embodiment of the pieceif you would
listen to the music, you might be surprised as to what the characteristic of the music is, how
you feel about it.
Master-teacher B agrees, suggesting moving to the music may reveal more than visually studying
the musical notation.
Even music that is well-notated theres so much that is left out. We, in the western world,
dont tend to notate things such as color, density of sound, the placement of sound. Thats
just not notated at all. We dont know how to do that. We put an f or a p and what that
means is maybe more clearly defined by moving through something. This has to sound as if
its moving through oil, or its moving through honey, or here its just moving through air
its totally free those kinds of images. Well, thats not on the score. Theres no way of
putting that on the score. At least, in our scores.

Caldwell (1995) laments that most musicians have become spectators of music rather than
creators of music (p. 46). Conductor C agrees that using the Dalcroze approach in the choral
context helps choristers move away from notation towards a more spontaneous realization of the
music. He also notes that the use of body movement brings the choristers closer to the intentions
of the composer.
So, by Friday, we always have something memorized, and I will choreograph that little bit
structurally. And explain it to them, have them do it, and then well talk about it, and they
will usually have new insight about how their part integrates with somebody else. And,
thats the beginning of getting away from the notation, and getting back to what I think must
have been in the creative mind of the composer. Try to make the choir appear as if they are
spontaneously creating everything. Theyre creating the text, theyre creating the speed, the

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sound, the dynamic, and the music. And not thinking about, This is a quarter note, oh, I
forgot that is a dotted quarter note. This is a half note. They are way beyond that at that
point.

In the choral context, both conductor and chorister may become involved in body-based score
study. Into performance, this score study is translated inwardly and invisibly for the chorister (as
singing), and outwardly and visibly by the conductor (as conducting gesture) (Ehmann, 1968, p.
109).

Conductor A states that four major Dalcrozian principles directly relate to the conductors
preparation and to the training of conductors: (1) the kinesthetic sense (body as instrument), (2)
internal audiation (the inner ear), (3) automatisms (the ability to layer physical activities, such as
the conducting of meter with the conducting of phrase), and (4) time-space-energy, a principle
best demonstrated through conducting, Conductor A believes (personal communication, June 1,
2012, January 5, 2013).

Master-teacher C concurs that the Dalcroze approach offers conductors a means of preparing for
both the technical and expressive aspects of the art. First, a body-based exploration of the music
(in score study) increases the conductors creativity, and thus, expands their range of
interpretational choices.
If, as the conductor, you really take the risk, or the opportunity, lets put it in a positive way,
of exploring how your body will move to the music, and all the possibilities you have all
the possibilities that your body brings you if you explore that, you will have a big range of
expressive possibilities that you might not have had before if you were only doing the
pulsation But, if you take this opportunity to really explore that, with your whole body,
moving through the space, running, and feeling all of the energy that your body can give you,
when you conduct, you will have all these representations in your head of all of these
expressive bodily qualities that you can use while you are conducting. Obviously you dont

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need to dance and jump while you conduct, but if you have done it with your whole body,
you will have explored the specific energy you need for that specific articulation, or that
specific nuances which you would like your choir or your orchestra to produce. You will
find that energy, even if you dont have to jump, but your wholeyour arms will jump with
it. See what I mean? Because you will have felt that much energy you need, that much
dynamic, that much lightness, or that much softness you need for that specific thing.

Body-based score exploration also allows the conductor to move beyond the basics of beating a
metrical pattern. It alerts the conductor to the technical and musical challenges of the score, and
prepares them to better execute these in gesture, facilitating the ensembles realization of the
music (personal communication, May 21/30, 2012). Embodied score study serves to build
kinesthetic empathy between the conductor and the choristers, shares Master-teacher C:
And also, we were talking about how the vocal aspect is linked to the body? If you have
experienced that as a conductor, the singing aspect of it, that vocal gesture that I was talking
about, you will be able to feel it through your hands. Its like your arms will be your
abdominal breathing. You will help the people do exactly the movement they have to do
technically sometimes and musically sometimes.

Conductors A- E report the use of body movement in score study to learn the music, prepare
teaching strategies, and develop conducting gestures that are directly related to the music.
Conductor D describes how his study of the Dalcroze approach has changed the way he looks at
the score. Things leap off the page for Conductor D. The Dalcroze approach gives him a
visceral feeling for the music, for example, the 4th degree of the scale now has a colour and a
character, versus just a tonal function (personal communication, July 9, 2012). He also notes
that the Dalcroze approach has facilitated his leadership of the ensemble, allowing him to be
musically in sync with the repertoire and also with the needs of the ensemble.
I was a stiff, unmusical, by-the-book conductor, and very proud of the fact that, you know, I
was a minimalist with my gestureFor me, Dalcroze utterly transformed my physical

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presence in front of the ensemble. And my approach. I move more freely, Im more
generous with my gestures, ah, I think I know how to incarnate in my physical presence what
I want from them. So, we were singing a very simple thing it was a Taiz chant, in which
there was an elaborate solo going on, but the choir had essentially four chords that they had
to sing over and over again. And I conducted it continuously, and with a lot of gesture, not
because they needed it to keep together, but because they were so quick to fall off the kind of
buoyancy that I wanted them to feel, so I was standing there trying to be, and I think
succeeding, buoyancy incarnate for them.

Conductor E creates a solo plastique of the music, an exercise he describes as his Dalcroze
preparation for teaching a piece (personal communication, July 19, 2012). He uses this
personal plastique to develop a physical feel for the music and to aurally memorize the score. He
notes that the plastique also informs his choice of movement experiences for the choir, and
provides the outline for his conducting gesture.
I move while I study the score. I move the lines even sitting still, Im hearing implied
motion. There was a wonderful point, when I was so immersed in Dalcroze study, especially
when I was studying it here at Institution I, and then going and studying it in the summers as
well, this wonderful point happened, when I would see people gesture, and I would hear the
music for that gesture in my mind. And it was the weirdest sort of kinesthetic experience...
But, I think thats huge in score study. And, even when Im not moving, Im imagining
moving. And then I am moving, because Im always building a plastique for myself.

Conductor C describes seeing the music as structures that he can choreograph on the floor. Like
Conductor E, he incorporates those same structures into his performance conducting gesture
(personal communication, June 6/12, 2012). Conductor C describes stepping out the rhythmic
patterns of the music in his office. This bodywork helps him to design conducting gestures that
are both evocative of his music intentions and most helpful to the choristers.

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I will step them out in my office and make sure that my gesture is then showing what I want.
Sometimes its a matter of a direction of flow coming out of a beat, or incorporating a move.
Lets say we have in 3/4 a dotted quarter and three eighths, theres a move that I will move
on my second beat that will give the illusion that Im pulling those three eight notes in a line,
around in a circle, and pulling them back to the downbeat. I will actually change the
direction of my beat to make that happen. Things like thatI see patterns in music, and
thenso like being a choreographer on the floor, I will choreograph that move in my gesture
that I think will help them the best.

Master-teacher C references the phrase show me how the sounds move, a phrase she uses in
eurhythmics classes. She likens this to the work of the conductor, who embodies both meanings
of the word move:
And when youre conducting, thats what you are showing your musicians, your
choristes. Youre showing them with your body how the sounds move. Or, you are
showing them how the sounds move you, but its the same, isnt it?
Conductor A applies this sense of movement to both the ensemble and the audience. She
moves instinctually as she studies the score, a process that translates into her conducting gesture.
She reports that non-musicians are able to see the music while she conductors, while musicians
report that they are able to very clearly understand her musical intentions.
Conductor A:

Its in my role as interpreter that the Dalcroze person that I am

reveals the fundamental principles of Dalcroze. The skills I
integrated in my training appear very clearly when I study the
score, for example. Because I move when I study the score.
Sometimes internally, but often, I move. I move the score, yes, at
the beginning of the study.

CD:

What are you moving, the rhythm, the harmonic changes, or the
text?

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Conductor A:

I move the music! I move the phrases, I move the metric, but not
in conducting 2, or 3, or 4, I move the pulse, I move the dynamics,
probably the harmonies changing, but I dont do that consciously.
Its instinctive. I cannot be still when I look at a score. If I have to
conduct the score, if I look at it and I have to conduct it, and those
principles, we can see - anybody can see those principles in my
conducting gestures. I just love to conduct.

CD:

What do they see, Conductor A?

Conductor A:

Most of the time what people say, often if they are not musicians,
they say, Its fantastic, I can see the music. She is the music.
And, the musicians tell me that my conducting is so precise. Yes,
precise.

Shusterman (2010) extends this notion of kinesthetic empathy to the relationship between the
performer [chorister] and the audience. He notes that seeing a performer use their body
expressively while they play or sing stimulates the same motor neural pathways involved in
performing that motion (p. 103). Likewise, a disconnected body, out of sync with the music, can
prevent the audience from a eurhythmic experience of the music, causing what Dickson (1999)
calls a distorted version of the music (p. 20). Caldwell (1995) suggests that eurhythmics training
achieves expressive performances through the shared engagement of the kinesthetic sense, The
singer has learned the dance of the music and then is able to stand quietly and make the souls of
the audience dance and sway (p. 118).

Conductor E works to establish this connection with his choirs. He asks choristers to come up
with movement for the music as a sort of collective score study process. These movements help
choristers connect to their own feelings about the music, which then helps them connect more
expressively to the audience:

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You know, I think its really great to have a choir coming up with movements and
choreographies to the piece, and really thinking about, what movements does this music
inspire in us? And then, to reverse that, and say, in our performance, how can we more
strongly inspire that sense of motion in our listeners? So, even if they were sitting still, they
would feel that they are moving, or quite literally being moved, in various ways by what we
sing.

Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b) suggested that the listener should be connected directly to the
composer: The keenly sensitive listener or spectator should on his side recapture sensation by
way of emotion, and rediscover the creative thought [of the composer] (p. 183). Conductor C
asks each member of the choir to sing directly at the audience, both as an independent musician,
and as a part of a musical collective. He suggests that the choirs expressive potential hinges on
their ability to connect personally to the audience:
I have them look at the audience. They are trying to tell their forty-eight stories about what
is going on, and they are independent and dependent at the same time. But, they can still see
me peripherally, some see right through me and make eye contact with the audience. We
have the lights up in the audience so that we engage them. We do not let them escape what
we are doing. They must get what we are doing. Or we havent done our jobAnd at half
time, I will ask the choir, So whats going on in the audience? And they will be able to
describe in detail people in the audience that are being moved by what we are singing. They
are not allowed to just sit there or to watch. They need to be enveloped in us and understand
what it is we are trying to do.

4.4 Summary
This chapter explored the dual role of the body in the perception and performance of music. It
examined the interrelationship between sound and gesture as a foundational principle in
developing musicians resources. The integrated use of the body helps musicians develop a
vocabulary of gestures that meets the technical demands of the music (rhythmics) in preparation

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for exploring the expressive demands of the music (plastique). Jaques-Dalcroze insisted that the
metrics of the music should never overshadow the plastique of the music:
Certainly there exist laws which enable the artist to furnish a perfect form for the images
recorded by his [her] intuition; there are fundamental principles of ordination of lines, of
juxtaposition and coalescence of colours and sounds, but in the completed work, nothing of
all this science should be manifest. Alone, the feeling of rhythm - that is, the true, ideal,
creative essence, the fundamental harmony of nature - should reveal itself: a direct,
spontaneous, and faithful reflection of Beauty (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 190)

Conductors A-E report a reliance on body movement when building a concept for the score,
preparing to teach the score, and in conducting the choir. They note the influence of the
Dalcroze approach on the level of artistry they can achieve with the choir, both in terms of
technical proficiency and in terms of musical and communicative potential. Like JaquesDalcroze, they suggest that successful music making is the result of whole-body integration and
the continual exploration of bodily experience:
Eurhythmics requires for its ideal manifestation the intimate, whole-hearted collaboration of
a great pianist, a great singer, a great master of harmony, a great conductor, and several
accomplished instrumentalists one and all devoting heart and soul to their work. Durable
artistic works are not created out of mere intuition: they demand a complete mastery of their
art, by the accumulation of experience on experience (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 159).

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Dalcrozian Pedagogy in the Choral Context:

Implications for Rehearsal and Relationship

At the center of the Dalcroze approach is the belief that the kinesthetic, aural, mental and
emotional skills necessary for artistic music making are teachable. Jaques-Dalcroze believed all
levels of music students, including those who are not deemed born musicians, could grow their
musical resources through the integrated use of the whole body (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b;
Bachmann, 1991). Many more people are musically gifted than is normally accepted; at most,
less than 5% of students lacked any capacity for musical training (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b,
1930b). The role of music education is to reveal to students their innate capacity to be musical:
It would seem (to adopt somebodys analogy) that music is regarded as a fortress that has to
be assailed on all sides at once. Those in possession extol its magnificence, splendor, and
immensity, they insist on the number of wings and annexes that belong to it, and then are
surprised to find people fight shy of it, though they themselves have pronounced it accessible
only to a highly select few. And yet, it is open to everyone, provided the proper equipment is
secured in advance (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 92).

Conductor D notices the influence of this philosophical orientation on his work in the choral
context. As a conductor, the Dalcroze approach gives him a pedagogical structure, and tools to
solve problems in rehearsal, saving him from what he calls conductors crotchetiness, or the
conductors own frustration at their inability to solve problems with the choir. He calls the
Dalcroze approach an equalizer, and remarks that in the context of the choral rehearsal, it
brings all levels of musicians together in the common goal of making music. Pedagogically, it
teaches aspects of music that are otherwise considered instinctual, such as the notion of timespace-energy (personal communication, July 9, 2012). The Dalcroze approach targets areas of
music learning that are typically deficient in a musical education, according to Conductor D:
How to keep a tempo. Your standard music teachers advice on keeping a tempo if you have
a problem is use the metronome. Well, Dalcroze has a better solution for that. The ability to
feel harmony. To, you know, a sort of sophisticated appreciation of harmonic tension and
movement. You know, thats something that standard music education thinks if you dont

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have it, they cant teach it. Well Dalcroze can teach it. Ah, I think the kind of precision that
Dalcroze inculcates, you know, right from day onea simple thing like going from a beat to
a subdivisionum, you know all that stuff is really assumed. I mean, I think that standard
music education thinks that if you explain to a student that there are two eighth notes in a
quarter note, that youve given them all the information they need. And, of course, you
havent. And we get frustrated with them when they cant do that in time.

5.1 Dalcroze Pedagogical Sequencing

Dalcroze pedagogy aims to take students through a sequential process that equips them for
musical accuracy and expressivity (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b). Learning sequences begin at the
students levels, and then become tailored to meet the students needs. Jaques-Dalcroze (1930a)
advises the main thing for the educator is to utilize what is in building up what may become
(p. v). Brice (2004) agrees that the goal of Dalcroze pedagogy is to give the students a means of
succeeding (p. 51). Master-teacher C comments that the Dalcroze approach gives musicians a
methodological structure that step-by-step leads from experience to analysis (personal
communication, May 21/30, 2012).

The goal of the Dalcroze pedagogical sequence is to move the student from musical imitation to
musical imagination (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1930b). Teachers facilitate this process by modeling
musical sounds and movements in their own bodies, which the student then assimilates into his
or her own embodied version of the music (Bowman, 2010, p. 44). Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b)
advises:
The teacher, in expounding rhythm by gesture, transposes into movement the representation
of his own consciousness, and involuntarily seeks, by this manifestation, to awaken its
representation in the pupil, in order that the latter may forthwith transpose it into the form of
movement appropriate to him (p. 86).
Conductor A agrees that her use of physical modeling initiates the Dalcroze exchange, inspiring
students to experiment and improvise as well:

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When I give my examples in singing or in talking, or with my body, I am a Dalcroze teacher.

Do you understand what I mean? So, they see this, they hear this, and so, I think, they
integrate this, even if I dont always ask them to do the same as me If I wasnt a Dalcroze
teacher, or a Dalcroze person, I couldnt actI couldnt do like this. If I act that a fool in
front of them, or go completely yah!, they see that its possible.

In the Dalcroze setting, students are encouraged to play with the materials of music, and to
present individualized and creative responses to musical challenges. Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b)
suggests, The best method of teaching is that which, from the start, offers the pupil a problem
which neither his [her] memory nor his [her] instinct for imitation can help him [her] solve (p.
45). Personal research and an attitude of experimentation are tantamount to finding the right
answer. Jaques-Dalcroze termed this a spirit of enquiry, and admonished teachers to always
allow students to do their own investigation of the music, based on personal bodily experience
(1930b, p. 129).
Too many imaginative faculties are aroused quite late in life, owing to masters having
demanded a mere imitation - first voluntary, later involuntary - of the methods of
composition bequeathed to us by predecessors of different temperament, instead of inducing
instinctive elementary researches, founded on the consciousness of actual physical and
emotional capacities (1921b, p. 187).

Master-teacher A reminds the reader about Jaques-Dalcrozes (1920) statement concerning

experimentation in teaching and learning:
In the forward, in the introduction, Dalcroze refers to his experiments in the classroom, and I
think thats one of the most important statements he makes in the entire book [Rhythm,
Music and Education, 1921b]. In other words, we are reading from his words these are
experiments he did. And so, we can conclude that we are also doing experiments.

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Ehmann (1968) encourages the choral conductor and chorister to be creative in his/her
manipulation of the materials of music in relationship to any given choral piece, stating, The
choir director and singer should devise new rhythms, which of course ought always to be related
to the nature and style of the music which is being rehearsed (p. 98). Conductor B relays a
common Dalcroze phrase, Show me another way, that she uses in the choral context. This
type of teaching promotes creativity, she adds:
First of all, you have to encourage it [movement] and be supportive, but boy, once they start
doing it, the more confident they feel, and the more they can do, so, it kind of takes people
out of their comfort zone a little bit, and its also creative, so its like, Show me another way
to do that, Show me another way to do that rhythm, and you just keep asking them for
different ways and you start to get some real creative things...I think sometimes choral music
can be, you know, were teaching notes, or the teacher plays it on the piano and they sing it
back, and wheres the creativity in that?

5.1.1

Experience: Developing Musical Consciousness

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) believed that the study of any musical concept was arbitrary unless
directly connected to human experience. He states, Everything in music can be related to
fundamental physiological laws; how each nuance, each accent has its raison-dtre (p. 54). In
regards to developing a methodology, Jaques-Dalcroze insisted that theoretical analysis must
follow experience (1920, 1921b).
The whole method is based on the principle that theory should follow practice, that children
should not be taught rules until they have had experience of the facts which have given rise
to them, and that the first thing to be taught a child is the use of all his faculties (JaquesDalcroze, 1921b, p. 118).

Conductor E adopts this same pedagogical sequence in relationship to rehearsing choral music:

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For me, if theres a problem in the sound, there are any number of ways you can fix it. You
can talk about it. You can move it. Those are the two I think of a lot. And so, for any given
issue, I try to both physicalize it for the singers, and intellectualize it for the singers, and
usually, in that order.
Conductor B notes that she always inserts kinesthetic learning in addition to a cognitive approach
[visual analysis], even within the context of rehearsing a single measure of music (personal
communication, June 5/September 24, 2012). Choral educator, Shenenberger (2008), suggests
that the moments before cognitive intervention are invaluable to the choirs learning, stating:
We have a golden opportunity to raise the students awareness each time we present a new
piece by allowing time, even if it is brief, for students to listen, respond, and internalize at
least one aspect of the music before approaching it cognitively (p. 533).

The first stage in a Dalcroze pedagogical sequence always invites the body to instinctively or
spontaneously respond to sound (Becknell, 1970; Brice, 2004; Comeau, 1995; Dutoit, 1971;
Schnebly-Black & Moore, 1997; Vanderspar, 1984). These initial experiences with the music
should be accessible to the student, and something they can complete without cognitive control.
Additionally, Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b) suggests that the task should be useful and translatable to
a multiplicity of musical contexts. Master-teacher A describes how this pedagogical sequence is
found in all Dalcroze classes:
Another hallmark of this work is that at the beginning of every class Ive ever seen an
advanced class, a class thats been together for a five-day workshop, or dance students. The
very first exercise is something like, Take a walk. Or, Lie down, and lets breathe, and
that evolves into getting up and walking and finding a tempo. Every step along the way
increases, let us say, the difficulty, or lets say gets more specific, but each step along the
way is doable. So, you dont give the students a big problem to solve at the beginning. You
dont give them three or four tasks to do that they have to hold in the wrong side of the brain,
and then you lose all natural movement because the students are working so hard to tease out
a problem that shouldnt be analytical cognitively. It should be something that they first
figure out or work through through movement.

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Master-teacher B begins each class by exploring a physical sensation that will later become
associated with a musical concept and a specific composition. She describes a lesson exploring
the musical concept of 4-against-3 that begins with the notion of conflict. Little by little, she
introduces increasingly challenging experiences associated with the feeling of 4, the feeling of 3,
and the conflict arising from their combination, to create the lesson. She mentions culminating
her lessons with a piece of repertoire that reveals that particular musical concept in action
(personal communication, May 21, 2012):
So, if were going to have a class on 4 against 3, I wouldnt start right off with a piece that
has 4 against 3 not until everybody learns how to do it. Thats not my idea of the class. I
would start with something quite simple that would give the shape of a 4, or the shape of a 3.
And we would really live that. Then, they would experience something coming against that.
The 3 coming against that. Or, the 4 coming against the 3. So we have the experience of
conflict, but theyre really rooted in one [either 4 or 3]. And then it would be the experience
of having something conflict with it, or not. The power of that polyrhythmic conflict would
be what I want them to learn. Why do we use it? Why is it there?

As a unique aspect of Dalcrozian pedagogy, Dalcroze teachers observe students as they respond
to the music. These observations equip the teacher to guide the pedagogical process as it unfolds
(Landis & Carter, 1972). Master-teacher C argues that there is always something good about
the students movements, in the sense that the movement reveals the students understanding
(personal communication, May 21/30, 2012). Conductor D gives his choir movement exercises
to determine what choristers are hearing and feeling as they sing:
I will do certain things to a) establish if they have any sense of the goal of the phrase, and
then b) if they do, then the degree to which their vision of the phrase is common or whether
its conflicting. So, things like leaning forward to the climax of a phrase and leaning back
towards the end. You can immediately tell visually if they are thinking about the phrase in
the same way.

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Conductor C has developed a booklet of movement-based activities for the choral context,
including a list of what choral conductors should be looking for as they use the exercises with
their choirs. He stresses the importance of observing, rather than conducting, while the
choristers move. Observation indicates what choristers are hearing/feeling in the music, which
in turn shapes his rehearsal choices.
Thats why I said with these exercises have that little caveat there heres what you should
be looking for. I have students in my graduate conducting program. I have one each year, so
there are always two there, and one gets to work with the choir and do a full recital with the
choir. Its fantastic experience for them. And I ask them to run some movement rehearsals,
and of course they want to, and then they stand there and they conduct, although people are
moving all about the room! Why are you conducting? Nobody is following you! Nobody
wants to watch youTheyre in charge of it now, so let them go. You know, someone is
playing the piano and giving them a tempo, but I dont conduct that either. I want to observe
and see whats going on. So I can work with that, see what I like and I dont like.

Master-teacher A explains how observation of students affects her improvisation at the piano. If
she notices the students responding in some unique or interesting way, she changes her music to
accompany the students. Dale (1997) describes the Dalcroze teachers ability to observe and
converse through music as a key focus of the pedagogy. The improvisation skills taught in
Dalcroze teaching-training function as both a musical skill and a pedagogical tool, states Dale (p.
44). Conductor A emphasizes the impact of her Dalcroze training in improvisation on her
pedagogical abilities, and in particular, her sense of creativity and ease of communication with
the choir (personal communication, June 1, 2012/January 5, 2013). She notes that her Dalcroze
training also allows her to interlink rehearsal activities, and lay out a logical pedagogical
sequence for the choir:
I think that, from this way to treat the link between music and body, body movement and
music emerge an attitude, a pedagogical attitude, very open to the person, to the group, to the
dynamic of the group. The teacher is open to the dynamic of the group, and can lead to great

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creativity at the same time in the pedagogical act and in the content of the course.
Creativity in the way we teach music and in the way we give the message. That we link all
of the moments of the rehearsal. All those years with this in the body, the link between the
music and body, and all the things we did with this, just give me, I feel this, gives me an
openness in my pedagogical approach.

As students explore the materials of music through the body, Dalcroze teachers aim to organize
learning experiences to quicken student response, maintain concentration, and make conscious
the relationship between sound and movement (Brice, 2004; Schnebly-Black & Moore, 1997).
The goal is to increase what Dalcroze teacher Farber (2011) calls anticipatory listening, or
enlarging the acoustical knife-edge of the immediate musical moment with a presence of the
past and an expectation of the future (p. 13). Conductor B reports using focus and
concentration exercises at the beginning of her choral rehearsals to raise the choristers level of
aural, physical and mental acuity. She also notes that these types of exercises/games heighten
the students awareness of musical detail and nuance when they approach the repertoire
(personal communication, June 5, September 24, 2012).

Conductor E references Jaques-Dalcrozes description of his exercises as games (personal

communication, July 19, 2012). According to Jaques-Dalcroze, the music classroom should be a
dynamic learning environment that promotes student engagement, stimulation and enjoyment:
The natural qualities which benefit by education of the attention are chiefly memory and
concentration; and the best means of training the attention of children is to play intelligently
with them. Games should be joy-giving; I look upon joy as the most powerful of all mental
stimuli (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1930b, p. 100).

Three categories of musical games are regularly used in Dalcroze classes. In a follow,
students must physically realize a specific musical rhythm, responding instinctively to changes
the music. In a quick reaction, students must change response at a specific musical or non-

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verbal signal. In a canon, students must perform what they have already heard while the music
is continuous (Aronoff, 1979a; Schnebly-Black & Moore, 1997). Conductor C references his use
of canon in the choral context to help choristers develop an awareness of the entire choral score:
Ill even have them step that in canon sometimes. They listen to the first measure, then the
second measure begins, they begin stepping that first measure while listening to the second
measure. So, theyre a measure behind. And, then, when they come in with their part they
are still singing their part. So Im asking a lot of them, of their musical brains, to absorb the
score in a much more meaningful way than just the tenor part.

5.1.2

Analysis: Cognition and Notation

The experiential phase with the music is followed by a phase of identification or analysis (Brice,
2004; Comeau, 1995). This may take the form of reading musical notation or verbally
describing an experience with the music. Master-teacher C reiterates the importance of this stage
in the learning process. Cognition must be wedded with experience, or teachers are not using the
Dalcroze approach. Master-teacher C explains:
In a eurhythmics class, if you ask people to move, but you never asked them what they felt,
what meant that movement in regard to the music they were listening to, you are not doing
eurhythmics, you are just moving for moving. What eurhythmics aims at is to make the
people aware of what is happening the relationship between the movement and the music.
What is that connection there? And if you dont make them aware of that, then you are not
doing eurhythmics.

Master-teacher A agrees, and proposes that the inclusion of a text in choral music introduces an
additional layer of meaning that requires qualitative analysis (personal communication, March
16, 2012). Connecting experiences to feelings to language is an essential part of meaningmaking in the Dalcroze-inspired choral rehearsal. Master-teacher A notes that this type of
qualitative analysis also brings the students into direct contact with the composer and his/her

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intentions. She describes an episode in her childrens choir where the students were searching to
connect their experience of the music with words:
So, back to my question, to the choir. After they seemed to be really comfortable with this
piece, and they really did like it, I did ask them this qualitative question, how would you
describe the music? You know, and we did talk about the lyrics. And one girl said, Its
touching. The music is touching And, then the kids had already said, it sounds sad in
some places and happy in some places, and then one of the children said, How does
Composer G do that? How does he make the music sound that way? What does he do to
make it sound sad and touching and happy? and all this So they said, because Composer
G was teaching in our school at that time, they said, Could you ask Composer G, how does
he do that? When you were talking about choral conducting, you were talking about
voice, ear, and body, but you have to add, for me, cognition, understanding, and analysis that
have to come into this process.

Conductor C always follows-up his choirs movement exercises with a group discussion. He
underscores the importance of accepting all viewpoints concerning the music, and refrains from
impressing his opinion about the text onto the group. Choristers should develop independence in
musical interpretation, a critical skill for performance, and a transferable skill to their solo work,
states Conductor C (personal communication, June 6/12, 2012):
And instead of me telling them what a text means, I ask them what it means to them, and I
preface it by saying, We are going to have a discussion on the composer today, or, Were
talking about just this one poem today, and theres something about the poet, why theyre
writing, when they did But then, I want to make sure that everything is valid thats being
said. And everybody accepts what somebody else has, even if its totally opposite of you
believe and think about that. Whereas in my earlier times, I would have just confirmed what
somebody said, or, Thats what I believe too I will never let them know what I think
about a piece, especially early on. Later, this is what this means to me, for whatever reason.
But, I really want them to be as fully in charge of as much as possible of their musical
decisions, their intellectual decisions, their poetic decisions

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Master-teacher A and Conductor B emphasize a different analytical skill, music literacy, as an

important outcome of incorporating Dalcroze techniques in the choral context. Master-teacher A
describes how her current choirs developed out of Sight-singing and Ear-training classes. The
students wanted to culminate their musicianship work with performance, so the choir emerged
(personal communication, March 16, 2012). Conductor B suggests that sight-singing is an
underrepresented benefit of the Dalcroze approach:
The reading skills, and its funny that lots of times we dont usually think of Dalcroze doing
much with reading because of all the eurhythmics stuff, when in fact, theres so much to do
with solfge, and I think in the choral classroom, we need to focus and sell this and let people
know that theres so much more to do with that.

Jaques-Dalcroze (1930b) acknowledged the benefits of his approach on sight-reading. Images

stored in the body through body-based experiences form the basis for aural and visual images:
Mental hearing depends on sensation and memory, so that the art of sight-reading is based on
a good receptive condition, on spontaneity of mind, and on certain powers of creative
imagination, for mental hearing enables the pupil to build up intermediate sound-images that
serve as bases for reading (p. 107).

Dalcroze educator, Timothy Caldwell, concurs that the Dalcroze approach reinforces sightsinging skills and, secondarily, gives students a means of incorporating expressivity into the
early music learning stages: A goal of Dalcroze teaching is sight-reading that is as musically
expressive as possible, so expression is part of the learning process from the beginning. The alltoo-typical learning process deals with everything but expression until the dress rehearsal
(1995, p. 42). Conductors A-E note this as a uniqueness of the Dalcroze approach, that it
integrates musical expression throughout the music learning process. According to Conductor B,
this is an inversion of the typical choral rehearsal sequence. Dalcroze techniques not only

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introduce musical expression, they make musical expression an essential component of the
rehearsal:
My main goal is to find the most aesthetically expressive way for people to make
musicIt goes beyond where I think in the choral room, especially middle-schoolers and
high-schoolers high-schoolers are so worried about, Ive just got to sing the right notes
with the right rhythm, and then, if were lucky, we get to work on blend, and then, that
last part, that expressionit takes it to another level that it becomes more of the this is
what has to happen, as opposed to Gosh, were lucky if we get to that point.

5.1.3

Improvisation/Composition/Performance

The final stages of Dalcroze learning involve students in composing, improvising, or performing
the elements of music through their own bodies (Brice, 2004; Comeau, 1995; Dutoit, 1971;
Landis & Carter, 1972). Master-teacher B suggests that this phase is characterized by the
students independence from the teacher. The students are now able to play with the materials
studied throughout the class (personal communication, May 21, 2012). Abramson (1986)
provides a useful summary of the Dalcroze pedagogical sequence which culminates with
performance: Hearing to moving; moving to feeling; feeling to sensing; sensing to analyzing;
analyzing to reading; reading to writing; writing to improvising; and improvising to performance
(p. 36).

In the choral context, this stage most often manifests as performance. Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b)
also places the act of conducting at the end of the learning sequence. Exercises in expressive
conducting require the musician to synthesize all of their aural and physical training (Driver,
1951). Findlay (1971) describes how this may look in a childrens eurhythmics class:
One of the most creative experiences in eurhythmics is group directing. The term is usually
associated with an orchestral body but in the rhythm class it describes a child who uses his
whole body expressively in order to stimulate certain rhythmic responses in a groupThe
creative experiences of directing as well as those of movement and musical improvisations

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represent the high point of our rhythm studies. These experiences demand a mastery and
understanding of the elements of rhythms toward which all our efforts have been directed
(pp. 56-57).

5.2 Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Solfge and Improvisation in the

Choral Context
The Dalcroze approach is a tri-partite approach. Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) desired that
consciousness of rhythm (eurhythmics) be taught first, followed by the development of
consciousness of sound (solfge) (p. 81, p. 120).
After developing the students mental hearing and physical expression of rhythms, he [she]
will proceed to train his [her] power of hearing, realizing, and creating musical sounds in
rhythm (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 131).
As musicians develop their senses of both rhythm and pitch, the third area of study,
improvisation, should also be integrated.

Conductors A - E reference the use of eurhythmics, versus solfge and improvisation, most
commonly in the choral context. Eurhythmics approaches manifest themselves as any use of
body movement to perceive or perform the music. Jaques-Dalcroze developed a number of
specific eurhythmics exercises over his lifetime, and suggested that any of these could be applied
to singing:
Teachers can apply many of these rhythmic exercises to singing (i.e., those of control,
inhibition, counterpoint, phrasing, twice as fast and slow, etc.). In the exercises for
dissociated movements, singing may be substituted for movements of the arms, legs, head,
etc. (1920, p. 76)

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Abramson (1986) suggests a list of thirty-four rhythmical concepts that may form a sort of
curriculum for eurhythmics training. Any or all of these topics may be explored in the choral
context: (1) time-space-energy-weight-balance; (2) beat (anacrusis, crusis, metacrusis); (3)
tempo; (4) nuances of tempo (accelerando and ritardando); (5) dynamics (energy and weight), (6)
nuances of dynamics (crescendo, diminuendo, subito); (7) articulation (staccato, legato,
portamento, vibrato); (8) accents (metric, agogic, dynamic, tonic, ornamental, harmonic); (9)
measure; (10) rests; (11) duration; (12) subdivision; (13) rhythmic pattern; (14) combination of
beat and pattern; (15) phrasing; (16) form; (17) diminution; (18) augmentation; (19) rhythmic
counterpoint; (20) syncopation; (21) ostinato; (22) contrapuntal forms; (23) canon (interrupted
and continuous); (24) fugue; (25) complementary rhythm; (26) unequal measure; (27) unequal
beats; (28) combination of unequal measures and unequal beats; (29) polymeter; (30)
polyrhythm; (31) hemiola; (32) rhythmic transformation; (33) divisions of twelve; and (34)
rubato (pp. 41-49).

Conductors B, D, and E reference the use of Dalcroze solfge to target choral musicianship (ear
training and sight-singing). Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) believed the study of pitch should be
undertaken in relationship to various scales, beginning with the study of half and whole steps
(Comeau, 1995). Conductor D describes a warm-up he uses which requires choristers to identify
the sounds of whole and half steps while using a correlative gesture:
We do a fair bit of work on whole-steps/half-steps where I play and they have to sing it back
on those words, whole-step/half-step and use the gesture. Later on, Ill ask them to sing
whole-steps and half-steps, and I have a thing I got from Master-teacher A where this is a
whole-step ascending [shows gesture], and a half-step ascending [shows gesture], and a halfstep descending/whole-step descending [shows gestures].
Whole and half steps combine to form various permutations of the scale; including di-chords, trichords, tetra-chords and penta-chords. Conductor E describes a technique of using his hand as a
gestural analogue for the first five notes of any given scale:
And theres a warm-up I use a lot where Ill take my hands, showing my five fingers, and I
use those five fingers to represent five steps in the scale. So, if Im holding my hand up so

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you are looking at the back of my palm, my pinky would be like do, and my ring finger
would be like re, and my middle finger like mi, and my pointer finger like fa, and my
thumb like so. But then I set the key, or the distance between them, by if I brought my
pinky and ring finger together, and left a space between my ring and middle fingers, that
would be like going C Db Eb. I use the distance between my fingers to represent the whole
and half steps they are singing. And then I point to various fingers and can create little
modulations by changing the distance between my fingers as I do that. Which I think is a
very Dalcrozian way to get singers to think about whole and half steps

Jaques-Dalcroze (1921b) developed the C-C scales, or do-do scales, using a fixed-do system, to
allow students the experience of singing all major and minor scales from two fixed points, C to
C. This system would help students develop a stronger sense of scalar tonal center, and the
ability to modulate easily. Conductor E explains his usage of the Dalcroze solfge in the choral
context as a strategy to improve choral intonation and teach about intervals:
And as you dive into the Dalcroze solfge method, its really a method of orienting oneself
within a key and the ability to quickly change that key and reorient oneself within the new
key. And its a wonderful way just the simple study of the whole and half steps of
teaching singers to sing in tune, without them ever realizing that you are teaching them to
sing in tune. Because you are teaching them to be aware of the whole and half steps And
so, I do just enormous amounts of that, usually in the warm-ups related to hearing the
distance between notes, really the true sense of interval measuring the distance between
them.

Jaques-Dalcroze also proposed exercises that would integrate eurhythmics and solfge, called
solfge rhythmique. Abramsons 1994 translation of his volume, Solfge Rhythmique, requires
students to perform various melodic exercises with various rhythmical devices, such as twice-asfast, timed breathing, and conducting arm-beats. Conductor B confirms that she combines pitch
study with movement study to coordinate the whole body in choral rehearsals:

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The solfge has typically taken place in the warm-up, as far as a way to increase reading and
just to increase the ear-training connection. Soin other words, using a tone-row, having
them read it and move their bodies so the body is following the scale. Altering that tone row,
using augmentation, diminution, retrograde, so it becomes a sight-singing tool is really what
it does. Then taking an extract from a piece of music, and doing the same thing. So they
really, instead of just singing the pitches, or even singing them on solfge, they are actually
moving to them.

Dalcroze teacher, Virginia Mead, (1994) concurs that a combination of pitch and rhythm is
particularly useful in the choral context: Ear-training exercises are always accompanied by
movement, gesture, or conducting. Movement helps the ears, eyes and mind attend more
closely to the task actually, the movement can mirror the sound being sungchoral directors
have found that incorporating solfge-rhythmique techniques into their rehearsals will result in
renewed vitality in the singing, more alert minds, ears and bodies, and thus a more musically
sensitive performance (p. 12).

The third prong of the Dalcroze approach is improvisation, which Jaques-Dalcroze viewed as an
integrative exercise, combining all of the students aural, kinesthetic, and mental resources in
spontaneous musical creation (Choksy et. al, 1986, p. 60). In a traditional Dalcroze class,
students may be asked to improvise vocally, in the body, at the piano, or with an instrument.
Dalcroze teachers regularly improvise from the piano to allow pedagogical freedom and to
stimulate and accompany students.

Master-teacher A and Conductors A-D use a variety of improvisational techniques in the choral
context. Master-teacher A and Conductor C use movement improvisation as a means of
eurhythmically exploring the choral score. Conductor A references her pedagogical use of
improvisation. Conductor D asks choristers to improvise rhythmic drumming patterns on their
knees while singing to increase rhythmic vitality. Conductor B uses piano improvisation, and

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has tried chorister improvisation, but suggests it is difficult to incorporate into the ensemble
context:
Yah, singer improvisation I just started to do a little bit, in fact, Dalcroze-teacher M has
given me some really, really cool ideas that Im going to use this summer, and in fact, the
first safe way I would do it is just rhythmic improvisation, where theyre not actually doing
anything melodically, but theyre just scating rhythms. Then, start to let them, you know,
where they are actually doing some melodic improvisation. So, I see that as kind of the
steps, the progress, to make that happen. I think, in the choral ensemble, its tricky because
obviously its difficult to have everybody doing it at the same time and have it sound like
anything, so its not pandemonium. So, I have to keep experimenting with that, but I know
Im going to start with the rhythmic improv, then find some way, once Ive set up that
students feel safe, I can get them to do it in either small groups or solos. But to have 70
people do it at the same time is a little crazy.

Although the three areas of Dalcroze study are taught discretely in the teacher-training context,
their adoption in the choral context may be interwoven, both in the conductors pedagogical
skills and in the rehearsal techniques employed. In 1914, Jaques-Dalcroze proposed a list of
exercises for each of the three areas of his approach: eurhythmics, solfge and piano
improvisation. Each list contains the same pedagogical content: (1) Exercises in muscular
relaxation and breathing; (2) Exercises in metrical division and accentuation; (3) Exercises in
metrical memorization; (4) Exercises in rapid conception of bar-time by the eye and ear; (5)
Exercises in conception/perception of rhythms and pitch by the muscular sense; (6) Exercises in
the development of spontaneous will-power and faculties of inhibition; (7) Exercises in
concentration and creation of mental rhythms and sounds; (8) Exercises in corporal balance,
continuity and interruption of movement and the association with the voice; (9) Exercises for the
acquisition of automatisms and their alternation with spontaneous movements and vocal sounds;
(10) Realization of musical note-values in the body and voice; (11) Division of beats in the body
and voice; (12) Exercises in the immediate realization by the body and voice of musical rhythm;
(13) Exercises in the dissociation of movements; (14) Exercises in the interruptions and
repressions of movements; (15) Exercises in double and triple speed and slowness of

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movements; (16) Plastic counterpoint; (17) Polyrhythm; (18) Dynamic and agogic nuance; (19)
Exercises in the notation of rhythms, melodies, harmonies; (20) Exercises in improvisation; (21)
Exercises in conducting rhythms (1921b, pp. 121-142).

5.3 Dalcroze-based Rehearsal Techniques

Interview participants note the use of the Dalcroze approach for two main goals in choral
rehearsals: (a) to develop choral musicianship and ensemble skills, and (b) to experience through
the whole body aspects of the music that will contribute to accurate and expressive choral
performance. These techniques occur in the warm-up and throughout the rehearsal, both as
planned activities, generated from score study, and as spontaneous activities, in response to the
choirs needs.

Conductors A, B, D and E report the use of Dalcroze techniques in the choral warm-up.
Conductor D mentions that his focus in the warm-up is on brain warm-ups, rather than vocal
warm-ups. He uses solfge-rhythmique strategies to target choral musicianship, mentioning the
use of do-to-do scales, in particular. Conductor E also uses Dalcroze-based solfge in the choral
warm-up to cultivate sight-singing and ear-training skills, stating that he uses 20% of the
rehearsal time for this purpose. He suggests that integrating Dalcroze techniques into the warmup heightens listening skills and conscious awareness of the music. He describes a specific
strategy for this purpose:
One of the things I do a lot with them, which I also think of as being very related to Dalcroze,
is when we are doing a warm-up, I will often have them switch to singing it on scale degrees,
or, Ill tell them the key, and they have to sing it on letter names. Things that really require
them to conceptualize the notes that they are singing.

Conductor B suggests excerpting a specific line or tone-row from a choral piece to read and
move in the warm-up sequence. This musical excerpt serves to orient the ear to the pitch
demands of the repertoire and to improve choral reading. She asks choristers to manipulate the

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musical material in various ways, using the Dalcroze techniques of augmentation, diminution
and retrograde, to increase focus and improve choral reading (personal communication, June
5/September 24, 2012).

Conductor A highlights the Dalcroze notion of building links, as described by Bachmann (1991)
and Brice (2004), in the choral warm-up. She uses this time to prepare the voice/body for the
specific demands of the repertoire, a notion supported by Haasemann & Ehmann (1982). She
suggests that her conscious preparation of the warm-up transfers to the choristers level of
conscious engagement in the music learning process:
I think maybe I could say that I prepare my warm-ups with a lot of consciousness, is that
right, is that ok to say? I often prepare my warm-ups in link with the repertoire. This for me
is a moment of creation, or improvisationI give 15-20 minutes to the warm-up. I think its
really important. And, they really appreciate it. I know because they have to write at the end
of the semester, they have to write an evaluation, and most of the students write that they are
very happy with the warm-up, and they feelthey see the link they see and they feel the
link between the warm-up and the repertoire, and they appreciate it very much.

Conductors A-E and Master-teacher A report the use of the Dalcroze approach to explore the
technical and expressive parameters of the choral repertoire, and name a variety of choral pieces
in their examples. According to Dalcroze educator Dale (1993), any type of music may be
explored through the Dalcroze approach. Abramson (1986) agrees, and insists that Dalcroze
techniques also apply to any musical tradition. He names five worlds of rhythm in the repertoire,
including both Western and non-Western traditions: non-metric rhythms, metric rhythms,
additive rhythms, unequal measures and unequal beats (pp. 50-51). Juntunen (2002) qualifies
that although Dalcroze techniques may be applied to non-Western music, the teacher should be
familiar with the music of that culture (p. 87).

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Conductor B plans Dalcroze experiences to connect to the specifics of the repertoire. During her
score study, she analyzes each aspect of the music, and crafts exercises designed to promote the
choristers proficiency and independence (personal communication, June 5/September 24, 2012).
Master-teacher A and Conductor C also note the use of Dalcroze techniques to build chorister
independence with the repertoire, rather than a reliance on the conductor (personal
communications March 16, 2012, June 6/12, 2012). Conductor B explains:
When I look at it [score], I am immediately thinking, how can I get them to do it? How can I
teach that concept? ...As far as the conducting gesture, again, I am always asking, Whats
another way I can do this to show them?, but more importantly, its the teaching technique
of how are they going to be able to feel it anyway? So, if I wasnt there, they could still do
it anywaysWhat exercise can I pull that will help them to really own that music? Thats
the most important part of it.

Master-teacher A suggests extracting a specific musical rhythmic device from the choral piece
for sensory exploration. She details a lesson where she explores Jaques-Dalcrozes technique of
twice-as-fast vs. twice-as-slow as a means of exploring the alternation between 3/4 and 3/2 in a
choral piece (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b, p. 128). Once the choristers gained comfort with the
physical sensations associated with the musical concept of twice-as-slow/fast, Master-teacher A
returned to the specifics of the choral composition.
We are working on a piece now, working with 5th, 6th, and 7th graders on a piece that changes
from 3/4 to 3/2 and its a canon. So, I want them first to set a tempo. And once they get a
tempo, they get a meter this is in 3. And on a signal, they change, they go twice as slow.
And we experiment with that a lot. They love that, actually. We can actually depart from the
3. We dont have to stay with the score. Just so they can learn twice as slow, and I guess
this is where the experience really takes over, because I dont only want to teach them this
particular piece, I want to teach them the experience of going slower. And then, more and
more, getting to the specifics of the piece.
Her goal in using the Dalcroze approach with the repertoire is to help choristers connect their
sensory experience of the music with their singing:

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I use the Dalcroze techniques to have the kids really understand, inside out, whats going on
in the music, and have them move it, so they can internalize it, and really bring that
sensibility into their singing.

Conductor D uses the Dalcroze approach, and specifically whole-body movement, to solve
rhythmic inaccuracies with the choir, and in the following example, to fix a problem at the
metrical level. He suggests the use of Dalcroze-style clapping [clapping which incorporates
continuous movement and use of time-space-energy to indicate duration and style of the music]
as a helpful strategy in teaching music with unequal beats:
I was in front of my choir and we were doing a Hosanna in excelsis in 7/8 by Composer I,
and they could not get it, and we were clapping And suddenly, I remembered the
Dalcroze wayand then I thought, lets try it. So, they were clapping the triple part of the
7/8 with a more expansive gesture, and that solved it instantly. I mean, literally, within
seconds, Dalcroze clapping had solved the problem

Master-teacher B and Conductor E describe the use of the Dalcroze approach to address issues in
choral diction, as a function of musical and textual rhythm. Master-teacher B suggests that the
rhythm of the language informs the rhythm of the music, and likewise, the rhythm of the music
may be learned through the imposition of rhythmic language, and specifically nonsense syllables,
such as ba da ba da boo (personal communication, May 21, 2012). Conductor E breaks choral
text down into its phonemes, and then works to rhythmicize the articulation of the phonemes, or
uses body percussion to superimpose musical rhythm on textual rhythm:
A lot of diction, especially choral diction is about unifying rhythmically the different parts of
a word or words getting them together. I think right now we are working on Vaughan
Williams Dona Nobis Pacem here at Institution O. And so, if you take even the first
movement, so beat, beat drum, blow bugles blow [sings in rhythm] If you look at just
the words, words that are one syllable, like drum end up having to have two syllables to be
understood. Or, blow, right? With the orchestra doing what they are doing, drum, blow

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[speaks with one syllable only], you end up totally losing the text Da-rum-mih ba-low to
make it work, right? So those two one-syllable words become, Da-rum-mih ba-low 5
different phonemes when you split it up. But splitting it up isnt enough. As a solo singer,
you can be understood, but as a choir singer, you have to do it at the exact same moment as
well, so I will often have them put the newly created rhythm into motion, and sometimes into
body percussion to make that totally come together.

Conductors A, D and E report using Dalcroze techniques to address issues of musical rhythm
that impact interpretation and style in the choral repertoire. Conductor A describes the use of
Dalcroze body movement to animate hemiolas in Baroque music. Conductor D relates a story
where he asked the choir to get up and waltz the Hostias from Mozarts Requiem in order to
establish a feeling of lightness and movement towards beat one (personal communication, July 9,
2012). Conductor E helps choristers develop musical style of their music through the
exploration of movement/dance from the same historical period:
Musical style equals movement style in my book. And so, if youre doing a classical-era
Mozart work, thats entirely different than if you are singing O Fortuna from Carmina
Burana, for example. You know, and theres a particularly, especially in Mozart, and Haydn
as well, theres a certain cleanliness in that style where just putting singers into that posture,
and just getting them to walk in that sort ofto walk with their corsets on, and with their big
powdered wigs on their heads, they suddenly start singing in a different style as well, and,
you know, to put oneself in that time period, and move in the style of that time periodOr,
you can go to the opposite extreme with O Fortuna, where you are talking about the
beginnings of modern dance where if ballet is by and large about weightlessness and being
up, modern dance is about weight and downward, and a sense of embracing gravity. And
getting students to move with that sort of weight and style is a totally different experience
and way of singing and thinking.

Conductors B and C describe the use of Dalcroze rehearsal techniques to help choristers learn the
entire score, not just their voice part. Conductor B asks choristers to multi-task as they sing, for

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example, tapping or walking someone elses part (personal communication, June 5/September
24, 2012). Conductor C requires that choristers first memorize their own part, and then he uses a
specific movement exercise, tailored to the piece, to help choristers learn the entire score. He
describes a specific exercise, the amoeba, designed to help the group understand how the vocal
parts interact in a specific choral piece:
So, Ill have these octets form a small group, and this one exercise I call the amoeba. They
would stand in a circle, hold hands, and then move thesing the piece, and theyre not
moving notation now, but they can move wherever they want to, but every movement that
they make is going to be influencing everyone else. If you have what you think is an
important part, then you start pulling your partners along to the other side of the circle, or
even going under the other side of the circle. But then somebody else thinks their part is
important, they will pull you back. You see this sort of live organism in front of you with
people deciding, Im important now, no, Im important, no, now I see that were important.

5.4 Issues of Integration

Conductors A-E share a number of issues of integration that arise in their use of Dalcroze
techniques in the choral context, including when and where this is done. Conductors C and D
include a dedicated Dalcroze time into their rehearsal schedule. For Conductor C, Friday is
movement day, and students are expected to have a certain portion of their choral music
memorized to facilitate large-scale movement (personal communication, June 6/12, 2012).
Conductor D designates a time approximately every second or third rehearsal to solve a problem
on the floor (personal communication, July 9, 2012).

Conductors A and D report the use of Dalcroze techniques on the spot to fix musical problems as
they arise in rehearsal. Conductor D describes the Dalcroze approach as a quick source of
pedagogical ideas:
Its my go to thing when we have a problem. I dont tend to sit down and try and
anticipate problems and craft exercises in advanceI tend to do it on the fly, and also, I have

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little enough time, that I can usually come up with something to address problems as they
happenIts left me with the confidence that there is always a solution, and most of the time,
I can find it.
Conductor A does the same, improvising specific activities for the choir that target specific vocal
pedagogical skills or musical problems in the choirs repertoire (personal communication, June
1, 2012).

Conductors B and E report integrating Dalcroze techniques into every part of the learning
process. Conductor B describes her usage of Dalcroze as embedded (personal communication,
June 5, 2012). She plans Dalcroze-based experiences for the choir while score studying,
choosing an element of music (harmony, dynamics, phrasing) to focus on each week. Her goal is
to offer a more comprehensive curriculum of body-based experiences to the choir (personal
communication, June 5/September 24, 2012). Conductor E explains his various usages of the
Dalcroze approach at various points in the rehearsal:
Every stage. On first reading, we will be conducting as we are reading. And, as it gets
better, we will be refining our conducting to also reflect the dynamic we are singing, so our
conducting is becoming more and more musical. And then well be working with some of
the diction things I mentioned the word stress and the larger stress of the phrase, and then,
you know, as we further refine, working on specific gestural moments within it, or getting
ourselves within the body language of the music as well. So, its throughout.

A number of authors, including Master-teacher B, contend that the Dalcroze approach increases
efficiency in the learning or rehearsal process (Brice, 2004; Ehmann, 1968; Henke, 1993).
Conductor A, on the other hand, worries that the integration of more Dalcroze techniques may
jeopardize her performance preparation time. She suggests a research project, focused on the
usage of the Dalcroze approach with choir, as a more representative metric of its effectiveness.
Although she qualifies that over time, the Dalcroze approach may become more and more
efficient.

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And, its sure that Im a little bit afraid that if I begin to incorporate more Dalcroze
techniques during the rehearsals that I will lose time. I know that its not lost time for the
goal. Its the reason why I would like to suggest it in a research context. So, everybody
know its a research context, and we will give at the end of the year what we have done, and
you understand me? Im almost sure that if I would begin to incorporate Dalcroze techniques
in the rehearsal, after two, three years, it could become a great thing. But, during the first
years, myself, I have to check. Im not sure.

Conductors A and B agree that the integration of Dalcroze techniques takes time. Conductor A
shares that when she taught university-level Dalcroze Eurhythmics classes, she had to be very
rooted in her beliefs about the approach. Students would take, on average, 1.5-2 months to
develop ease and enjoyment with Dalcroze. For choristers, Conductors A and B describe the
Dalcroze approach as a brand new way of learning. The fear of bodily interaction with music
can prevent meaningful participation early on. As a result, ensuring chorister safety and comfort
becomes a key focus (personal communications, (June 1, 4, September 24, 2012, Jan 5, 2013).
Conductor B explains:
First of all, the fact that, if youre starting off with a choir, like a new job, its gotta be pretty
gradual, because its going to be a new thing for them. And to me, the best way is to start
with focus and attention [exercises], because theyre usually kind of fun I found the issue
is, and everyone is going to run across this, that its not a normal, and that makes it sound
negative, this is not a normal choral experience. So like my college kids were going, What
are you doing? Cant we just sing it? If youve had them for four years, it will look totally
different at the end of that four years than it did at the beginning. They just kind of have to
get it, and they have to feel comfortable, and yah, feel like theyre in a safe place.
Abramson (1986) agrees, stating, Comfort, hygiene, and safety are primary concerns to the
Eurhythmics teacher (p. 118). He cautions that movement activities should never be
uncomfortable or embarrassing for students (p. 118).

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In regards to the use of space, Master-teacher A and Conductors A, B, D and E recognize this as
an important issue when integrating Dalcroze approaches into the choral rehearsal. Masterteacher A alternates between the use of chairs and use of the entire space, commenting that she
uses space in a variety of ways in the choral rehearsal (personal communication, March 16,
2012). Conductor A states that she does have enough space to do large-scale movement, but she
would like to suggest a research project on the use of Dalcroze techniques in the choral context.
It should take place in the schools gymnasium, she states (personal communication, June 1,
2012, January 5, 2013). Conductor D uses an alternate rehearsal space, the church hall, in order
to do large-scale movement exercises with his choir. Conductors B and E report using a variety
of movement configurations/choral formations in the choral rehearsal. Conductor B suggests
that a lack of space for movement can be a deterrent for those wanting to incorporate Dalcroze
approaches. However, she encourages that any space can work:
Only to say that whatever the barriers that people have, and typically its space, to think
outside the box and get creative, because Ive been in every kind of space situation
imaginable like a locker room, you know, Ive been in a hallway. Ive been in very small
spaces. Ive been in spaces with tiers. And that there are ways to work around it you have
to be creative.

5.5 Revisiting the Conductor Role

Brice (2004) names the Dalcroze approach a wordless, non-spoken pedagogy (p. 63). She
notes that the musician already has two built-in conductors, the soul and the mind, a description
which conflates the role of the choral conductor with the role of the individual student (p. 14).
Master-teachers A, B and C caution that the Dalcroze context and the choral context have key
differences. A Dalcroze class emphasizes musical exploration, whereas the choral rehearsal
leads to the performance of a pre-composed work (personal communications, Mar 16, May 21,
May 30, 2012).

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Master-teacher B explains that the Dalcroze approach may inform the conductors personal
preparation, but the choral rehearsal uses the Dalcroze approach in application, not as a discrete
pedagogical approach:
Its one of the ways you are going to teach yourself what you want to know about the music
[through Dalcroze techniques], but a rehearsal, as I said, can be informed by movement, but I
dont think its a classroom. People dont come to a rehearsal expecting to have these
rhythmic discoveries, and partner games and all of that that you would have in a eurhythmics
class. I think its an application to the performance of pieces of music.

Master-teacher C discusses the role of teacher versus the role of the conductor, noting that the
conductor makes artistic decisions, whereas the Dalcroze teacher is engaged with helping
students develop their own interpretation of the music. The Dalcroze teacher models movements
for the students to animate their own interpretation, but the conductor must model his or her
interpretation of the music, a key difference, notes Master-teacher C (personal communication,
May 21/30, 2012).
You are giving your own interpretation of the music to the musicians that you are working
with. Its not that you are imposing on them all of your way of understanding the music,
because, obviously, the music that you are performing, you are performing with them. Its
something that you are constructing together. But you will be making the aesthetic decisions,
right? What is different about the teacher and the conductor is that the teacher is trying to
make the students find his or her own interpretation of the music. But, the conductor comes
with his or her interpretation of the music and has to share that interpretation with the
musicians he [she] is working with.
However, she qualifies that the conductor must be flexible and aware of the needs and abilities of
the ensemble. In this way, the conductor and the Dalcroze teacher are the same:
If you want to work with people, you cannot ask them something they cannot do. To be able
to be sensitive to what they can bring to the music. And, even if you have a certain
interpretation, this interpretation modulates through their skills, through what they are giving

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you as performers. So, you have to adapt to that. The capacity or the capability of
adaptation is very present both for the teacher and the conductor.

Conductor B indicates that the Dalcroze approach acts as an equalizer between conductor and
choristers. A joint focus on the music, and a view of the music as the primary teacher, unites the
conductor and chorister in their musical goals (Mead, 1995, 1996; Bachmann, 1991):
First of all, we are all just trying to get engaged into this music. And, theyll see me moving
to music just like they are, and they see us all kind of as equals with the musicThat whole
thing well, Gosh, I just need to follow the leader. I dont think thats necessarily the
mindset.
She explains further that the Dalcroze approach interrupts the historical notion of the conductor
as the sole arbiter of knowledge. Her goal is to establish trust and safety in the choral context, so
students can be fostered in their learning:
To me, theres a lot of philosophical, psychological things that have to happen with this.
And, thats that relationship with the students where they trust you, they know you want
them to succeed, as opposed to the oldpodium you know, where Im the director. You
are going to do what I tell you, and theres kind of this fear factor, which, you know, some
choirs sing well under that, but that to me does not lend itself to a Dalcroze approach at all!

Conductor C agrees that the Dalcroze approach is collaborative. He wants to encourage the
students own response to the music, and avoids imposing his own interpretation of the music
until later in the learning process, after the students have done various movement exercises to the
piece. He notes that it can be a challenge for conductors to relinquish some control in these early
stages, but that this approach edifies the ensemble and grows the students sense of ownership:
Im a pretty laid back guy, but that was in a time of conductors being dictators [referring to a
former conducting teacher]. They dictated everything, and you were absolutely in charge of
everything. And, when you give up some of that, it can be a little terrifying that you are

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relying on information from other people, but I have learned that that is the only way to go.
And instead of me telling them what a text means, I ask them what it means to them

Conductor E notes that his work as a conductor can either be Dalcrozian or un-Dalcrozian. A
Dalcrozian approach generates the nuance from the choir, whereas an un-Dalcrozian approach
imposes nuance. Imposing the nuance works some of the time, he adds, but when the nuance is
generated by the choir via the Dalcroze approach, it only has to be done once, and the choir
remembers it forever (personal communication, July 19, 2012).

5.6 Summary
All five conductors in this study indicate that they adopt the Dalcroze approach both
philosophically and pedagogically in the choral context. They emphasize its usage in teaching
musicianship and repertoire, as well as its implications for their view of their role as conductor
and their relationship with choristers. In the rehearsal context, Dalcroze approaches are used in
the choral warm-up, to both teach musicianship and to prepare the repertoire, to facilitate the
performance of a certain aspect of a musical composition, to solve musical problems that arise in
rehearsal, and to draw choristers awareness to the totality of the musical score as a means of
developing ensemble skills.

Conductors A-E report a reliance on Dalcroze pedagogy to inform their teaching in the choral
context, including traditional Dalcroze eurhythmics, solfge and improvisation techniques. They
note the impact of these techniques on choristers musical and non-musical skills. Musically,
choristers display a greater sense of technical accuracy (pitch and rhythm), and attention to
musical detail and nuance. Non-musically, choristers show an improvement in attention and
focus, freedom to experiment with the music, and depth of affective response in learning.

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Conclusion

This study set out to examine the applications of the Dalcroze approach to choral pedagogy and
practice. The original writings of mile Jaques-Dalcroze provided a philosophical and
pedagogical framework for the discussion. Eight interviews connected Jaques-Dalcrozes
original writings with the modern day practice of the approach and its applications to the choral
context. Three Dalcroze master-teachers explained their interpretation of Jaques-Dalcrozes
ideology and methodology, in addition to suggesting ways in which the Dalcroze approach may
be applied to the choral context based on their experience as choral conductors. Five Dalcrozetrained choral conductors revealed how they integrate the Dalcroze approach into their work as a
conductor and with choirs.

At the time of writing, there were no comprehensive studies available on this topic. A number of
articles, books, and videos review various applications of the Dalcroze approach to the choral
context; however, a study inquiring into the pedagogy and practice of Dalcroze-trained
practitioners in the choral context was lacking. In addition, this study introduced a further layer
of complexity through its inclusion of the dual perspective of practitioners working primarily in
Dalcroze pedagogy and those working primarily in choral conducting.

The following research questions were posed: (1) What do the original writings of mile JaquesDalcroze reveal about choral pedagogy and practice? (2) What recommendations do Dalcroze
master-teachers make regarding the application of the Dalcroze approach to the choral context?
(3) How do Dalcroze-trained choral conductors use the Dalcroze approach in the choral context?
(4) How can the Dalcroze approach facilitate teaching and learning in the choral context?

Jaques-Dalcroze wrote prolifically about his approach, including both philosophical and
methodological recommendations for its implementation. His proposed reforms for musical
education include commentary that can directly relate to the choral context, with detailed
descriptions of the body as instrument (as it is for both choristers and conductor), instructions on

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the preparation and delivery of music teaching, the desired learning outcomes for music
educational experiences, the use of the voice, ear and body in music education, the interrelated
use of sound and gesture (including the conductors gesture), and suggestions for the preparation,
interpretation and performance of repertoire; in addition, the conductor, and the act of
conducting, is frequently mentioned as both an important Dalcroze exercise and as an
exemplification of the goals of the Dalcroze approach.

Over the course of the interview process, it became clear that all of the participants in this study
adhere to the Dalcroze approach as it is described in Jaques-Dalcrozes original writings. In
addition, their applications of the Dalcroze approach to the choral context highlight the usability
and transferability of Jaques-Dalcrozes ideas. Dalcroze master-teachers A-C contributed
insights on the role of the body in music perception and cognition, the integrated use of the ear
and voice in Dalcroze training, the development of a body-based vocabulary for choral
performance (conductor and chorister), the reciprocal relationship between movement and music
and its affect on gesture (including conducting gesture), the crafting of a Dalcroze lesson,
including the various uses for pre-composed music, and the role of the conductor versus the role
of the Dalcroze teacher. Conductors A-E discussed their use of Dalcroze techniques in all areas
of their choral pedagogy and practice. First, they consistently mentioned how their personal
Dalcroze training has enhanced their work as a conductor, including their conducting gesture,
their pedagogical skill, their score study, their rehearsal technique, and their view of self as
conductor. In choral teaching, they preeminently use the Dalcroze approach (1) to develop
choral musicianship skills through the coordinated use of the whole body, and (2) to prepare
choristers for accurate and expressive performance of the repertoire, reflecting the two major
usages of the Dalcroze approach outlined in chapter 4 - perception and performance.

The following specific themes emerged in each chapter. In Chapter 3, the foundational Dalcroze
principle of body as instrument provided a philosophical and pedagogical orientation to the
choral context. Dalcroze approaches prioritize the somatic experience of the musician,
stimulating the interrelationship of aural, kinesthetic and affective response to build the inner ear
and develop musical cognition. In a Dalcroze paradigm, the coordination of the musicians

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aural, kinesthetic, affective, cognitive and performative actions converts musical arrhythmy to
musical eurhythmy. Interviewees described this process as a primary goal, both in their own
practice and in their work with choirs. Conductors A and E and Master-teacher C emphasized
the Dalcrozian notion of motion as intertwined with emotion, a function of musical eurhythmy.
Conductor C described a type of whole-choir eurhythmy; in this, each chorister can develop
independence while the group develops interdependence. All of the conductors noted the
ameliorative orientation of the Dalcroze approach in facilitating musical development as well as
such non-musical outcomes as increased self-confidence, sense of agency, risk-taking, in
addition to improved learning habits, including mental attention, concentration, and memory.

Chapter 4 explored the applications of the Dalcroze approach to the performance of music,
1

introducing the notion of phonomimesis as the realization of sounds in gesture and gestures in
sound. This relationship underpins the acquisition of a movement vocabulary for use in musicmaking both for the chorister and the conductor. Conductors A-E described their work in
developing a movement vocabulary with the choir, exploring both the metrics of the music (beat,
metre, rhythm) and the plastique of the music (activity vs. repose, gestural points of arrival and
departure [anacrusis, crusis, metacrusis], and musical line). The choirs movement vocabulary
(with an emphasis on quality of movement) directly affects their choral sound and ability to
perform music expressively. Body-based exploration of the music also connects the performer
directly to the intentions of the composer. Written musical notation, and by extension, a
singularly visual/cognitive approach to score study, is insufficient to establish an enlivened
musical interpretation. Conductors A, C, and E described their use of body movement, including
plastique anime, in the score study process. Bodily exploration of the score (a) informs their
musical interpretive choices, (b) facilitates their memorization of the score, (c) converts into their
conducting gesture, and (d) helps develop movement experiences for the choir in rehearsal.

phonomimesis is a term used by Conductor E to describe the reciprocal relationship between sound and gesture.
It was originally used by Dalcroze teacher Q.

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Chapter 5 introduced the Dalcroze philosophy that music is both teachable and accessible. The
role of music education is to cultivate innate musicality and to help musicians progress from
imitation to imagination. Master-teachers A-C and Conductors A-E described their ordered use
of the Dalcroze pedagogical stages (experience, analysis, and
improvisation/composition/performance), highlighting observation and improvisation as
important Dalcroze pedagogical strategies. The study participants presented specific
applications of the three discrete areas of Dalcroze methodology, eurhythmics, solfge and
improvisation, in addition to suggesting ways to rehearse the repertoire with Dalcroze
techniques. Master-teacher A and Conductors A-E gave specific recommendations on the use of
rehearsal timing and rehearsal space when adopting the Dalcroze approach. Lastly, the study
participants revealed their thoughts on the role of the teacher in the Dalcroze approach, including
its applicability and non-applicability to the role of the conductor and choral teaching.

The following conclusions about the integration of the Dalcroze approach to the choral context
are implied by this study: (1) The Dalcroze approach heightens musical perception, and may be
used to develop whole-body eurhythmy, both for the conductor and for the chorister, and to
provide a musical education for the whole person; (2) the Dalcroze approach develops a bodybased vocabulary (aural, kinesthetic, affective, cognitive) for use in the preparation and
performance of repertoire that extends both the technical and the expressive potential of the
conductor, the chorister, and the choir; (3) Dalcroze-based teaching in the choral context creates
an educational ethos of joint experimentation, improvisation, and enjoyment that changes the
conductors view of self and approach to choristers; and (4) the Dalcroze approach imparts extramusical skills associated with choral conducting and choral singing, including skills that develop
both the independent musician and the total group: mental acuity, creativity, teamwork and risktaking.

The applications of the Dalcroze approach to choral performance emerged as a new theme
throughout the study, although this topic was not specifically included in the interview questions.
The interview questions focused on the teaching and learning applications of the Dalcroze
approach, although performance is a regular outcome of these processes. Participants noted the

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effect of the Dalcroze approach on their performance conducting, suggesting that Dalcroze
approaches facilitate their communication of the music (Conductors A and D) and their ability to
modulate their use of gesture in response to the ensemble and the performance space (Conductor
C). Conductors C and E also suggest that Dalcroze approaches affect the choristers expressive
involvement in performance and their ability to connect to the audience.

6.1 Recommendations for Further Research

This particular study relied on narrative interview, and as such, did not include observation of
teaching or conducting. Interviews with Master-teachers A, B, and C, and Conductor A were
conducted via Skype. Conductor Ds interview was conducted in person. Interviews with
Conductors B, C and E were conducted on the phone (in part due to technical limitations).
Participants made use of their singing voices and physical gesturing to illustrate some of their
ideas, however, the bulk of the communication relied on the participants ability to verbally
articulate their pedagogical approach. Live observation could bring the researcher more directly
into contact with the various musical interactions that occur and are facilitated by Dalcroze
techniques. Live observation in conjunction with narrative interviewing could reveal both the
intentions and the outcomes of Dalcroze techniques in the choral context.

In lieu of the following, three suggestions for further research emerge from this study: (1) A
study observing how Dalcroze practitioners articulate their pedagogical content knowledge in
action. How do Dalcroze-trained conductors demonstrate the music through their bodily
modeling and conducting gesture? How do they shape the rehearsal of a choral piece, or the
entire rehearsal? How is the Dalcroze approach presented and integrated into the fabric of the
rehearsal? (2) This use of live observation could also extend to the chorister perspective. To
what level do choristers participate in Dalcroze activities? What is the nature of the conductorchorister interaction? Both of these studies could also include narrative interviewing. How do
Dalcroze-trained conductors articulate their teaching practice? How do choristers articulate the
effects of the Dalcroze approach on their musical development and performance? Is the

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Dalcroze approach an effective approach for the choral context, in the opinion of conductors and
choristers?

(3) Master-teachers A-C and Conductors A-E frequently connect the work of the conductor to
the aims of the Dalcroze approach. In addition, Jaques-Dalcroze and other authors consistently
name the conductor as an exemplar of Dalcroze principles. By extension, a study inquiring into
the uses of the Dalcroze approach in conductor training would make a unique contribution to the
field. Is the Dalcroze approach an effective way to train conductors, and if so, what pedagogical
resources may be recommended for this purpose? This study could take the form of observing
conductors (choral, orchestral, band etc.) with Dalcroze training who use the Dalcroze approach
in conductor education. Or, it could lead to the development of a curriculum/course by a
Dalcroze-trained conductor for use with undergraduate or graduate-level conductors.

The findings of this dissertation confirm that the Dalcroze approach can make significant
musical and educational contributions to the choral context. Counterpointing the dual roles of
the body as musical perceiver and musical interpreter, the Dalcroze approach both builds and
sustains the choral instrument, and does this from a multiplicity of educational angles. For the
chorister, it offers a somatically-inspired musical experience, a pedagogical framework, and a
sense of joy and community in the choral learning process. For the conductor, it gives a name to
our work, intricately describing the things that we do both instinctually and intentionally, while
providing a philosophical, pedagogical and musical guide to accurate and expressive
performance. And as for music, the Dalcroze approach champions the transformative potential
of embodied music-making - that music can course through our beings, moving us and moving
others.

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Appendix A - Informed Consent Form

Moved to learn: Dalcroze Applications to Choral Pedagogy and Practice
Caron Daley D.M.A. candidate University of Toronto
Dear Dalcroze teachers and conductors,
You are invited to participate in my doctoral research project, entitled, Moved to Learn:
Dalcroze Applications to Choral Pedagogy and Practice. This study involves two groups, a)
Dalcroze master-teachers (defined as those individuals who have achieved a Dalcroze Diplme
Suprieur) with experience in the choral context, and b) Dalcroze-trained choral conductors
(defined as those individuals with significant Dalcroze training, or the Dalcroze Certificate or
License) who and are currently implementing Dalcroze applications on a regular basis in the
choral context.
Your participation in this research is voluntary. You may refuse to participate or withdraw from
the study at any time. You are free to answer any part or all of the interview questions.
Interviews will be scheduled May-August 2012, and may be conducted via teleconference or in
person (with any additional email communication that facilitates the process). Interviews will be
audio recorded for the purpose of transcription and quotation (indirect and direct). Audio
records of the interviews will be destroyed after the transcription process. All participants will
have access to the transcripts, with the option to edit or delete any recorded material. Data
collected in the interview process will be used for the publication of this dissertation only.
In order to protect your identity, I will assign you a generic title, such as "Master-teacher A" or
"Conductor B." Each participant in the study will remain anonymous in this manner. I will also
assign a generic title to all other Dalcroze teachers, conductors, living composers and educational
institutions named in the interview.
The collection of this data will be invaluable to the Dalcroze and choral music communities.
Thank you.
Please sign below if you are agreement with the parameters of this study.

Signed ___________________________
Date

____________________

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Appendix B - Interview Questions for Dalcroze Masterteachers

Moved to Learn: Dalcroze Applications to Choral Pedagogy and Practice
Caron Daley D.M.A. candidate University of Toronto
Dear Dalcroze Master-Teacher,
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my dissertation research concerning the applications of
the Dalcroze approach to the choral context.
The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate how the Dalcroze approach can inform
the choral conductors pedagogy and practice, including the areas of score study, gesture,
and rehearsal/teaching techniques. The following research questions will be explored:
(1) What do the original writings of mile Jaques-Dalcroze reveal about choral pedagogy
and practice? (2) What recommendations do Dalcroze master-teachers make regarding
the application of the Dalcroze approach to the choral context? (3) How do Dalcrozetrained choral conductors use the Dalcroze approach in the choral context? (4) How can
the Dalcroze approach facilitate teaching and learning in the choral context?

Interview Questions:
1. In your view, what are the hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach to music education?
2. What are your specific goals for the student (increased musicality, musicianship, musical
independence, physical and mental coordination etc.)? Do you teach Dalcroze as an end
in itself, or as a tool for application to other musical contexts?
3. What role does the body play in your classes? What role does conducting/gesturing play
in your classes?
4. What role does the ear play in your classes?
5. What role does the voice play in your classes?
6. What is your sequence for teaching a new concept?
7. What is the role of the teacher in a Dalcroze class? How does this role compare to the
role of the conductor, in your opinion?
8. How would you describe the learning dynamic in your classroom?
9. How do you apply Dalcroze techniques to previously composed music? For example, do
you use pre-composed music to explore a particular rhythmic problem, or do you use
Dalcroze techniques to explore the musical content in the pre-composed music? Do you

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re-notate musical scores for your students? When choosing a piece of music to explore in
a Dalcroze class, what are you looking for, and how do you devise Dalcroze experiences
from your study of the score?
10. Is there anything else you would like to add to the discussion regarding the use of the
Dalcroze approach in conjunction to the choral context (conducting, singing, reading
music, teaching musicianship/musicality etc.)?

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Appendix C - Interview Questions for Dalcroze-trained

Choral Conductors
Moved to Learn: Dalcroze Applications to Choral Pedagogy and Practice
Caron Daley D.M.A. candidate University of Toronto
Dear Dalcroze-trained Choral Conductor,
Thank you for agreeing to participate in my dissertation research concerning the applications of
the Dalcroze approach to the choral context.
The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate how the Dalcroze approach can inform
the choral conductors pedagogy and practice, including the areas of score study, gesture,
and rehearsal/teaching techniques. The following research questions will be explored:
(1) What do the original writings of mile Jaques-Dalcroze reveal about choral pedagogy
and practice? (2) What recommendations do Dalcroze master-teachers make regarding
the application of the Dalcroze approach to the choral context? (3) How do Dalcrozetrained choral conductors use the Dalcroze approach in the choral context? (4) How can
the Dalcroze approach facilitate teaching and learning in the choral context?

Interview Questions:
1. How did you discover the Dalcroze approach?
2. Describe your current choral context.
3. In your view, what are the hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach to music education?
4. What are your teaching goals when incorporating the Dalcroze approach in the choral
context (musicality, musicianship skills, musical independence, physical and mental
coordination etc.)? Or, what have you observed as the learning outcomes of
incorporating the Dalcroze approach in the choral context?
5. What aspects of the Dalcroze approach do you use in the choral context (eurhythmics,
solfge-rhythmique, improvisation, plastique anime)?
6. When working with choral repertoire, how do you devise Dalcroze experiences for the
choir? Do you create Dalcroze experiences based on your vision for the repertoire, or do
you integrate Dalcroze training as a concurrent curriculum to the repertoire, or do you
incorporate Dalcroze techniques in response to the choirs needs while learning the
repertoire?
7. Do you use the Dalcroze approach to teach the following?
- Vocal technique
- Diction

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Musical style
Musicianship skills
Ensemble skills

8. At what point in the learning sequence do you incorporate Dalcroze techniques?

9. How would you describe the learning dynamic in your classroom when Dalcroze
techniques are being employed, or as a result of incorporating Dalcroze techniques?
10. How has the inclusion of the Dalcroze approach influenced your view of your role as
conductor?
11. How has your personal study of the Dalcroze approach informed your conducting work
in relationship to the following:
- Score study
- Conducting gesture
- Rehearsal/teaching techniques
12. Is there anything else you would like to add to the discussion regarding the use of the
Dalcroze approach in the choral context (conducting, singing, reading music, teaching
musicianship/musicality etc.)?

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Appendix D - Interview Transcripts

Master-teacher A
Master-teacher A holds the Dalcroze Diplme Suprieur. She teaches all levels of Dalcroze and
prepares candidates for Dalcroze certification and licensure. Master-teacher A conducts two
childrens choirs in a community music school setting.
CD:

In your view, what are the hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach, and what
distinguishes the Dalcroze approach from other pedagogies, both
philosophically and in practice?

Master-teacher A:

Ok, those are in a way two different questions, but they lead to similar
answers, so let me not go in order, but Ill get to answer your two
questions. I teach Adult Methods, and I think those of us who teach
methods and are having to really discourse about Dalcroze have to be sure
about our terms, and if we are asked what differentiates Dalcroze from
other hands-on approaches, we do need to answer that question. Now, I
think one of the definitely unique features of Dalcroze is the
improvisation. Now, this doesnt answer your question directly because
Im not sure how it figures into your choral work, but this is indeed one of
the unique features, and I think its going to lead to one of the hallmarks of
the Dalcroze approach. So, when a teacher in rhythmic class improvises
for the movements of his or her students, this is something that doesnt
happen in any other approach and its very basic. And what is very basic
is that there is a beautiful interaction between the teacher and the student
through the music. That is, the student is moving to the teachers music,
and the teacher is observing the student. And as the teacher is observing
the student, that visual feedback impacts on what the teacher plays. And,
you know, I find when I am playing for a students movement, you know,
if that student is into it and does something really beautiful, or something
interesting, that will impact on my music, and so theres this ongoing
interaction you are going back and forth. And, one of the people who
really spoke to me about this interaction was Dalcroze-teacher F, who also
believed improvisation was so unique to Dalcroze, and basic to it. So, its
this interaction through movement and music that is unique. Now, one of
the hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach is the whole person moving. And
moving, and heres the thing, the person moving shows what she hears.
And thats a basic phrase, Show me what you hear. So the student has
to show. And, theres not much interpretation that has to happen. Show
me what you hear. The student doesnt have to stop and think how do I
show it? It is pretty automatic. And its a very interesting equivalent
Im showing what I hear. Isnt that interesting? I show what I hear when
I move. And that is absolutely basic to the approach. So, when you are
working with students in a choral group, and theyre starting to sing, or
youre introducing a song, some of them will start moving right away, and
very often a choral group moves together. They will sway together, or

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they will, if its a jazzy piece, they wont sway; theyll do a kind of
bouncy, sideways motion, or whatever the general nature of the music
evokes in terms of movement. Or, they may not move at all. They are
showing you what they hear. Some of it becomes a kind of behavior, you
know, if you tend to move in a certain way while you are conducting, that
often projects onto the students, and they will move back. So, that may
happen in any choral setting, but if you have a kind of Dalcroze
sensibility, youll see that, and you can work with that. Thats my answer.
CD:

So that interactive environment, does that mean that the students are also
informing the process, that its not teacher-driven, so much as interactive?

Master-teacher A:

I would say, absolutely. Its basically an interactive approach. Yes, and

its interactive between the student and the teacher, but its also interactive
among the students. That is why we cant have a eurhythmics class with
one person. The students work together. They will kind of work on their
own while they are moving, but with the whole group moving, its kind of
felt. The movement is felt. Whereas, in a private studio lesson, teachers
of eurhythmics have to be very careful about asking students to get up and
move because they can be quite self-conscious if they are the only ones
moving and its a one-on-one lesson. But, if its a group of students
moving, they move together. We also ask students to work in pairs very
often. We ask students to work in groups of three or four. And, theres a
lot of interaction going on. We might, for example, say to a group of
students in a class that have learned a piece, say to them, now, ok, youve
shown us these rhythms, weve clapped them together, youve shown us
different ways of doing these rhythms, weve all copied some of you,
weve tried out your ways. Now, if you work in a group of three or four,
how can you show this piece of music in your group? Do you want to
start sitting down, do you want to work in a circle, do you want to be in a
line to start? In other words, you have a group working together, and they
start in a formation these are various options in terms of interacting. So,
I can let go of the group and just have them work on a piece of music
independently.

CD:

So, in your estimation, what is the role of the teacher in the Dalcroze
context? You were just mentioning that you ask the students to show us
what they hear, and so its a very interactive approach involving the
students in demonstrations, in musical decision-making. I think
sometimes the more traditional model in the choral context is that the
conductor makes the decisions and imparts them to the students. And so
for me, theres a difference there, and a Dalcroze approach to the choral
context would be involving everybody with that interaction with the
music. So my question becomes, what is the role of the teacher, or the
conductor?

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Master-teacher A:

My experience dealing with the choral group is that I have a different goal,
different goals, than I do in a eurhythmics class, which is much more open
ended. And that is because in the choral context we are preparing for
choral performance. We are dealing with a composed work, and we must
follow the directives of the composer. So, ah, what I want the students to
understand, for example, we are working on a piece now, working with
5th, 6th, and 7th graders on a piece that changes from 3/4 to 3/2 and its a
canon. So, I want them first to set a tempo. And once they get a tempo,
they get a meter this is in 3. And on a signal, they change, they go twice
as slow. And we experiment with that a lot. They love that, actually. We
can actually depart from the 3. We dont have to stay with the score. Just
so they can learn twice as slow, and I guess this is where the experience
really takes over, because I dont only want to teach them this particular
piece, I want to teach them the experience of going slower. And then,
more and more, getting to the specifics of the piece. But, its really
different, in the choral setting, for me, as a Dalcroze teacher, because I use
the Dalcroze techniques to have the kids really understand, inside out,
whats going on in the music, and have them move it, so they can
internalize it, and really bring that sensibility into their singing.

CD:

Sure. Is that the Composer F Dona nobis pacem?

Master Teacher A:

Yes, and Im using an arrangement by Dalcroze-teacher G. Its absolutely

gorgeous.

CD:

One of my choirs is performing that tonight! Its a great piece. Well

thats very neat, Master-teacher A. So, let me see on my list of questions
here. Maybe Ill jump to this one which asks, how do you apply Dalcroze
techniques to previously composed music? For example, do you use the
pre-composed music to explore a rhythmic problem, or do you use
Dalcroze techniques to explore the pre-composed music?

Master Teacher A:

Um, both, I would say. Now, in general, I think of Dalcroze this way, um,
I am actually thinking about a student I interviewed for my dissertation,
and I asked her a question similar to yours, you know, when you think
about Dalcroze, what first comes into your mind as a basic? And she said,
Well, we work on a rhythm, or a meter, every way we can. We find
different movements for them, we work in different tempi, we do a follow
with it, we do some of the classic Dalcroze exercises. All exploring this
whatever it is rhythmic transformation, meter of 3, hemiola, whatever it
is. She said, We dont only learn it within the context of the piece, but
we explore it every way so that we can do it any way. So that next time
we come to a piece like this, we will know it even better. So, I would say
that when we have a rhythmic problem, I dont stay with literally that
rhythm. I go outside the rhythm and explore, right and left, and try
different rhythms, and so then when we get back to the specific rhythm,
the students are better prepared to deal with that. But, again, one of the

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hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach is that we get to a problem, and we try

out so many other issues related to that, um, so that we I think one rule,
what I consider to be a rule, is because we are using natural movement
natural movement means movement we do without thinking about it. Its
movement thats notwe are never, for example, in the Dalcroze
worldI have never had the experience of a teacherthe teacher never
says, Beautiful arms, like they do in ballet class. And, most of the
eurhythmics classes I have been in dont provide mirrors because we have
to feel the movement on the inside, not judge it as to how it looks. So,
now Im getting away from this.
CD:

Its good though!

Master-teacher A:

Ok, good! You know, we have to explore all of these aspects of whatever
it is we are dealing with, and I know, I know, Caron. I wanted to make a
very important point which is since we are using natural movement and
not thinking about it, we have to at first be asked to do something very
easy. And another hallmark of this work is that at the beginning of every
class Ive ever seen an advanced class, a class thats been together for a
five-day workshop, or dance students. The very first exercise is
something like, Take a walk. Or, Lie down, and lets breathe, and that
evolves into getting up and walking and finding a tempo. Every step
along the way increases, let us say, the difficulty, or lets say gets more
specific, but each step along the way is doable. So, you dont give the
students a big problem to solve at the beginning. You dont give them
three or four tasks to do that they have to hold in the wrong side of the
brain, and then you lose all natural movement because the students are
working so hard to tease out a problem that shouldnt be analytical
cognitively. It should be something that they first figure out or work
through through movement. So, every exercise that we do is doable.
Back to your question about solving a problem. If theres a knotty
problem, lets say there are additive rhythms, lets say like in a Messiaen
piece. Not even unequal beats, but additive rhythms, and students are
having difficulty with it. We dont drill them on the rhythms. We go back
to just an even pulse. And we work with different rhythms that repeat.
Then we add a new rhythm. Then we add another new rhythm. And each
step along the way we add one new thing at a time. And thats one of my
rules. One new step at a time and every step is doable. And, its in my
vocabulary, but I developed my vocabulary from what I see everybody do.
I remember observing an incredible class by Dalcroze-teacher H where
she had a lesson plan, but right at the beginning a student asked her a
question. And she answered the question so beautifully, in real time,
trying things out. That answer to that question took that whole class. And
it was a beautiful lesson. And she got to her subject the next day. But the
students had to work out something much more basic than she had
planned. And she worked it through with them. So, in terms of problem
solving, we need to attend to the students needs so they continue to do

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what Music-teacher F described as the swing and sway of natural

movement. If the students are working too hard, if they are thinking too
hard, their natural movement will no longer swing and sway, because
they will be using their energy up on the wrong side of the brain.
CD:

In terms of your choral work, then, do you find that you try to introduce
some of the rhythmic problems before they even look at the score?

Master-teacher A:

Well, it depends. It depends on the piece. But Ill tell you one thing Ive
been doing, um, when we look at meter. When we are looking at a choral
score, I have the students tell me everything they see. And, depending on
the age, theyll say, ah, piano, ah, the page is white. Ill say, Page 2,
tell me everything on the page. The really important step we take from
getting when we get from the written symbol to the music is right here
its in the time signature. The kids can reel off a dictionary definition of
it. Four beats to a measure, and the bottom is a quarter-note gets a beat.
Thats what they say. But, the bottom number be it usually 4,
sometimes 2, sometimes 8, is going to indicate what the tempo is. Well, I
should even go further. We dont even look at the bottom number. We
look at the direction. If it says andante, if it says slow, if it says
expressive, if it says moderato, if it says nothing but has a metronome
marking, if there is a metronome marking. So, we say, what note, ah,
what note represents the beat? And I try to stay away from 8, which I will
get to later. Lets say its 4, which it usually is. We look at the tempo
marking, and we move it right away its the first thing we do. So, that
beat it is, and the students show it tapping their hand, or moving their
head. Thats the beginning, Caron. That is the beginning of the music.
So, they have to get the tempo before anything. So, then, meter. This is
one approach I use to getting right into the music. But, getting in through
the symbol. And the symbol is not actually a 4, its the tempo marking.
So, that, and then right away they start moving. So that they know that
those symbols mean sound and feeling. Its going to bring them right into
the movement of the music. So, when I start with a score, the first thing
we do is we say what we see. But, when we get into the music, the very
first thing is the tempo. So, we have our bodies involved, and we are
moving already, and we are feeling something, and then we, you know,
move on in some way.

CD:

Thats great. Thats excellent. A big part of what I am going to explore in

the dissertation is how Dalcroze techniques might infuse the score study
process. And so, in your own practice, as a pianist, or as a choral
conductor, or as a eurhythmics teacher, when its just you and the score,
before youve met with the students or the ensemble, how are you
extractingwhat are you looking for in the score?

Master-teacher A:

Um, well, like I said Im repeating a little of what I said first, the very
first thing is that tempo. But, I think, you are talking about what process I

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use, the very first thing I look for is a piece! And so, in a way, thats how
I can answer your question. Because how I look for a work, what do I
look for, that is informed, well, I have to tell you, Caron, every single
thing if informed by my Dalcroze training. I cant separate from that in
any way at all because it has so formed my behaviors. So, when I look at
a piece of music, I right away start moving the tempo, and I feel the
movement of the piece. Of course, working with choral music, we are so
blessed to have text that adds so much to the experience of the music. So,
recently there is a choral composer I just love Composer G. He
composes for the Brooklyn Childrens Chorus, and other choruses. He
gets a lot of commissions from childrens choruses. And, I looked at a
work he wrote, called The Brightening Air. And, um, what I saw first that
I loved about this was the melody. I loved the tied notes. Um, because we
had been working a lot with tied notes. And the beauty the way the beat
kind of happens while you are still holding the note. Ah, and we had
worked on that a lot in another much easier piece. Um, so I liked the text,
and I loved the imagery. In fact, I have an interesting anecdote to share
with you. ThisI dont know if it relates to your study or not, but um, to
continue along the lines you have brought up, but, in this particular piece,
because I loved the poem by Yeats, I was very interested in the melody.
And I thought it was a beautiful, beautiful melody. It was two parts, and I
loved the treatment of the imagery, the melodies and the harmonies were
so beautiful. It was a beautiful song, and I thought the children would
relate to it, and they did. Very often, my kids dont like anything new.
Um, or they want to do, they always ask me, Can we do such and such?
something they already know. But, they kept an open mind about this
piece, which is subtle. And, after they got to know it, Caron it is so
beautiful, after they got to know it, and were singing it pretty easily, I
asked them, How would you describe the music? And, I would say that
my Dalcroze training also influences this type of question very much,
because Dalcroze is essentially qualitative. Its all about quality. Its
about meaning. And so, just to backtrack a little bit, one liability of the
Dalcroze, not the Dalcroze work or the Dalcroze approach, but one
liability in applying this is that we get so oriented towards presenting it as
experiential and using body, and doing games, that we my biggest
criticism of Dalcroze classes is that there is no follow-up. Theres no
notation, theres no analysis. And, children need it. They need visual
information. They need something on the board that is meaningful. They
need to have the work illustrated through other means than the movement.
But, this happens after. But I think it needs to happen in every single
class. It cant be that three weeks go by and theres nothing put on the
board. Three classes will go by, and you are almost a month into the
material, and the children that dont have the visual information and dont
have any way to think about it, have lost any understanding of the
experience. So, in the choral context, it is very important that we deal
with meaning. And, of course, with the lyrics, you have an added layer of
meaning. And, then theres always the question of how the composer

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illustrates the lyrics. So, back to my question, to the choir. After they
seemed to be really comfortable with this piece, and they really did like it,
I did ask them this qualitative question, How would you describe the
music? You know, and we did talk about the lyrics. And one girl said,
Its touching. The music is touching. And, to me, that was exactly
right. ItComposer G does not write in too-modern a style, although his
rhythm is modern, his use of syncopation and tied notes is modern. But,
this was a poem by Yeats, and it was a very Irish sort of sounding tune he
used, um, and it was very touching. And, um, I responded to that, and
thats exactly what I would say. And, then the kids had already said, it
sounds sad in some places and happy in some places, and then one of the
children said, How does Composer G do that? How does he make the
music sound that way? What does he do to make it sound sad and
touching and happy and all this So they said, because Composer G
was teaching in our school at that time, they said, Could you ask
Composer G, how does he do that? So, I called him up, and I said,
Composer G, my kids are working on The Brightening Air, and they want
to know how you make the music sound happy in place and sad, and
touching. And he said, Tell them I dont know. Teach them my
favorite word, which is ineffable. But, I have a lot of feelings while Im
writing. And, when it happens, I feel very good about it, and I know when
it happens, but I cant always explain what I do. So, what Im getting to
here also is maybe we would call this one of the problems of art and
especially a problem in music. Where, when we are analyzing, we look to
words to inform us, and we cant always find them. And, so, we just get
as close as we can. But, one of my children once said, Music is its own
language. And, thats another quote that Ive kept, because that means so
much. To me, it means, you cant always find words in our discursive
language to say whats happening in the music. Sometimes the closest
you can get, and again, this is from my own dissertation, one of my
students said, that when teachers use imagery, that brings her closer to
what the music is than any other kind of explanation she can imagine. Its
the imagery that brings us close, and back again to body movement, which
I think, often helps us find images when we are moving, all of a sudden
we start feeling, Oh, Im a butterfly, or, you know. All kinds of
images emerge with movement. So, I think that when the students are
moving, we need to be aware of the fact that we have to address the issue
of what does that feel like to you, and what does that bring up for you? I
dont mean in terms of psychological terms, but just in terms of ideas.
CD:

So, thats great, thank-you. Part of what I want to tease out in my

dissertation is a description of how the Dalcroze work can use the body,
how it can use the ear, and how it can use the voice. Do you think about
those things separately at all, or are you thinking about the whole unit
trying to zero in on the ear versus the voice, anything like that?

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Master-teacher A:

Oh, umI think the reason I am hesitating is that when I am teaching, Im

not thinking about those things, buthmmIm thinking about those
things when I do a study. When Im teachingmaybe its just the phrase
you are using Im not thinking that way. Although I do work on just the
voice I do give warm-ups, warm-ups are very important. I would say
that maybe Im not answering your question, but one hallmark of the
Dalcroze work is that we use rhythm all of the time, or I should say, I do.
I very rarely divorce pulse from rhythm even when we are doing a
warm-up we always have a rhythm going, and it keeps us there, and it
keeps things very alive. So, but I do warm-ups for the voice. But Im not
thinking so much ofisnt that funny? Why am I having trouble with this
one?

CD:

Well, Ill give you a quick example of what I do. Im a singer, so Im

always thinking about building the voice as an instrument. But some of
the ways that I do that are through Dalcroze techniques, for example,
rhythmic breathing is such a huge part of being a good singer, so Im
trying to incorporate rhythm, as you say, into the vocal training. So,
perhaps your comment is very apt, that rhythm is the basis for all of these
skill sets we want students to acquire: musicianship, musicality, vocal
training, and all of those things. It infuses the process, on every level
maybe?

Master-teacher A:

I think so. I am thinking about it, and there are some exercises I do that
dont have a specific pulse, they have a more global pulse. But, so much
of what we do it informed by some shared feeling of pulse. And shared is
the operative word here. Because when we are working in a group, we
just feel together. Very often I will say to the group, Ill just sit back, and
Ill say, ok, You start. Like my choral group, Ill sit, and Ill say, You
begin this, together. Feel the pulse, and see if all of you can begin this
absolutely together without me conducting. Not that I would put them on
stage with that, but I think its important for them to be able to have that
experience, of looking at each other, and feeling that impulse, and
knowing how difficult that is. Figuring out, why is it so hard to start, and
what do we need to do to make that happen? For example, to prepare,
how many beats are we feeling? Whats the process of making this work?
And then at the end also, how long are we going to hold this, and the other
thing is, they cant conduct each other. They have to look at each other,
and do it just by feeling it, and moving in a way that choral groups move,
not adding arms, or anything like that. So, thats another example of not
necessarily a felt beat, but kind of impulses that arise from this, what I
said, a global feeling that is informed by beat, and phrase, and when you
are talking about a fermata at the end, you are not talking specifically
about beats, but about a kind of aesthetic feeling about the length of a note
and when you cut off exactly together. So, I think its very important for a
group. This is, of course, and older group. I do this with 5th, 6th, 7th
graders. I have a younger chorus, and I wouldnt dare do it with them

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because they couldnt do it. I have enough trouble trying to get them to all
look up at me at the same time, and not be distracted bylike if I say,
Rita, look at me right in my eyes, and they all look at Rita! The 2nd, 3rd,
and 4th graders, they have other issues, but they older kids, I find its very
useful for them, not just in the choral work, but all of the kids I work with
are learning instruments. The chorus is part of their musicianship
program. So, this is something they apply to their instrumental studies and
that is even before they even touch the first note. How are they preparing
themselves? So this is a global, very aesthetic, very musical experience
when playing and performing.
CD:

In the choral context, do you have the students in chairs, or are you using a
room thats more like a Dalcroze room where they are freely moving
around?

Master-teacher A:

With the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders, they sit on the floor. With the 5th, 6th,
and 7th graders, I have some big boys in there, and they are not able to
cross their legs easily its not something they do. And, some of the
children are not comfortable sitting on the floor for an hour. So, we set up
the chairs, and then either we move them back, or Ill havewell, we do
movement during the class. I have 16 children in the chorus in the older
chorus, there are 20 in the younger, and the way we set up the chairs, they
can easily move around them. They dont have the whole floor space, but
they do love to do movement exercises, so at a certain point we move the
chairs off the floor. We have a very big space. And we do our movement
exercises then they come back and sit in a semi-circle. But we dont do a
whole hour. They just cant sit for a whole hour. But, we do a lot of
movement, either around the chairs we have plenty of space, or then we
put the chairs aside so we can haveyou know, if we leave the chairs
there, then the children wont have their free movement wherever they
want in the center and so on, so we use space in a variety of ways.

CD:

Do you do some solfge or ear-training with the choir as well?

Master-teacher A:

Um, some. My biggest regret is that I dont have an extra half hour to do
that. In fact, when I started working with these groups years ago, this was
a sight-singing and ear training class, but then the kids wanted to perform.
And we have two performances a year. I didnt want to do it I wasnt
oriented that way. I am not a choral conductor, but I saw how valuable it
was for them to work towards performance, and they love performing and
sharing what theyve done. They love it so much! So, I do one of the
goals of the classes is to get the kids to sight-sing. And we do a lot of
exercises I would say the first three months, we are working on pitch,
tonality, and intervals. And we get new kids in the chorus every year, so I
will not have them perform until the month of March so that we can work
on this. Im finding, unfortunately, that I am not doing solfge with them.
I have them once a week. And with the older group, I would do fixed-do,

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which is my great love. But, some of them are getting fixed-do, and some
of them are getting moveable-do in school they are doing it every day,
so Im finding more Im using numbers and letters. Letters are tricky,
because if theres a C#, we have to sing, C#. Also, one of my goals here,
as I mentioned to you, they are all taking instruments they absolutely
have to transfer what they learn to their instrumental study. And I love
using the do, re, mi the syllables, but the kids have to be able to use
letter systems so that they understand, you know, this transfers to their
instrument. So, Im using numbers and letters, Caron.
CD:

You mentioned improvisation as a major hallmark of the approach. Are

you integrating improvisation in the choral context?

Master-teacher A:

Not much. I would say mainly because of time. The groups are kind of
big. Let me see the improvisation I do with them is movement. We do
movement improvisation. But I havent done improvisation using vocal
stuff very much. Just, theres so much to do with the score, and its so
much to do with reading. And, as Im talking, Im thinking, I love to do
improv I should do it with them. Theres a big time element here.
Mostly, I want them to feel comfortable with the score. And we do do a
lot of eurhythmics, and they love it. They love it. I work with them on
conducting. I find meter with all the problems kids have, when I hear
kids play or perform, I think, Oh my God, that child has no notion of what
meter she is playing in. Theres no sense of meter. Theres no feeling of
phrase. And, so, we work a lot on metric stuff not only conducting, but
using props such as rubber balls, and just so the kids feel the meter. And
then, of course, in the Composer F, its really fun to feel 3/4 going into 3/2
and apply that. Ill have the kids in groups, one group of 3/4, one group of
3/2 its a lot of fun they really love it.

CD:

So, what would you say is your goal what are you hoping theyll come
away with? You touched on that a little bit already but

Master-teacher A:

I want them to sing musically. I want them to be able to sight-sing. Some

of them stay with me you know, I have them for five or six years of this,
and, the ones who leave can sight-sing. And theyre comfortable you
know, if I say, Who can take part three? you know, because well work
in three voices, the middle voice, and the bottom I work with SSA a lot.
One of my goals is to get the kids strong enough sight-singers to take the
middle voice, or take the bottom voice, and feel comfortable with that, and
enjoy it, and feel the meter, and look at dotted rhythms and understand and
develop a kind of inner rhythm related to the symbols they are reading.
So, those are my main goals.

CD:

And for you as a conductor, when you go to perform, and do conducting

gestures, are they growing out that process that you have had with the

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class? How are you using conducting gesture as a reminder to the

students, or as a representation of the score?
Master-teacher A:

A lot of it depends on the piece. Ah, some of them really need Ah, we
did a piece by Purcell maybe you know Trip it in a Ring? Kids loved
that you know, two voices, and lots of sixteenth notes. Its a cute piece
they wanted to do it again this year. Ah, but that one, I really needed to
keep the beat for them, but in some of the pieces, I find I am more
conducting phrase. Depends a lot on the piece. Then Ill give the
dynamics in my left hand. We did a really interesting piece, a canon,
starting We cats by Brown. We hadwe did a concert of all classics,
from the classical period, and so we did a chromatic canon by Haydn,
called The Snail, and then we did a canon by R. Brown calledit started
with We cats, when assembled And that canon with cats was quite
rhythmically tricky. In fact, I have to say, when I picked it out, I did not
appreciate how tricky it was until I tried to harmonize it, and realized
Brown was playing a lot of tricks. And so, the kids needed me to help
them to keep this together. So, I think it depends a lot on the piece itself.

CD:

So, its been very interesting to hear about your context. I didnt expect
that we would talk about choral conducting as much, so thank you. I want
to get back to, just before we finish, to the interpretation of Dalcrozes
original writings. What I will be starting with is sort of a re-visitation of
the original writings, and trying to extract what I think is in there in
relationship to the conductors work. So, perhaps you could refer to that,
or even tell me a little bit aboutdo his original writings influence the
way you are teaching? Are you noticing that you are referring to that, or
do you think its changed a lot since he originally wrote those things?

Master-teacher A:

You know, you are asking such good questions. In a way, some of the
teaching of Dalcroze, his original teaching, is unrecognizable. That said, I
do believe, from my readings, and from my work, and having done
training in Switzerland, and with people that trained in SwitzerlandI feel
that Dalcroze was absolutely an innovator way ahead of his time. As are
all people like Dalcroze who try to advance new ideas and try to bring
them into their methodologies without the sense that this is going to go
anywhere, even. His book, Rhythm, Music and Education, which I think
is the texthe wrote Rhythm, Art and Education...these are, by the way,
collections of essays of lectures that were written a lot before they were
put together and originally published. I think some of the writings in this
were from 1908, and then it was put together, I forget, I think 1921, by
Novello in London. I think this was a collection of some of his writings,
but some of the chapters seem very related, for example, chapters 5 and 6,
probably were written in sequence and close together. And they are
probably the most informative chapters in the book. I know he wrote
articles that are very interesting, but I do assign all of my methodology
students to read Rhythm, Music, and Education. Its not an easy read, its

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very dense, and the translation itself makes for difficult reading, but there
are some very informative sections of that book, and I think if somebody
can read it all the way through, its very interesting. In the forward, and I
always have my students read the forward of every book they read. Even
who is getting thanked here. Look and see who the author is thanking,
because there may be some important people, and youll say, oh, she
worked with so and so. And then you look up that educator. In the
forward, in the introduction, Dalcroze refers to his experiments in the
classroom, and I think thats one of the most important statements he
makes in the entire book. In other words, we are reading from his words
these are experiments he did. And so, we can conclude that we are also
doing experiments. Theres another very interesting phrase, but I dont
think its from RME, I think its from Vol. 1 of Rhythmic Movement. He
has Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. You should probably know that Dalcroze was a
prolific writer, not only of compositions, but also of his prose writing his
research, his essays. He left many exercises in solfge. He left tons of
notebooks with all his eurhythmics exercises. Most of them were taken by
a scribe who was in each of his classes and took his notes. Some of them
are in his original hand writing. At the beginning of these books, theres a
statement saying, Only students of the 3rd year of eurhythmics may look
at these books. So, there was a woman who would come to Geneva and
do research for her dissertation, and she was not a eurhythmics student,
she was kind of like an Irwin Spector, who got very interested in Dalcroze,
and wrote a wonderful biography. This womans name was Judy. And
she was not allowed to look at these books, and she was shocked, as a
researcher. But Dalcroze himself said, No Judy, you cant see these til
you take year 3. So, you can look at that in different ways. But, let me
get to something else, and then Ill talk about all this. In his Vol. 1 of
Rhythmic Movement, Dalcroze wrote, and Im not quoting, I leave no
guide for improvising, without which a Dalcoze teacher cant teach. So,
he leaves us no guide. And, with all the solfge exercises he left, and with
all the eurhythmics exercises he left, we have not one essay, nothing about
his improv. Zip! No exercises for improvising on the piano. And, he
made it clear that he was not leaving a guide. And, he didnt explain why.
So, I find this to be very interesting. Now, if we juxtapose that statement
with the statement about only third-year students may look at my lesson
plans, and I have to tell you, I was so excited to look at these lesson plans,
and they were completely useless. Well, not completely. They were
useful in that I looked at them and thought this is not the kind of teaching
we are doing today. Id much rather watch a lesson of Master-teacher Bs
than of Dalcroze because his lessons were very disjointed, and they were
categorized by materials. One lesson was called steps. He had these
steps constructed where he would have students do certain exercises on
that. And another one was called ropes and they did an exercise with
that. And they had absolutely wonderful exercises with forty kids, or forty
adults doing complex choreographies in space with four different lines
going here and there doing a fugue. I mean, they must have been

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amazing. But, those exercises were for people that went to school every
single day for three years or more studying his work. And, its now
outdated. Dalcroze himself would probably say, These were experiments
now you are doing your experiments. And I also think, having seen the
notebooks that they are completely useless for those people who havent
done eurhythmics, and so Dalcroze follows his own beliefs by saying you
cant learn this unless you are in the classroom. So, he would say, you
cant benefit from reading my lessons unless you are in the classroom,
and, therefore, please do not think that you can represent my work from
these notebooks. You cant unless you have been in classes. So thats
how I read it, and I dont see it as something that doesnt make any sense.
The more interesting statement for me is the one about improv, where we
are left to conjecture, well, he wanted us to find our own way, or, I dont
know. We dont even have any tape recordings of his playing. Nothing.
We dont have any music by him. We cant hear him improvise. There
are films of him, but theres no sound.
CD:

Wow. I have two quick questions that came up from what you just said.
Do you think its useful to write about and research Dalcroze, or simply to
experience it?

Master-teacher A:

I think both. Because there is one more piece, and I did want to add this,
Caron. When you were talking about choral conducting, you were talking
about voice, ear, and body, but you have to add, for me, cognition,
understanding, and analysis that have to come into this process. And, I
say this now because I think, yes, I am constantlyI have use RME over
and over my book is falling apart. The ways in which Dalcroze phrases
things are so subtle. For example, he describes, just in one sentence, rests
as internal vibration. And, if you think about that, internal means the
energy is happening inside. Its such a beautiful and short to almost the
point of being able to disregard it. Internal vibration. Ive thought of
that phrase so much. That has definitely informed my body work. That
rest is internal vibration. So, for years and years and years, I would no
more have my kids read a rest as sh, or say anything, theres another
one, sa. What they do when they see a rest is they take a breath. And I
tell them when you see this symbol, its called a rest, but it means listen.
Thats what it means. And when you see this, and I tell them, professional
musicians see a rest, and most often what they do is listen and take a
breath. So, we all take a breath when we see a rest. So, thats how we
deal with it. But, that phrase, internal vibration, is very important in
understanding how our study of music informs all of the parts of the
music.

CD:

And my last question, do you refer to Dalcroze as an approach, as a

philosophy, as a methodology? Do you think the terminology there is
key?

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Master-teacher A:

All of the above. Im really gladIve been able to give a course on

Dalcroze methodology at Institution F I think Im in my twelfth or
thirteenth year doing it, and teaching that has given me the opportunity to
analyze this and to try to make a curriculum, which has evaded me, I have
to tell you. Curriculum for children I have. But for adults learning
Dalcroze methodology, I dont have a curriculum. It changes every year.
I just dont have one. I do lesson plans every year. I have lesson plans
from my whole thirteen years, and theyre always changing. The group I
have now, we do a lot of work in the area of improvisation. And I have a
clarinetist in there, and everyone in there is teaching private studio
lessons, so this year we are talking a lot about using Dalcroze in the
private studio lesson. It has to be very practical for them. What I call the
course is Introduction to Dalcroze Methodology: Principles and
Practices. And the principles we spend time discussing exactly what
these are. And practices is how we put this into practice. And we go
back and forth with it. And when we observe a teacher teaching, what
principles do these practices reflect? I use all of those terms: approach,
methodology, way I like the word way but I use all of those terms.

CD:

I really like the word lens, and have been using that a lot lately.

Master-teacher A:

Sure.

CD:

This is so amazing, Master-teacher A. Thank you for your input as a

researcher of Dalcroze, a Dalcroze teacher-trainer and a choral conductor.
Thank you!

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Master-teacher B
Master-teacher B holds the Dalcroze Diplme Suprieur. She teaches all levels of Dalcroze and
prepares candidates for Dalcroze certification and licensure. Master-teacher B has a Masters
degree in Choral Conducting and has conducted choirs of various ages.

CD:

My first question is very broad. In your view, what are the hallmarks of
the Dalcroze approach to music education?

Master-teacher B:

I would say that its multi-sensory. That its based in experience

movement experience, particularly, but live experience aural and
physical. That, music is at the center. So, I think that one of the hallmarks
is its musicality. Its not drill-based. Its a musical encounter which leads
to musical understanding and experience. Its spontaneous, and
improvisational. I guess those are the main hallmarks as I see them.

CD:

Ah, what are your specific goals for student participation? Do you teach
Dalcroze as an end in itself or as a tool for application to other musical
contexts?

Master-teacher B:

Well, both. It depends on the population. At Institution G, I am busy

training Dalcroze teachers. Its an end in itself they are learning to use
the materials of movement and improvisation, and all of the Dalcroze
learning games. Ideas about learning through different relationships to the
music and through participation. By different relationships I meanfor
example, in a follow, you are in a real-time relationship with what is
happening in the music. Whereas in a canon, its about musical memory.
So, your relationship differs, but, I would say, most of the time, the follow
is the basic activity. And thats what develops musicality. Its there in
most of the other exercises as well. So, Im certainly teaching increased
musicality, musicianship, musical independence all of these things. But
also and I think this is whats unique to Dalcroze you are also opening
up a kind of body/mind experience where the body is being invited into
the classroom, and thats very, very powerful, because its where so much
musical feeling resides. Its in the body. Its that spontaneous physical
reaction one has to music that becomes the basis for musical
understanding. When I teach seniors, I am primarily interested, actually,
in improving their memory, the brain-body connection, allowing them an
avenue for creativity nurturing that part of them, which probably for
many years has not been as active. Leadership passing around
leadership, also improving their gait. Its an incredibly nourishing kind of
work, and thats not only for the seniors I think thats for everybody that
studies it. You come into the classroom to learn music, but you go out
having learned music, but also having learned a great deal about yourself,
and nurturing those parts of yourself that become part of you the artist,
and you the human being. And, certainly you the teacher. That ability to

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really understand the group, and maneuver within the group, to relate to
the group, to take leadership, to be able to follow. To coordinate with
group activities the whole ensemble issue I think is discovered in the
class because you are a participant in the class.
CD:

And the same with children?

Master-teacher B:

Yes, I think so. I have not taught children in a number of years now. But,
the goals are the same. I would say that the means are different. The
musical materials would be different. Children dont tend to know if
you start them young enough, about notation and so forth, so you are
building those musical skills, and tying the cognitive to the experiential.
The cognitive is developed out of the experiential. But, all of those things
about leadership, and learning to follow, and nurturing the creativity, and
developing the coordination between mind and body the multi-sensory
aspect of it thats true for children. Thats true for everybody. I think,
in a sense, one of the unique things about Dalcroze is that every classroom
has its own needs. Every group of students has its own needs, and this is
the worlds most adaptable methodology, because you can really turn it on
to anybody. And you adapt it, just as you will adapt it to your choral
rehearsal. Thats a specific need, and if one were coaching chamber
music, or something like that, the purposes would be musicmaking/musicality, but the techniques would all be available. They would
be the same as any techniques one would use in any classroom, I think.
Involving the body in a spontaneous, feelingful way.

CD:

Thats what Ive found its very useful.

Master-teacher B:

Its tremendously useful, and lots of fun. I keep coming back to

Dalcrozes statement that joy is the most powerful of mental stimuli. And
the more I work with this, the more profound I find that is, because its
inherently a joyful thing to be allowed to use all of our abilities. It makes
one feel whole, and thats profoundly joyful. To interact with other
people if its done in a way which is useful - leading to something nobody likes to be part of a crowd. A stampede of humans. But to
actually be in an organized, structured event that is creative with other
people is very deeply powerful, I think.

CD:

I think thats why people keep coming back to choral experience as well.
So, the next three questions go: body, ear, voice, and Im interested in
parsing out, if we can, what exactly the role of the body is, and do you use
conducting and gesturing as a part of that, whats the role of the ear,
whats the role of the voice, and if they are all integrated, thats fine too,
but just trying to sort all of that out.

Master-teacher B:

Well, my first reaction upon reading those questions was to say: central.
What role does the body play in your classes? It plays the central role.

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Thats where the experience lies. Thats where the musicality is

monitored, and analyzed, and synthesized, and understood, and named by
the brain. And the language that one applies to various things. But the
experience itself is in the body. As is all music making. You cant play a
musical instrument without your body. And thats that refined, sensitive,
physical aspect of experience combined with the aural, of course, which
monitors. They work together. But without the body, what can you do?
You cant sing! You cant play any instrument. Its a physical thing. So,
I think the body is very central to all music making and music learning.
And, yes, I do use conducting. I use the large armbeats as well as small
armbeats. Yes, I use the very big ones because I was taught to use them,
and I found them incredibly helpful. They structured me rhythmically in a
way that small armbeats would not have. There was something that was
really physical about stepping a pattern, stepping a canon, with these giant
armbeats that involved the whole upper body. It was an extremely
important part of what I did as a student. I felt that it structured me
musically, rhythmically. So that I knew where I was at all times.
Stepping of patterns involving moving of weight around the room in a
powerful and musical way. But, the upper body, if we dont involve the
armbeats, is not involved. I mean, I really hate to see all of this powerful
movement with these little tiny, squirrely armbeats, because, to me, that
really doesnt do it. So, Im one of the few, I guess, that still does love to
use big armbeats. And I use the in eurhythmics classes. I dont conduct
that way. I wouldnt use them in solfge. I feel they have a unique role
in the eurhythmics class. And I know a lot of people have abandoned
them, and I understand, I mean, why not each teacher has to do this his
or her own way. But, for me, I have found, that you learn a lot from doing
these. Not only structurally and rhythmically, but theres something about
the sense of the timing of getting from one beat to the next. Where the
actual beat is, and what happens in between it. And managing that timing
has everything to do with the stepping of patterns and the managing of
timing generally speaking within a phrase, or as you perform a phrase of
music. Its really all about timing. To me, thats what rhythm is its
timing. Its not a metronomic thing. Its the sense of the arrival, the takeoff, the journey between take-off and arrival, and all of that is subtly
managed. If there are words involved, as there would be in a choral
situation they are managing how the words are said, and what the
rhythm of the language is, and how that informs the rhythm of the music.
I think, somehow, using the large armbeats contributes to this sense of
how you take that particular journey. I have found, a lot of times, when
people start doing armbeats they are very wooden, and they are just
arrivals, you know, they are just like beating time. Going from that to
something that actually has an inside. The beats which have an inside, and
the inside is fleshed out and textured, I think, you know, makes them very
worthwhile. And I also use gesturing what I call musical painting all
the time, all the time.

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CD:

That would be like a free movement to the music?

Master-teacher B:

Yes. I call it musical painting because Im using it a lot in solfge classes.

They are painting the musical line, or they are showing me, in some way,
whether this is a whole-step or a half-step, or in a di-chord, wheres the
feeling, wheres the accent? Embodied in the gesture is the musical
feeling. I mean, there are gestures which simply dont work. And, if you
take the gesture away, youll find that the sound isnt working either. And
you put the gesture back, and tool it so that it does work, so theres the
right gesture for that particular musical event, and it makes a huge
difference.

CD:

So in your solfge classes, are the students always gesturing, doing

something physical, while they sing?

Master-teacher B:

Not always. If they are sight-singing, they are beating time. We worked a
lot this year with penta-chords, and hearing the different functions of
various penta-chords, and I found that gestures these were very personal,
but they made a big difference in how one sang the penta-chord, and how
one understood the function of the penta-chord and where it was leading.
I dont know if that makes sense to you, but

CD:

So, do you allow the students to develop their own gesture? Its always a
personal gesture?

Master-teacher B:

Oh yes! We will sometimes take the time to really look at the various
gestures that people will produce. Lets say a di-chord. Some people will
just do this kind of thing [gestures] it doesnt tell you much. It just tells
you that there are two. Or, this kind of thing [gestures] it doesnt tell
you a whole lot. We would analyze, what is that gesture telling us? And,
what do you want to tell us about a di-chord? What is its musical
implication, in a particular setting, lets say. And I think that could be true
of any bit of musical material - that the gesture would tell you something
about it. Not just that there were three notes, for example, or two notes. It
would want to tell you something about the relationship between those
two notes. Which is the stronger of the two? How close are they? How
far? Are they part of a continuum, one here, one there? Are they isolated?
Something like that. I mean, this could all be reflected in a gesture.

CD:

That has so many implications for conducting!

Master-teacher B:

It does, I know.

CD:

Im thinking about the ear and the voice. Do the ear and the body always
work in tandem? Does one precede the other? Does the voice come after
the body and the ear? Is there any type of hierarchy there?

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Master-teacher B:

You know, sometimes, I think the body needs to explore its own language.
We do a lot at Institution G with just movement training. Its analogous, I
think, to playing an instrument, in the sense that the better you get at your
technique, the more expressive you can become. Body awareness, and the
comfort of being in the body, and the sense of authenticity of movement,
as a part of that language of movement, before it even gets to be at the
service of music. It becomes refined, and in that sense the ear is not
necessarily involved right away. So, I think it can happen on its own. That
you are just developing the movement ability the sense of weight, of
where your weight is coming from, the sense of space, the sense of
direction. It happens so much within the context of a class, I mean, it is a
music class. There might be moments when you need to stop and deal
with a movement issue. Lets say somebody cant really release their
weight, so they dont feel a downbeat. You know, thats a pretty basic
kind of a thing. The difference between an upbeat and a downbeat. The
sense of releasing into gravity. Thats something that needs to be explored
physically maybe before its put into a musical context. And, so I would
take time out to do that, if I saw that somebody needed it. It might not be
everybody that needs it, but just one or two people in the class. So, I
would design some type of exercise where we explore that very thing then
I would take it back into the musical context. Or, another thing that
people tend to have difficulty with is the sense of flow. Flow through
space. You know, when they first start to walk, its very vertical its not
really very directional. So, thats a movement issue. Thats a physical
feeling of moving through space. Feeling the resistance of the invisible in
you. Thats very close to conducting as well. When you conduct with
resistance that comes from inside you. You conduct in a way that feels
like that. So, I think certain things are physical issues which need to be
helped, need to be addressed. But, generally, I would say that the ear
leads. What the ear hears is leading the body. And where it breaks down
is if the body doesnt know how to follow. It simply is not free enough.
Thats the kind of thing I am talking about. You give help to the physical.
Because most of us are much more refined in terms of singing, and
hearing, and writing and all of those musical skills that weve been taught
than we are in expressing what we hear. I think thats the new thing for
most people when they come into eurhythmics classes. They think, Oh
my God, I have to move? I dont have any awareness of, what do you
mean, move? Even walking becomes a refined activity. It isnt that in the
beginning. Its just walking its utilitarian. But, in the eurhythmics
class, it becomes much more than utilitarian. It becomes dynamic and
expressive and nuanced.

CD:

And then, the singing voice? When do you use it, and how do you use it?

Master-teacher B:

I use it a lot. I use it in the eurhythmics class. I use it, of course, in the
solfge class. I use it everywhere. I think, basically, thats the basic
instrument. Its the one thats closest to movement. Certainly much

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closer than the piano. So, I would accompany movement with vocal
sound in a very free way. I also, um, would use pieces of music singing,
in the eurhythmics class. I dont know if that answers your question?
CD:

Yes, it does. One of the things I am hoping to address is how in the

technique of singing there are so many eurhythmic aspects. And, so Im
trying to figure out, can we teach the singing coordination through the, as
you are talking about, the physical coordination or eurhythmics?

Master-teacher B:

Thats interesting. You knowIm notI wish my daughter were here

shes a trained singer an opera singer, and she would have a lot of ideas
about this. And, she grew up with eurhythmics, so she tends to be very
kinesthetic. And the way she teaches is very physical, but I think what she
could say about this would be a lot more than what I would be able to say.
Certainly I work a lot with breath. I think I work less with breath as a
singing technique, but the importance of breath as a musical technique as
an element of rhythmic patterns. Where you take the breath where you
breathe shapes the nuance of the whole pattern.

CD:

So, its taught as anacrusis?

Master-teacher B:

It may be an anacrusic breath. Much of the time it is the breath as an

anacrusic breath. But where that would be taken, and whether it would be
followed with some type of simulated exhale or just a sung phrase or
something. But I am having a hard time articulating this In moving a
rhythmic pattern, where one breathes is very important. If you have
[vocalizes rhythms], you really cant move it without taking that little
breath on that eighth note. Its an anacrusic breath, and then step step
step. But without the breath, theres a moment in there thats totally dead
[she demonstrates non-movement vs. movement versions]. The nuance of
it begins to take shape as you breathe.

CD:

Sure, sure. Thats a bit like the notion of rests and breathing. Rests being
active moments, and what are you using the rests for? The next question
is what is your sequence for teaching a new concept?

Master-teacher B:

Well, I would start with an experience. Generally through the class, my

sense of sequence is that in the beginning, the teacher has a lot of the
responsibility. And by the end of the class, the student should be
independent of the teacher. And, the student bears the responsibility
because of what has happened in the class. So, I tend to start with some
kind of aural or physical experience, in which they are moving and
responding to what I am giving them. And this would lead to discovery
on their part, and analysis, verbalization, internalization. If its
appropriate, notation would come in there somewhere. So, basically, Im
getting from the experiential to the cognitive, including the cognitive, so
that it becomes one. And then, increasingly, the students are doing things

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which require more and more independence. And then finally, I would
say that improvisation would be the final thing, where again, you would
have sort of come full circle, but by this time, the students are able to play
with the materials, whatever the concept. Lets say you are going to teach
a class on syncopation. So one concept might be the idea that you are
either early or late to the party. Thats one idea. Another would be that
they would have to experience that conflict of interest between the norm,
the beat, and the musical accent the agogic weight of the music, which
conflicts with what you expect. So you need to have an experience of
both. Thats very experiential. To begin to be able to talk about that to
describe how that feels, how they could describe it and so on, and by the
end of the class, they would be able to improvise using those elements.
They would have internalized them.
CD:

Do you start with a piece of music, or do you prefer to start with a

concept?

Master-teacher B:

Oh, I think thats very individual. I tend, myself, to start with a concept
and build to a piece of music. I tend to start with an experience of some
sort youre passing a ball from one side to the other, or something like
that. Its an experience, so its quite easy. I dont throw people into the
deep end. So, if were going to have a class on 4 against 3, I wouldnt
start right off with a piece that has 4 against 3 not until everybody learns
how to do it. Thats not my idea of the class. I would start with
something quite simple that would give the shape of a 4, or the shape of a
3. And we would really live that. Then, they would experience something
coming against that. The 3 coming against that. Or, the 4 coming against
the 3. So we have the experience of conflict, but theyre really rooted in
one. And then it would be the experience of having something conflict
with it, or not. The power of that polyrhythmic conflict would be what I
want them to learn. Why do we use it? Why is it there? It creates
tremendous resistance and power and energy and generally speaking,
conflict does, and it is supported by an increase in nuance. You dont tend
to get a 4 against 3 when music is doing a diminuendo. Quite the
opposite, you know. And its climactic because there so much resistance
swimming upstream against a very strong current. You are forced into
being stronger than you would be if you were swimming with the current,
when you take away that resistance. So, I tend to start with a concept like
that resistance, or syncopation is it early is it late? Is there conflict
going on?

CD:

So, youre talking about musical conflict one level before the relevant
musical concepts, basicallywhat I hear you saying is one level simpler
than a musical concept. So, syncopation, what does it create? It creates
conflict, or sense of early-versus-late, and thats where you are sort of
beginning?

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Master-teacher B:

Yah, I begin with that. I would probably begin with some type of a
reaction exercise where they are stepping the beat, and when they hear
something that they would not expect, they would react. So, they are
reacting to accents, to syncopated accents. They dont know whether they
are early or late, they are just conflicting with the norm. I would introduce
it as a new concept, as you said. Rather than lets teach them [speaks
syncopated rhythm], this would be a way of learning the actual thing itself.
I would tend not to do it that way. Somebody else might do it that way.
Heres a piece of material, and lets learn this rhythm and then come to
understand it, but, I would tend to come in another way.

CD:

So, when you look at a score, Im thinking about the sort of conductor
implications of this So, sometimes, Im looking at a score, and for me
as a Dalcroze-trained conductor, Im trying to extract experiences from the
music, because a lot of times we are working from a score setting, versus
working towards a score. We have a performance, we have scores.

Master-teacher B:

I think a rehearsal is very different from a Dalcroze class. You can apply
techniques to it, but, basically, as you say, you are working with a score!
They already have the music. We dont have that in the Dalcroze class.
But you do, and youre rehearsing that music, so all of the application of
Dalcroze techniques is to make it more musical, to make it more alive,
bring awareness to issues of phrase and nuance and rhythm and text and
all of the rest of it. Youre applying Dalcroze techniques to your
rehearsal, if Im not mistaken, but you dont start with nothing, you start
with a piece of music! Dont you?

CD:

Yes, absolutely, and I would like to investigate how Dalcroze training may
impact how a conductor looks at a score. What about this piece needs to
be experienced by the choir in order to make a musically satisfying
performance? So Im interested in the decision-making process of
choosing music and choosing what to extract from the music.

Master-teacher B:

I would think that there are certain basic things that one might teach a
choir to do. And one would be to shift weight on their risers, or if they are
sitting down, to use a hand, for the beat. They should be able to find the
walking pace of every piece of music. And then they should find some
way to feel what are the subdivisions? And, these are kind of basic things
they should find something for the downbeat. This can be applied to any
piece of music. So, I would think these things can be applied to any piece
of music, the meter, the beat, the subdivision, and then the phrase. I
would, you know, have them painting the phrase, but that would take a
while yet for them to probably feel that. So, meter, and I would get down
and dirty into the subdivisions, the beat, the meter, and then into certain
rhythmic patterns. But I would have them physicalize them. This is
something we never do. I sing in a wonderful choir, and we never do that.
And, I miss it. Everybody is such a good singer, and the conductor is

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extremely musical, and really seems to embody the rhythm, but I think we
could do a lot more. So thats just, I mean, it works without it, but I think
those kinds of things Youre talking about choirs of children primarily?
You work with all ages?
CD:

I teach university now, but I used to teach children and I find that
movement is a little more accessible for them sometimes theyre a little
closer to it

Master-teacher B:

Well, did you ever hear of Conductor F? Because he was steeped in

eurhythmics with Dalcroze-teacher I at Institution H and he had his choirs
come off the risers, step their patterns, you know, move around the room
as they were vocalizing. He had them doing amazing things, and it just
came together with their singing in a very vital way. So, he was probably
the farthest out of any conductor I have ever heard. Actually stepping the
rhythmic patterns that they were singing. But I tended to use, and still do
actually, a lot of nonsense syllables to learn rhythmic patterns, and then I
would go right to the text, but, just things like ba da ba da boo, ba da ba
da boo, ba da ba da boo ba ba ba You know, just using that kind of
thing and then seeing what the text is. But we would rehearse the pattern,
but as I do it, I already gesturing anyway. Thats keeping it together, plus
its so ingrained in me, so I dont know how I would do it without it. You
know, to try to do that ba da ba da boo [without gesture] it just
wouldnt mean the same thing. I would use bounces, and rhythmic words,
and nonsense syllables. Maybe if I wanted to do an accent, I would have
them tap the person next to them, or they have partner and speak ba da ba
da boo ba ba ba [and patsch], or something like that so it became very
active.

CD:

Do you ever re-notate your scores, Master-teacher B? Thinking about the

way that it looks not necessarily capturing the way that its experienced or
heard

Master-teacher B:

Yah, you cold, certainly you could. Certainly some early music has been
edited badly. Its barred badly, and to understand it, you really have to
redo it. I re-write some of my piano scores as well because when you
look at a Rachmaninoff prelude and it looks like the left hand has to do
everything, when really its the right hand that has to take certain notes.
And, I find its just easier to re-write them. Do you do that, do you rewrite your scores?

CD:

Well, Im trying to explore ways to approach score study from a Dalcroze

perspective, and one of my thoughts is to look for the movement thats
inherent in the music. So, identifying things like major harmonic shifts, or
rhythmic motive - things like that that could be pulled out to be
experienced with the choir. So, this is sort of my notion, that its possible

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to do that, but Im picking peoples brains about how they approach

notation.
Master-teacher B:

Yah, I mean, notation is a code at best. Even music that is well-notated

theres so much that is left out. We, in the western world, dont tend to
notate things such as color, density of sound, the placement of sound.
Thats just not notated at all. We dont know how to do that. We put an f
or a p and what that means is maybe more clearly defined by moving
through something. This has to sound as if its moving through oil, or its
moving through honey, or here its just moving through air its totally
free those kinds of images. Well, thats not on the score. Theres no
way of putting that on the score. At least in our scores. Unless you want
to paint it or something, but those things, thats what one does when one
rehearses try to get the right sound for that particular moment and for
that particular text. The right use of the voice, and the right relationship to
the surrounding resistance of air, and so forth. Is this a Brahms harmony,
or a Mozart, or a Stravinsky? Theyre all going to sound different.

CD:

And, do you discover that through the rehearsal process or through the use
of movement? Do you learn more about the music?

Master-teacher B:

Well, I think this brings up what the conductor is doing studying the
score the chorus is doing. I think that that kind of information would be
what you as a conductor how you are informing your own self. What
you choose to do with the chorus, I dont think, cant be quite as
explorative. They wont get it. They want you to be a little more
directive. So, what youre going to do in terms of movement has to be a
little more structured. What you do for yourself, in terms of discovering
how you want a piece to sound, can be very tied to all kinds of movement
imagery and exploration. By the time you get to rehearsal, I think you
have certain notions. Then you can say, While you are singing this, I
want you to move your hand as if you were pressing against something, or
its moving through fog, or its just sliding along something very slippery.
And youre singing thisbut youve already discovered that at home.

CD:

So, do you think the role of eurhythmics teacher is different than the role
of conductor, or how are they similar or different?

Master-teacher B:

Oh, I think they are different. Certainly the rhythmics experience informs
the conductor. Its one of the ways you are going to teach yourself what
you want to know about the music, but a rehearsal, as I said, can be
informed by movement, but I dont think its a classroom. People dont
come to a rehearsal expecting to have these rhythmic discoveries, and
partner games and all of that that you would have in a eurhythmics class. I
think its an application to the performance of pieces of music. It depends
how long you are going to be able to work on a piece of music, and it may
be that you take time out to teach a little unit on this particular thing they

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are having difficulty with. You work on that particular thing and then you
put it back into the rehearsal. But, most people come to rehearsal its an
hour and half long, at best, right? Isnt that about right? How long do you
rehearse?
CD:

Yah, usually there are some major time constraints. I have found though,
often, that the eurhythmics experience expedites the rehearsal process.
Like maybe Ill introduce a piece in week 3 or week 4 because week 1 and
2 were dedicated to exploring some of the concepts that were in the piece,
so it can kind of expedite the process

Master-teacher B:

I think this works youre in a school, right?

CD:

Im in a university now

Master-teacher B:

So you can actually do that. Its up to you to design your semesters work
with a particular group in any way that you want. But, for a church choir,
these are people coming from all different backgrounds, and they only see
you for that particular hour and half and they are going to prepare the
music for that particular Sunday, so it has to be a workable situation. I
think theyre different, but I certainly agree that eurhythmics expedites the
rehearsal process. But, I dont have any rules about it. I just tend to go
where the need is. This is just not happening, what can we do? Then I
would get out and work on it. But, if they dont need it, I wouldnt work
on it.

CD:

Right, right, interesting. Thats the spontaneity part. One more question:
how would you describe the learning dynamic in your classroom. Is that a
relationship that is two ways, or, is that a more vertical relationship, and
whats the relationship between students?

Master-teacher B:

No, I think its a very dialogic relationship. I dont see it as top down.
Certainly my job as the teacher is to guide the class. I think theres
nothing worse than the teacher that has no plan or no ability to give
feedback or guidance or a stage director who say, Well, I dont know,
what do you guys think? They dont have any idea of we need to work
on this, this, and that, you know? Thats the role of the teacher you have
to be that kind of a guide. But, I think it needs to be done in a way that is
very inclusive. It doesnt feel like you are giving the orders and they are
following orders. I think its very dynamic interaction that is taking place,
and I think its taking place between the students as well. That has to be
given a lot of room. A lot of time for student performances, for student
feedback, for any kind of active participation on the part of the students.
Otherwise, I think the danger is, in eurhythmics, that you can end of
feeling like a trained seal. You know, youve learned to do all of these
things, and hip and hop and you can do them all, but, so what? I think
its really important that the students understand what they are working

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towards. Thats part of the discussion, and they may have ideas of how
best to help that happen. I mean, Ive certainly come to places in
rehearsals and in classes when Ive said, you know, Im feeling a little bit
stuck right here. What Im trying to get to is this, but its just not
happening. What should we do? What do we need here? And then, all of
a sudden, it starts getting very lively and there are all kinds of ideas, and I
think that does happen, you know? Nobody knows it all. And the
students come up with amazing ideas, so I think that sort of shared
leadership, as long as you yourself know where you are going, and that
youre able to structure it so that they feel safe. Thats what you are being
paid to do. But I wrote down here: a rehearsal leads to a performance and
a eurhythmics class does not necessarily lead to a performance. Thats
one huge difference. In a rehearsal, you are going to go over things to
perfect them so that it will be performance ready, and all of the
eurhythmics techniques will contribute to that so that the performance is
alive and sparkling and accurate and musical and all of these things. In a
eurhythmics class, there isnt necessarily a performance at the end.
Theres more that sense of discovery that the student has awakened
certain parts of themselves and have made discoveries discoveries
musical, discoveries personal, discoveries whatever, but theyve learned
something. Its a learning situation, its about education, whereas the
other is a performance situation. I think you can apply eurhythmics to
chamber music performance, to solo performance, but remembering that
what you are trying to do is get to a performance. Youre trying to make it
better, so that its performed better. And, the conductor can never let go
of that end goal.
CD:

Agreed. Is there anything else you would like to contribute to the

discussion about Dalcroze in the choral setting?

Master-teacher B:

I think thats it. All I want to add is that I would love to read your
dissertation when its finished!

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Master-teacher C
Master-teacher C holds the Dalcroze Diplme Suprieur. She teaches all levels of Dalcroze and
prepares candidates for Dalcroze certification and licensure. Master-teacher C has experience as
a choral and orchestral conductor.
CD:

Ill start with the first question, which is fairly general. In your view, what
are the hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach?

Master-teacher C:

Well, Dalcroze used to say, in French, he said, Que votre corps devienne
de la musique. I dont know if you understand this sentence: Let your
body become music. Let your body become the music. So, Dalcrozes
original idea was to place body and movement at the core of music
education. That was his main idea. For Dalcroze, when he said, Let your
body become music, it was a way of emphasizing that the body is the
first instrument. Obviously for singers, the body is the instrument, but for
pianists or flutists, it is not seen as the case in an obvious way, but in fact,
the musical instrument (whether it be a piano or a flute) is the extension of
the body. So, for Dalcroze, the body was playing a central role in
perceiving and realizing (performing) music. For him, it was impossible
to be a musician without paying attention to the body. In fact, for
Dalcroze, the body was the way to understand the world that was
surrounding him, including the musical world. Do you understand what I
mean?

CD:

Yes.

Master-teacher C:

It was the key for understanding music. Not only to perceive music but to
understand music. In fact, without the body, its impossible to understand
music or to make music. And its interesting because nowadays the
neuroscientists/psychologists have discussed how important the body is
for knowledge. Nowadays, the body is not considered separated from the
mind, philosophers and researchers are referring to the mind-body entity
the body-mind is seen as one complete organism. I think Dalcroze had this
intuition about the role of the body in understanding the world, we could
say in understanding the musical world. I guess the fact that he was a
composer, as well as a performer he had this experience of how the body
was helping him understand what the music was all about, so I guess this
is part of his whole experience which led him to understand this concept,
the fundamental role of the body-mind entity.

CD:

I gather he had experience as a conductor himself?

Master-teacher C:

He certainly conducted because he did these big Festival, you know, the
Festspiele, where he had to conduct orchestras and choirs and he was also
doing plastique anime with a lot of people, so obviously he had to
conduct himself. For me, the conductor is by essence a Dalcrozian.

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Because the conductor has to express with body language what the music
is what his musical intentions are. The conductor has to communicate
his musical intentions. And that has to be done through body language,
and thats exactly what Dalcrozes work is dealing with, you know?
Using the body as a musical instrument. That is what the conductor is
doing.
CD:

There seem to be a lot of links, and I believe Dalcroze suggested that the
conductor is the ideal eurhythmician. Im not sure so far how much
people have written about the conductor in that way. It seems to have
been written about more often in a technical way, but not so much in a
full-body kind of a way.

Master-teacher C:

Well, for me, conducting has to do with communication. And, what do

you want to communicate? You want to communicate the essence of the
music - all the expressive qualities of the music. When you are
conducting, you have an understanding of the music, but when Im talking
about understandingin French we use the word, comprendre la musique.
Comprendre, its like you take within the music. Its not something that is
standing here in your head. Its something that you grasp with your whole
body and something that you feel, that moves you. Its interesting, I was
looking at the title of your dissertation, Moved to learn, and I was
thinking that the word moved, obviously there is the idea, I dont know
if you would say that in English, but the way I see it when I look at it is
there is the sense of movement with the move, but dont we also use the
moved when we are moved by something, by an emotion?

CD:

Im so glad you caught that! Thats what it means it has two meanings!

Master-teacher C:

Yes, when I read that, I thought, for me, that is very, very important.
There is something very authentic about eurhythmics, and in that
respectDalcroze used to say, and let me find this in some of my papers
herehe said, I know and think simply because I feel and experience.
Dalcroze said that. This is a translation. I think it was translated in a book
a translation of Marie Laure Bachmann book. I know and think simply
because I feel and experience. That is very interesting because he was
saying that he understands, he knows, he thinks that means he is
becoming aware of something, he understands something, because he has
experienced it and he has felt it. And that is really interesting that he said
that that was in 1924 he said that. I dont know if you have heard of this
neuroscientist, Damasio? Have you heard of him?

CD:

No.

Master-teacher C:

Hes an Italian scientist, a neuroscientist. And he showed that all the

knowledge that we have stems from emotion. Its interesting. He will say
something I will quote him so that you understand. He said, Our

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consciousness is based on three distinct, although closely related

phenomena. An emotion, the feeling of that emotion, and knowing that
we have a feeling of that emotion. So, for him, knowledge is possible
because we have an emotion and the feeling of that emotion. It is because
of the emotion through the emotion - that finally we know that we have
a feeling of that emotion. So that is interesting because the word that you
used, moved to learn, thats the idea of this emotion. To be moved by
something it makes it possible for us to understand that something,
otherwise it will not be possible. And the emotion in our system is linked
to movement. So, its very interesting. What is fascinating to me
nowadays is to realize that scientists are demonstrating that Dalcroze was
right with his intuition at the time, at the beginning of the 20th century. He
said things that nowadays are validated by scientists, which is great for us,
in a certain way, to prove that he was right. And the fact that he put so
much importance on the body and body movement made a lot of sense
because nowadays people are showing that the body is the key attributor
of knowledge. Thats how you grasp what is surrounding you. Thats
how you understand the world around you, whether that be a musical
world or something else.
CD:

What are your specific goals for the student when you are teaching a
Dalcroze class?

Master-teacher C:

Thats an interesting question. I guess the main thing isIm working

with students some of the students are performers, others are music
educators, others are composers, some of them are interested in
musicology. Its a mixed group of music students. So, I hope that I will
develop them as an artist. I guess what I think is most important for them
is to become creative artists in their field and to develop their own
personality as an artist, as creative artists. Whether they are professors, or
performers, or composers. I think, for me, thats the main thing. Thats
the main objective, but obviously there are other objectives. That they
become better musicians, that they understand the music better all of
these objectives that could be more specific in a certain way. The main
thing for me will be that they develop their own personality, and in doing
that, they will become more creative in what they want to do. I would
think that if you want to become a conductor, specifically with the
conductor, my goal will be tothere are too many things that I want to
say! The thing is, with eurhythmics, you are trying to develop the person
as a musician. You are using the body to do that, but in doing that, you
are also training the body. Its like the music is training the body, and the
body is training the person to become a better musician.

CD:

Im going to quote you thats very good!

Master-teacher C:

You know, Dalcroze was saying that eurhythmics was an education par et
pour la musique. An education through music and for music. Especially

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for the conductor, I think that is something very, very important. Well, for
everyone, but I think its easier to understand when we are thinking about
the conductor because the conductor is using his or her body to express
and communicate the music. So, the first thing the conductor has to do is
to train that instrument. If you train the body so that the body is becoming
more sensitive, more creative, is able to adapt itself, more precise, to really
express exactly what you want to communicate, then you have achieved
your goal as a conductor, right? You obviously have to develop the
person as a musician, but you have to develop that body-musician, that is
the conductor, to be an instrument of great expression. And that
instrument of great expression is the body. Obviously, its a thinking
body, we understand that. For me, and for Dalcroze, the body is always a
mind-body entity. The person is not a disembodied mind, right?
CD:

Yes.

Master-teacher C:

So, in eurhythmics, the, music trains the body, and the body makes the
person understand the music better. Thats why Dalcroze said it was an
education par et pour la musique. Through music and for music. What I
am trying to say is that one thing that is very important in eurhythmics is
to develop the body as an instrument. If musical knowing draws on bodily
processes, that means the sensitivity of our body will affect our ability to
understand and express musically. So, the better we train the body, the
better the body will be able to understand and express music. And I think
for the conductor, this is a major point. If the conductor is able to be at
ease and able to make his body adapt to any musical situation or any
musical expression, that means the body will be the direct transformation
of the conductors musical intentions. Does that make sense to you?

CD:

Yes, absolutely. That makes sense to me. So, you sort of answered
number 3, what role does the body play in your classes?

Master-teacher C:

Well, its central.

CD:

And what role does conducting and gesturing play in your classes?

Master-teacher C:

Well, its always there. I dont think theres one class where theres no
conducting. Theres always conducting in my classes.

CD:

Yah, and are you using the full armbeats, or are you using more of a
conducting gesture?

Master-teacher C:

I use both. One thing that I try to do is to connect the students to their
own instinct. I feel sometimes when I work with the students studying in
music that they lost their musical instinct. Its not that they lost it. Its
there, but it seems that a lot of emphasis is made on theory and virtuousity
and all the technical aspects, it seems, at one point, they tend to disconnect

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from their own instincts - their own emotion in a certain way. Its like
they dont allow their instinct and their emotion to participate in what they
are doing. So Im trying to have them move very spontaneously to music.
I dont impose any movement, and codified movement. Im trying to
make them at ease in using their own natural movement in asking them
to show me in movement the motion and emotion of music. You know,
they love music. They are studying in music, so they love music. They are
touched by music, so I want them to let their body express thatthat
emotion that they have about music. And they can see that emotion
coming out of their body and of the other people around them. As if the
music is inhabiting the space. And in doing that, the students become
more confident it brings them more confidence in their own way of
understanding and grasping the music. When they do that, they find their
own movement, and I try to build on their own movement. For instance,
when they move, there is something good about the movement they are
doing. Good meaning that it is related to how they perceive music. And
that is important to start with that. Im sure that when someone is
conducting the music in a very spontaneous way, there is probably
something right about it. There might be sometimes, obviously, too much
movement, or not enough energy. Obviously, if you want to improve the
quality of the movement, there is always work that can be done. But, what
I tend to do is work on their own movement, to see what is right in
connection to their understanding of the music and to build on that. So
thats what I am trying to do.
CD:

And do you ever find that the conducting patterns get in the way for the
students, or are they a structure that helps the students be more
expressive?

Master-teacher C:

Thats an interesting question. The thing is that, it always has to do with

how you move. How you use the conducting gesture. For instance, you
will always know that the first beat is here [shows], the second beat is in
the middle, the third beat is out, and the fourth beat up you know, they
know the conducting gesture. But what is important is the character of the
first beat how you conduct the first beat, which is different than the
character of the fourth beat. They might just do the 1, 2, 3, 4, but if there
is no difference between the first, second, third, and fourth beat, thats not
music. That just a metronomic thing, you know, it is just a neutral
structure which is not what music is all about. So, what we have to work
on is what is the quality of that first beat? What is the quality of the pulse
that goes from one beat to the other beat to the other one to the other one?
What is the quality? That is the more important thing. And I just feel that
sometimes, if we do the whole movement To answer your question,
depending on the people, there is not one absolute answer to your
question, it depends on the individual. Some people, you feel that this
gesture of conducting, its too rigid for them, because they havent felt the
weight of the first beat, for instance. They havent felt the quality of the

162

pulse. Is the pulse a little bit heavy? Has lightness, or has heaviness?
What kind of pulse is it? What kind of music is it? What are the qualities
of that beat? The beat is not just [tap, tap, tap], it depends how you go
from one beat to another that is what music is all about. When you have
the beat, its not always the same, its not always a metronomic thing
when you conduct, sometimes it goes here, and sometimes it goes there. It
has a breathing which is different from one beat to another, you know?
You take in less air or you take in more air, so it depends on the
expression that you want to put in that beat. So, sometimes, with some
people, they need to feel that with their whole body. So, I will ask them to
forget about the conducting, and lets move it with the whole body. Lets
dance it. How much energy do you need? Do you need less energy or
more energy? And then they can come back to the conducting gesture and
they have a better understanding because their whole body had
experienced it.
CD:

Master-teacher C, what role does the ear play? How do you think about
the ear in your classes?

Master-teacher C:

Well, I guess eurhythmics is an intense aural training, you know, thats

what eurhythmics is all about. Everything has to do with how you
perceive the music. Its not just moving for moving. Its moving in
relationship to the sounds that you are perceiving. So, its aural training.
Eurhythmics is aural training. So, the ear is extremely important. Its like
your whole body is an ear! An oreille. Your whole body is that.

CD:

Ha ha! I like that! So the ear comes first, and the body responds later?

Master-teacher C:

You know, I think this is simultaneous. When you perceive, your bodys
there. You cannot You need your body to be alive, right? You need
the body for the ear to exist, dont you? So, it just doesnt make sense to
me that the body is not theI think this thing is simultaneous, its holistic.
Its all together, you know? Because even if you dont move, if you dont
see someone move, there is something moving inside of you.

CD:

Ok. Are you talking about kinesthetic empathy? So that if I watch you
moving, I feel something?

Master-teacher C:

No, no. Im talking aboutin our brain it seems that the auditory and
motor systems are indissociable. There is indissociability between the
auditory and the motor system. It doesnt mean that you have to move,
but the motor system is activated in your brain when you hear music. That
is interesting in regards to eurhythmics, isnt it??

CD:

And what is the function of the voice in your eurhythmics classes?

163

Master-teacher C:

The voice for me is very important, because when I am able to have the
people use their voice in a very incarnate way, I feel they really
understand what I am talking about when I use the word embodiment. The
voice needs a gesture, right? The vocal gesture. Thats interesting, the
voice phenomenon in relation to movement. I just think that when people
are really able to connect, to really connect their voice with their whole
body, they really feel what it means when we talk about the connection
with the body. You know, like the singer. When you hear a voice that is
not really connected in the body, theres noits like the voice is not full.
When its really connected to the abdominal, you know, when the voice is
really connected to the body and the breathing then you have a very rich
sound. So, it is important to work the connection between the voice and
movement. For the voice to really be expressive, what you need is to train
the body. One way of training the body, obviously, is to do eurhythmics.
I remember a singer telling me that you need to warm-up the body before
warming-up the voice. Because, if your body is not well prepared, then
the voice will not respond properly. I guess this has to be thought of more
as a holistic way of learning. You know, for the choir, the voice is
important, but for the voice to develop, you need to have a body which is
able to produce nice sounds, nice vocal sounds. You know, the body is
the first instrument, so we always come back to the same thing. You have
to train the body, and to train the body in a holistic way, that is the body
that is moved, that is the body that feels, that understands, that thinks
Its like you are working with all of the faculties the physical, the
emotional, the intellectual faculties of the person, so I think that that is the
main thing. In a eurhythmics class, if you ask people to move, but you
never asked them what they felt, what meant that movement in regard to
the music they were listening to, you are not doing eurhythmics, you are
just moving for moving. What eurhythmics aims at is to make the people
aware of what is happening the relationship between the movement and
the music. What is that connection there? And if you dont make them
aware of that, then you are not doing eurhythmics. So, in regard to the
vocal aspect, it comes to the same thing you have to make them realize
the connection between the movement and the vocal sound. How the
body is important to produce the vocal sound that you want. Or how the
body is important for them to produce the phrase or the melodic
interpretation they want.

CD:

Yes. And you used the words vocal gesture what did you mean by
that, Master-teacher C?

Master-teacher C:

The breathing. Breathing is the vocal gesture. The thing is that when you
sing, the way that you control your breathing, the way that you put more
or less energy, the way you attack your sound when you sing, its the same
things as when you conduct the way that you do the gesture through the
space. All of these things are based on the same principles. You know
very well, Caron, about the time, space and energy. So the time, space,

164

energy relationship is always the same. You know, you are breathing, and
you have to control it in that respect. How do you manage your energy in
respect to the amount of time you have, the space that you will have, you
know, for your abdominal muscles to react, you know Its the same
thing with the conductor, its just that its not your abdominal gestures that
you are using more, but your arms and your whole body.
CD:

Yes, thats very interesting. What is your sequence for teaching a new
concept?

Master-teacher C:

When I elaborate a lesson, a class, usually I have a piece of music in mind.

I will use a piece of music, so its not like I have a concept like
syncopation. But, I will have a piece of music, and if there is
syncopation in the music, obviously I will talk about syncopation at one
point, but I tend to elaborate my lesson around a piece of music.

CD:

And how do you choose that music?

Master-teacher C:

Ah, thats an interesting question. I guess the first thing that comes to
mind is that when I listen to a piece of music and I am touched by it and I
am moved, I will ask myself how can I use this piece in a eurhythmics
class so that I can share this music that I like with my students? Yah, I
think thats how I work.

CD:

So, you want to share your bodily experience of the music with your
students?

Master-teacher C:

Not my bodily experience. Just the music, so they will have their own
experience.

CD:

When you are working with a certain piece of music, or a score, how do
you pull out musical experiences for the class?

Master-teacher C:

One thing, when you are looking at a score, you have to be very careful.
Because sometimes what is written on the paper is not the representation
of the embodiment of the pieceif you would listen to the music, you
might be surprised as to what the characteristic of the music is, how you
feel about it. For instance, sometimes you will have a scoreand its
interesting that question because not long ago I was working with one of
my students who is working on her doctoral study, and she wanted to
make an application of Dalcroze in listening to a piece of music. She
chose a Bartok piece, and she sent me the lesson she constructed around
the piece. And the whole lesson was on unequal measures because the
Bartok piece was written in 3/4 and 4/4. So the lesson was on that. And,
obviously when you look at the score, you see 3/4, 4/4 you see unequal
measures. But, when you play that piece and when you listen to it, its not
what comes out. Its not the most important thing about the piece. The

165

most important part of the piece was the phrasing, the nuances. So
sometimes, you have to be very careful about what you see on the paper.
Because what you think sometimes the characteristic parameters that
you see on the score - might feel different when you listen to that music.
So, I guess, one has to be very careful in analyzing the scores in regard to
which exercises one will use in the eurhythmics class.
CD:

And, how do you decide? Is it simply by listening that you decide?

Master-teacher C:

The music decides. The answer is in the music. This sounds a little bit
simple, but I think its very important. The answer is in the music. For
the conductor, for instance, the conductor will have to focus on what is the
most important thing to conduct in that piece to really have what he wants.
You see what I mean, its not just, oh its a 3 and then its a 4, and the
pulse, its not just that, its much more than that.

CD:

I agree, you could listen to two recordings of the same piece, and one
conductor would bring out the phrasing, and one conductor would bring
out the unequal beats. So, I think what I want to say is that as a conductor,
you have to make a choice about what you want to hear, about what is the
most important thing to bring out. And then those are the things you
should explore eurhythmically with the choir.

Master-teacher C:

Its very interesting you are talking about choices. And, for me, if one
wants to make choices, one has to be creative. The thing is, the more you
explore But the main thing is, as you said, which I agree with you, the
more you explore things about the pieces you are listening to or working
with, the more you put yourself in a creative mode of working. For
instance, if you play a part on the piano or if you sing it, or if you move its
qualities, you might focus on different aspects, aspects that you may not
see on the score, you will have a different feeling. The more you explore
various parameters in various ways, the more creative you will become.
Then, in doing so, you give yourself a wide range of possibilities from
which you can choose. How can I say? You allow yourself to be personal
in a way. Because you have explored different things, when you choose
an interpretation, you know why you chose it. And you also know that you
can focus on something else another time to express that piece. A piece is
soyou know, a great work of art has many interpretations. You can
interpret it in many ways.

CD:

This is very interesting. I am going to explore in my dissertation how

Dalcroze impacts score study, so

Master-teacher C:

One thing that is important for the conductor If, as the conductor, you
really take the risk, or the opportunity, lets put it in a positive way, of
exploring how your body will move to the music, and all the possibilities
you have all the possibilities that your body brings you if you explore

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that, you will have a big range of expressive possibilities that you might
not have had before if you were only doing the pulsation But, if you
take this opportunity to really explore that, with your whole body, moving
through the space, running, and feeling all of the energy that your body
can give you, when you conduct, you will have all these representations in
your head of all of these expressive bodily qualities that you can use while
you are conducting. Obviously you dont need to dance and jump while
you conduct, but if you have done it with your whole body, you will have
explored the specific energy you need for that specific articulation, or that
specific nuances which you would like your choir or your orchestra to
produce. You will find that energy, even if you dont have to jump, but
your wholeyour arms will jump with it. See what I mean? Because you
will have felt that much energy you need, that much dynamic, that much
lightness, or that much softness you need for that specific thing. And also,
we were talking about how the vocal aspect is linked to the body? If you
have experienced that as a conductor, the singing aspect of it, that vocal
gesture that I was talking about, you will be able to feel it through your
hands. Its like your arms will be your abdominal breathing. You will
help the people do exactly the movement they have to do technically
sometimes and musically sometimes. Its like, when you are a conductor,
sometimes you are working on both dimensions. Does that make sense to
you?
CD:

Yes, absolutely! So, do you ever re-notate your scores, Master-teacher C?

Master-teacher C:

Sometimes I will use some colors to emphasize the phrasing or the

articulation. I will ask them to do that, for instance, if we are doing a
plastique anime so that we could re-notate, if that is what you mean,
what is written by the composer. So it will help us memorize the structure
or the main expressive elements of the piece. In that respect sometimes
we do that, yes.

CD:

So do you ask the students to write down a different version of the musical
score?

Master-teacher C:

It will not be a different version, but for plastique anime, it will be a

spatial version of what it is. Probably the conductor could have a
movement version of what he has to do. I remember that when I had to
conduct, on the scores, I will have some different cues that I will notate on
the score, for me, for my movement and anticipation and things like that.
Something that I will write on the score, but for me as a conductor to
prepare things For instance, to know that at this point, that section was
more difficult for that section of the orchestra or the choir, I will have a
specific sign to help me prepare the movement, so I will help them
produce exactly what I want them to do to perform.

CD:

Do you think there is movement in the music?

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Master-teacher C:

Well, the sounds are travelling in the space. The sounds are travelling.
One of the things I will ask my students in the first class, I will put on the
music and I will tell them, Show me how the sounds move. And when
youre conducting, thats what you are showing your musicians, your
choristes. Youre showing them with your body how the sounds move.
Or, you are showing them how the sounds move you, but its the same,
isnt it?

CD:

I think so. What is the role of the teacher in a eurhythmics class and how
does this compare to the role of the conductor?

Master-teacher C:

Well, its a little bit different. There are things that are similar, but I think
there are things that are different. As you said earlier, you said you have
to make decisions as a conductor. You are giving your own interpretation
of the music to the musicians that you are working with. Its not that you
are imposing on them all of your way of understanding the music,
because, obviously, the music that you are performing, you are performing
with them. Its something that you are constructing together. But you will
be making the aesthetic decisions, right? Its different when you are
teaching the goals are not the same. Well, it might happen that
sometimes during the lesson, you are becoming the conductor, that
happens right? But, I dont know, the situation is not the same. I think
they have a similar role, but also something different between the teacher
and the conductor. What comes to mind is that they both have to be a
communicator. That is the main thing they have to communicate with
other people. They both have to be able to conceptualize. The teacher has
to conceptualize a lesson plan, right? What he or she wants to do in a
class, and plan it so that the exercises he or she plans will be progressive
in a certain way, so that the student will learn. And, the conductor has to
plan his rehearsal. He has timeboth have a one hour or two hour class,
or a two hour rehearsal, so they have to plan that session that they will do
the best of it, right? So, they both have to organize, to conceptualize
rehearsal in a certain way. And, they both have to make decisions during
that period of time. What is different about the teacher and the conductor
is that the teacher is trying to make the students find his or her own
interpretation of the music. But, the conductor comes with his or her
interpretation of the music and has to share that interpretation with the
musicians he is working with. So, maybe that will be the main difference
in a certain way. So, one has to come with an interpretation, and the other
has to open up experiences to guide the students to their own interpretation
of the music, understanding of the music. But, both have to justify what
they are doing. They have to be able to justify, to share their views of the
music. I also think that both are coaching the people that they are working
with. Maybe something that is a little different between the teacher and
the conductor, the teacher can sometimes be a model for the student. You
know, he will show, maybe, how to do a certain exercise. He will help the

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students understand, using modeling. For the conductor, its a little bit
different. He will not be the model for the violinist, because hes not a
violinist, but he will be the model of his own musical interpretation, in a
certain way. So, that is a little bit different in a certain way, but I think
that is what I see as similar and different between the conductor and the
teacher I dont know if it makes sense to you?
CD:

It does. Its very clear what you are saying. I think for me sometime I
alter my interpretation, or I learn about the music from the students. So,
sometimes, it is more like a eurhythmics teacher approach because its a
bit more back and forth.

Master-teacher C:

Well, obviously, as a conductor and a teacher, if you want to work with

people, you cannot ask them something they cannot do. To be able to be
sensitive to what they can bring to the music. And, even if you have a
certain interpretation, this interpretation modulates through their skills,
through what they are giving you as performers. So, you have to adapt to
that. The capacity or the capability of adaptation is very present both for
the teacher and the conductor.

CD:

Thats perfect! How would you describe the learning dynamic in your
classroom?

Master-teacher C:

Well, I think, for me, the class is music-centered. The music is the leader,
in a certain way. So, its centered on the music, and on the student. That
is what I am trying to do. So, I would think that that is the learning
dynamic. To be able to center that learning dynamic on the music and on
the student. And, it is also a cooperative learning between the students
themselves and between the students and the teacher. Its a group learning
experience, so obviously you are learning from the others who are
participating in the class. And I think a big emphasis is on being able to
react to what the others are doing. We are talking about social integration
being able to relate to the other people. When you are singing in a choir,
obviously you have to watch the conductor, but you also have to be
receptive to the other singers, to the group. You have to be able to adapt
your own energy to the energy of the others. You have to adapt your
voice to what is happening around you, to what is surrounding you. So,
this receptivity, this adaptability, is something you are learning through
cooperative work. So, I would think that that is something that is
emphasized in the Dalcroze work.

CD:

And, how are you using pre-composed music in your teaching? Are you
using pre-composed music to explore a rhythmic problem, or are you
exploring a rhythmic problem in the pre-composed music?

Master-teacher C:

I would say theres not a fixed way of doing things Its not always the
same way. But, what I like to do is to use a piece of music, and ask the

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people to react spontaneously to it, and see how they perceive that music
spontaneously. For me, its very important to see how they perceive that
music. Im saying to see because when they move, I see through their
movement what in the music is coming to their consciousness. Maybe
they are not aware of what they perceive, but at least their body is aware
of it. Their body is showing me how they perceive the music. I can then
work from this experience, and work on specific parameters that are in the
music.
CD:

Would you use a recording, or would you play the piece on the piano?

Master-teacher C:

It could be both. If its a piano piece, I could play it on the piano, if its an
orchestral work, I prefer to use the recording so that you have the
complete orchestra, and the whole thing. But then, after that, I might go to
the piano and work on specific parameters.

CD:

So, would they move freely through the space, or would you give them a
specific task?

Master-teacher C:

First I will ask them to move freely. I realize its important for them to
react very freely first. Because then they are not trying to analyze whats
happening. They are just moved by the music and theyre showing me
what they hear about that music. And I think its the best way to
understand what they hear. And sometimes you see that they hear
something but their body is not quite alert to be able to express it
completely. So, you see where they have blocages? And then you can
work on that afterwards. Sometimes after they move freely, I ask them,
how would you describe the music you heard? Or, how would you
describe the movement you made? Then they start to make the
connections between the music and how they moved. For instance, if they
would tell me that there is contrast in the music, I will ask them: how did
you move to show this contrast? Then they will start understanding that
there is a real connection between the movement and the music. And then
we can talk about what kind of contrast there was in the music. Harmonic
contrast? Rhythmic contrast? Nuances contrast? You can work on the
different parameters. And, then you can decide that you will work on how
to express these parameters through the body, and how the body can
improve doing these things, you know? So, for instance, the conductor.
They could move very freely, but then lets think about how you could
conduct that piece. You will not jump everywhere, but how this jumping,
now that it is integrated in the body, how you can find it in your
conducting gesture? And, how does the pulse travel? You know, if you
want to show the pulse, how does it travel? Does it travel fast, or with
weight, or with lightness? And then you can work on more specific
things.

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CD:

How do you choose a piece, and how do you decide what you are going to
look at in a piece?

Master-teacher C:

It can be any piece. You know, Im working with students, some of them
are performers, others are composers, others are music educators,
musicologists, so its a mixed group of people. Some of them are studying
in jazz, others in classical, so I try to have very different music styles and
pieces. Lets say I am working on unequal beats or unequal measures or
something like that, I will choose music that I like. For me, its important
that I like the music. And, I like a lot of different styles of music, so thats
a good thing. Then, I will ask the students if they also know a piece with
unequal beats or unequal measures, and they will bring it to me. So, we
work with different pieces of music. I remember last time we were
working on unequal beats, some people in the jazz department brought
some music, and there was a woman playing the organ, and she brought a
Messiaen piece so we could look at that. But, we realized that the way we
perceive it the way we can analyze the music was through the same
process. You had to focus on the smallest pulse, and it makes us
understand what it is all about. I think one thing that is important is to
give them some means to analyze the music. But, first, the process has to
do with spontaneity and pleasure of really grasping the music. That is
very important, because if its not there, there is no total engagement from
the person. And I think that is the most important thing you are looking
for. You are looking for people to be really engaged with what you are
doing. If they are not doing that, they cannot really understand what the
music is all about. You have to be engaged. You have to listen, and let
your body be moved by the music to really understand the music. Thats
the first thing. Thats the first step. And, after that, you have the pleasure
of analyzing whats happened. To give them a methodology, in a certain
way, to analyzing the music. And I think, for a conductor, that would be
very important too. Because that will also be an indicator to the conductor
of how they will conduct the piece. What are the most important things, in
terms of movement, that will express the musical intentions? So, that part
of the piece, is it important to show the pulse, or is it important to show
the pulse and indicate an accent at a specific part of the piece? And also,
to know what difficulties are there for the choir, the singers or the
instrumentalists. When they have to enter, or when they have to give
more. You have to anticipate what will happen, and then you can work on
these things technically. But, I think the expressive aspects are very
important, and in working on the expressive aspects, sometimes we can fix
the technical aspects. If we focus too much on the technical aspects, it
becomes boring, and theres no life in what is happening. Its like, its
very nice, its very plastic in some ways, but theres not life. So, I tend to
work on the expressive aspects, the expressive experience. That is the
most important for me, to make the students expressive. And also to
develop their self-confidence. Because I feel sometimes that that is what
is lacking the most. They are not self-confident in their own expressive

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feelings. They are shy in showing the emotional aspect of the music. First,
you have to convince them that they can be expressive and that they have
the skills to do so. When they experience that, they develop their own selfconfidence. In developing their self-confidence they become expressive
and communicative. That would be the main goal you can achieve as a
teacher.
CD:

Thank you, Master-teacher C, for your wonderful insights!

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Conductor A
Conductor A conducts university choirs and teaches undergraduate music education and
conducting. She holds a Bachelors degree in Dalcroze Eurhythmics (equivalent to the Dalcroze
License).
CD:

How did you discover Dalcroze, Conductor A?

Conductor A:

I met Dalcroze, not the person [laughs], at college. Here we call it two
years between secondary school and university, and I had Dalcroze classes
at this moment. It was very new, because the music program wasit was
a new openingit had just arrived at Institution I. And I was a student,
and I had it once or twice a week It was forwe took Dalcroze classes
to replace physical education, ok, you understand? Is that clear? So, I met
Dalcroze at this moment. And I just felt in love with this.this approach.
I was a guitarist at this moment, and I was very, very interested in making
Dalcroze studies during my university. So, I passed some exams, and I
had to switch my instrument from guitar to piano. So I worked a lot on
my piano. It was great for me to have the possibility to study in
eurhythmics at university. So, does it answer your question?

CD:

Yes, and then did you do a degree at Institution I in Dalcroze?

Conductor A:

Yes. I dont remember to what degree it corresponds. I think its not the
highest degree.

CD:

The Diplme is the highest degree.

Conductor A:

Yes, so it corresponds to the License.

CD:

So, Conductor A, I am very interested in how you use Dalcroze in the

choral context.

Conductor A:

I think, first, I have to tell you the conditions of my choir conducting

practice. I know that you ask for it in the little written thing we have to
send to you, but I think, for the interview, it would be better to describe
the conditions. So, I conduct the Faculty Choir since 2005. This choir is
in the music faculty, so the choristers are musicians, but most of them are
pianists, guitarists, lyric singers - classical, drummers, and bass guitar.
Every student in the faculty has to make ensemble music, but they have
the choice, and most of the wind players and string players go in the
orchestra, and its ok. So, in the choir, we receive the rest. They are very
good, but its not their instrument, except the singers, but the singers are
en formation. They just begin to learn how to sing as a real singer, if you
want. The first year, it was really, really hard for me, because they didnt
want to sing in choir. They were told that is breaks their voice and they
cannot sing as they learn in individual lessons. So, it was a little bit hard

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for me during the first two years. Because I have conducted before for
twenty years with the amateur choirs. It was so fantastic everybody
want to sing, everybody is happy to be there, everybody appreciate it so
much to be able to sing in a choir. So, it is really different. As a musician,
I sang in a choir, a semi-professional and professional choir when I was
twenty, thirty, and I know what we can do. I really know what we can do
when we are musician, so petit petit, I bring them to understand this.
This context, you know, the choir is compulsory, its required for those
students, and so my first goal is make them love singing and be happy to
sing. Every year, there are something like forty or fifty new students in
the choir, and there are the same number who go because they obtain their
diploma, or they do something else, so there is a big roulement every year.
So, every year, I have to do this work of flirting, je doisdo you
understand? So, it is hard for me in those conditions. I feel that, even
though I taught eurhythmics for almost 10 years at the university as a
lecturer, and I liked very much to teach this. Even if I did that, its hard
for me to decide to really use eurhythmics as a mean, a moyen, as a
pedagogical approach. So, I use this, but not very much. Ok, so from this
context, I can now answer the questions.
CD:

Well, everybody uses it to a different degree, so part of what I am trying to

figure out is how people use it at all! So, everything is interesting to me.
Lets start with the first question: what are the hallmarks of the Dalcroze
approach?

Conductor A:

The first thing that came to my mind is solfge rhythmique. I would like
to use it in choir, but in my training at university, we didnt receive
solfge, because we were in the biggest program in the faculty, and there
was solfge, so I learned traditional solfge. And, Im very sad, because
sometimes I have done solfge Dalcroze with Dalcroze-teacher J, shes
from France. The first time it was with Dalcroze-teacher J, and Ive
worked also with Dalcroze-teacher K shes in Switzerland, and the last
time I did Dalcroze solfge, it was with Dalcroze-teacher H and Masterteacher B, and I think its a wonderful thing. Really. If I had the time, I
would like to do more for myself first, and then try to introduce it in the
choir rehearsal. So, for me, this is one of the hallmarks of the Dalcroze
approach. The other one is improvisation. This development in Dalcroze
pedagogy is a major characteristic and it distinguished this approach from
other approaches. But, for my part, it is the link between mind and body
that is the most important hallmark for me. In my experience, it is what
I like the best. I really feel it. I feel it, I understand it, I live it its
wonderful for me, this link between the music and the movement, the
body. I think that the philosophy that underscores this concept of the body
is what makes Dalcroze Eurhythmics an exceptional and unique
pedagogical approach, really, for the teaching, to teach music. And,
finally, I think that, from this way to treat the link between music and
body, body movement and music emerge an attitude, a pedagogical

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attitude, very open to the person, to the group, to the dynamic of the
group. The teacher is open to the dynamic of the group, and can lead to
great creativity at the same time in the pedagogical act and in the content
of the course. Creativity in the way we teach music and in the way we
give the message. That we link all of the moments of the rehearsal. All
those years with this in the body, the link between the music and body,
and all the things we did with this, just give me, I feel this, gives me an
openness in my pedagogical approach.
CD:

So, what are you hoping the students will learn, or what do you notice they
are learning when you use the Dalcroze approach?

Conductor A:

You see, this question is difficult to answer for me because I dont use it
very much. I can talk aboutI use it for musicality. I make the students
move a little, or I give them exampleshow could I say this? When I
give my examples in singing or in talking, or with my body, I am a
Dalcroze teacher. Do you understand what I mean? So, they see this, they
hear this, and so, I think, they integrate this, even if I dont always ask
them to do the same as me. Its not as efficient as if I asked them to do the
same, but I think it has something. If I wasnt a Dalcroze teacher, or a
Dalcroze person, I couldnt actI couldnt do like this. If I act that a fool
in front of them, or go completely yah, they see that its possible. And
so, for musicality. Most of the moments this is what I use it for with them
a little bit of Dalcroze. What I didnt tell you also earlier is that they are
eighty-five or a hundred in the choir. Its big. We have a good room to
rehearsal, but its not enough large. The space is not enough large to
allow us to move like I would them.

CD:

What aspects of the Dalcroze approach do you use in the choral

classroom? So, maybe your body gestures are like eurhythmics, sort of?

Conductor A:

Yes, and sometimes I ask themI dont do solfge I explained why,

neither improvisation for the moment, but I would like to integrate it a
little bit more, and not the plastique anime because of the space. Maybe I
would like to work with Master-teacher C once to do something in
plastique anime with a choir, I dont know how, but its a project. So,
eurhythmics, I ask them to clap rhythms in the hands, or tap on the knees,
or draw the phrase with their arms. They cannot move very much because
they are so squeezed, but when I ask them to do this, as a Dalcroze
teacher, I pay very much attention to the movement quality. I ask them to
clap, and if they clap poof, poof, poof [demonstrates unmusically] not
musically, I just tell them, No, no, no. Or when I ask them to speak a
rhythm, I am very, very aware of the sound, of the quality of the
movement as a Dalcroze teacher. Its the best, for the moment, I can do.
But, I am very aware of these. Its really important for me. I think that if
we ask to add gesture to music so the music is better learned, the

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movement has to have a good quality, a very good quality, and to be

linked with the emotion, but also something very libre, free.
CD:

So, you let them do free movement you dont say exactly how to do it
you are just looking for the quality of what they are doing?

Conductor A:

Yes. And if the movement is not enoughwhen I say free, I mean not
collapsed something free, something musical!

CD:

That makes perfect sense! Alright, number 4: When you are working with
choral repertoire, how do you devise Dalcroze experiences for the choir?
So, my question is, do you begin with the repertoire and then create
Dalcroze experiences for them, or do you use Dalcroze to fix problems
you hear?

Conductor A:

Yes. I incorporate Dalcroze techniques in response to the choirs need.

For the moment, thats what I do, yes.

CD:

So, when you are studying a score, before you see them, do you ever
think, oh, I could use this technique to teach this part of the music?

Conductor A:

No, because I dont use it enough often. For the moment, I dont think in
terms of Dalcroze technique. I think maybe I could say that I prepare my
warm-ups with a lot of consciousness, is that right, is that ok to say? I
often prepare my warm-ups in link with the repertoire. This for me is a
moment of creation, or improvisation. And sometimes, when there is a
problem in rehearsal, and I hear some things, even if its rhythmic, or
melodic, or with a quality of the voice, I will think of something, an
exercise, or something, that I will ask them to do. So, its not exactly with
a movement, but all the creativity that I developed during my training
years I incorporate it in the rehearsal, but most of the time in the warm-up
moment. I give 15-20 minutes to the warm-up. I think its really
important. And, they really appreciate it. I know because they have to
write at the end of the semester, they have to write an evaluation, and most
of the students write that they are very happy with the warm-up, and they
feelthey see the link they see and they feel the link between the warmup and the repertoire, and they appreciate it very much. So, I could say,
that in this way, in this way I use a little bit of Dalcroze.

CD:

So, that leads us to number five, for what purpose are you using Dalcroze
in the rehearsal context?

Conductor A:

For musicality. And expressivity. Those are parameters I try to develop

with Dalcroze techniques.

CD:

Do you ever teach vocal technique or diction through Dalcroze

techniques?

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Conductor A:

Yes, thats what I said, thats what I do in the warm-up. I think its the
moment when I use the most body and movement, during the warm-up
and during the vocal technique. And diction, I create some exercises,
funny exercises, and I know that all I did in improvisation during my
training years just inspire me, and gives me the freeness and audace,
audacity, confidence to try many things. And, they collaborate!

CD:

So, you model freeness and willingness to be creative and the students
respond by also being collaborative and willing to create?

Conductor A:

Yes, yes. To create, to explore. As an example, I do a, I dont remember

how to say this in English, but I will do this kind of trrrr [tongue trill up
and down]. And I give the example, and its really free, and they just
follow. They are not shy. I think it helps very much to free the voice and
to make them happy and, Oh yes, you can do this go ahead!

CD:

Do you notice a difference in their ability to work together as a choir?

Conductor A:

I think so. I think so. But, we can never be sure of this. We can never be
sure of this, instead, we put them in a lab. There is a very, very good link
between them musical and a very good energy. They write this in their
auto-evaluation. They like to sing with other people, and its a wonderful
moment for them. It was not like this when I began. I was probably
freezed by the situation!

CD:

So, really, the Dalcroze experience that you have as a Dalcroze teacher
and in your training has had a big impact on your choirs?

Conductor A:

Sure, Im sure of this. Im sure of this.

CD:

Ok, well number 6. At what point in the learning sequence do you

incorporate Dalcroze?

Conductor A:

Rhythmic problems, or expressive when I want them to be more

expressive. I remember one day we were singing Baroque repertoire and
there were a lot of hemiole. And, they didnt feel them at all. The text,
the words, were written with the tonic accents and the hemiolas, but they
couldnt do this, so I make them move it this time, and it was incredible!
The week after, they came back, and we sang again this part and it was
[sticks tongue out and makes a noise], and I said, Dont you remember
what we did last week? They looked at me and I said, I made you
move, remember? So, I told them, If you are not able to sing with those
tonic accents, I will make you dance this week! So, they could do this I
think they were afraid. They didnt want to dance the boys.

CD:

But, then they remembered what they had done?

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Conductor A:

Yes! I just had to show them a little bit what we did, and, Oh yes, yes!
and they laughed, and I told them, If you are not able to sing, we will
dance! So they sang, correctly. So, I think its interesting, because I
think it was embodied. It was embodied.

CD:

What about if they have pitch problems?

Conductor A:

At this moment, I think I use more Eutonie principles. I bring them more
in their bodies. But, its a very good question because I am very interested
with those intonation problems. And I think Im not alone. For the
moment, Ive found some ways to get the body movement, or the body
consciousness just tell themthe terminology isto be more in their
bodies to sing with their bodies. To be conscious of their feet on the
floor, and the energy that comes from the floor. I make them swing a little
bit. Sometimes they are sitting, and I just remember how they have to be
sitting so this part [torso] of the body is in good posture. I work more on
the posture in those moments, because I cannot make them move very
much. But, with movement, I make them do this kind of thing, ah-------
[modulates pitch up and down and shakes body and torso], just to free the
voice. And after, it helps. But I would be very interested I know Im
not the first one I know there are lot of musicians and conductors and
music educators that are obsessed by this problem. And I think it would
be very interesting to see how Dalcroze, Eutonie, and Alexander could
help to make the voice more accurate. I think its really possible, but the
factors are various. It can be something with the body, it can be the
audiation, it can be something in the link between the audiation and the
vocalit can be psychologique often it is psychologique. And so, Im
really interested in this question of accuracy of the voice. And, I think that
some Dalcroze techniques, those which implicate the body, the movement
of the body, and the link between the sound we want to make with the
movement as I do in the warm-up. Do you know, you surely know,
Conductor G? He does this exercise, Whoo! [descends from top to
bottom of vocal range and raises extended arms upwards simultaneously]
to lancer, to throw the sound. And then, with the other handat the
beginning you throw the sound with the head-voice [demonstrates], and
then, to keep the head-voice when you go down, you use the other hand to
stay the sound, and its fantastic. And, it is really the link between the
body movement and the sound.

CD:

And, number 7. How would you describe the learning dynamic in your
classroom when Dalcroze approaches are being employed, or as a result of
incorporating Dalcroze approaches?

Conductor A:

I wrote something in English for this! When I try to make the students
move most of the time I make the students to move before and during
the vocal warm-up, and after two or three weeks, they really enter the

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game. Except for three or four of them most of the time they are boys. I
cannot understand, I cannot understand, what the boys like so much - is to
jump! I make them at the beginning, just those little rebounds
[demonstrates], and the once, I think it was two years ago, I really began
to make them jump. And they just love it. The boys - they love it, and
they want to jump higher, and highest its really fun. So, it is for the
beginning of the rehearsal, and for the first and second week, they are,
Whats that, whats that?, We move ugh! But, then, they enter the
game. But, during the rehearsal, when we work on the repertoire, when
we really are in the music practice, when we practice music, we must
concentrate, guitarists, pianists [makes exaggerated concentrated face], but
during the rehearsal, when we work on the repertoire, from the moment
the students move, even if it is very small, and I ask them to move
expressively, they become more excited, and its harder to keep their
attention. They become less focused, and they look at him and they Ha
ha ha, and they laugh. So, its really hard to keep their attention at this
moment. But, I think I could make them move more often, as I do at the
beginning of the rehearsal with very simple exercises. Simple exercises,
simple movements. Not too expressive something near the sport, do you
understand what I mean? More sport than dance, and really I could do
that more often, so they become used to move and express the music with
their bodies. It could be interesting I just wrote this a few minutes ago
before you skyped me, I thought that it could be interesting to make a
research project with this, and instead of focusing most exclusively on the
final product the concert, we could, for one year, as example, give time
to integrate systematically Dalcroze approaches, eurhythmics for example,
and try to find some exercises that could be done in this space. So, I tell
them this, ah, maybe it could be interesting, and maybe just once we could
go to a big gymnasium we have a big sportits incredible maybe we
could go there once and just try something morejust eurhythmics, and
movingIm thinking of this.
CD:

So, do you think the performance aspect of being in a choir gets in the way
of doing eurhythmics?

Conductor A:

I dont think, no. No, as I said before, they arrive there are maybe thirty
or forty of them that sang in the choir before, and there are forty-fifty new
choristers young, they come from college and they arrive to university,
and they have to sing Ahhhhh! [frightened sound]. And I have a lot of
people most of the boys we have two programs, one in classical and
one in jazz/pop, and those from jazz/pop would like to sing in the vocal
jazz ensemble, but they cannot all do this because those are small groups,
so all the ones that werent chosen for vocal jazz come to the choir. I
think you can imagine the situation? Young, twentyand, I love them, it
has nothing to do with my love for them, but I have to understand and to
take them where they are, and eventually bring them where I would like
them. So, I dont know if that is the concert. But, its sure that we have to

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make a concert. It has to be great. The greater as it can. And, its sure
that Im a little bit afraid that if I begin to incorporate more Dalcroze
techniques during the rehearsals that I will lose time. I know that its not
lost time for the goal. Its the reason why I would like to suggest it in a
research context. So, everybody know its a research context, and we will
give at the end of the year what we have done, and you understand me?
Im almost sure that if I would begin to incorporate Dalcroze techniques in
the rehearsal, after two, three years, it could become a great thing. But,
during the first years, myself, I have to check, Im not sure. You
understand? Im not sure how they will reactI must have the confidence
to try this with them, and accept it could be a disaster. Or, that it wont
work because they are eight-five to a hundred, and maybe it will not work!
Because we dont have enough space, because, you know, all those
things Because I remember, when I was teaching eurhythmics when I
was a lecturer between 1980 and 1992, ah They had one semester of
Dalcroze Eurhythmics, something like 3 months, and I exactly remember
how I had to be very rooted to my croyants, my faith, my beliefs. Because
it tookevery semester I had new students, and it took around one month
and half to two months before they become a little more open. And, oh!
Its not won, w-o-n, its not winner from the beginning. So at a moment,
they are ok, this is it, and finally, during the last two weeks, they do
something like a plastique anime, or an exam, oh, they are so happy Oh, it was wonderful, Conductor A bravo, bravo!, and they leave, and
new people come. Thats hard, but I became used to this, and I knew that
if I go in with this orientation, this direction, it will be ok. I knew that,
after two months, most of them will be happy. I taught this so many,
many times. So, during the last five years, it was not hard for me. It was
not always pleasant, but if I want to incorporate this in the choir rehearsal,
they come there to sing, they are, at the beginning A lot of them dont
really want to sing, you know? Its not the same milieu as in Anglo-Saxon
societies choral singing is much more developed. We are distinct in
many points, and this is one point. This is the one that I dont like at all.
So, I have first to, as I said that at the beginning, I have first to make them
confident with their voice, to make them have pleasure to sing, and very
slowly I can incorporate movement or Dalcroze techniques, you
understand?
CD:

I do.

Conductor A:

So, you asked me if the concert was in the way? Its not really in the way.
This is not the biggest thing in the way.

CD:

Ok. We have two more questions, Conductor A. So, number 8, how has
your inclusion of Dalcroze techniques changed your view of your role as
conductor?

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Conductor A:

This question is also difficult for me to answer this question, but I have a
similar answer for number 9. I think its really in my role as a choir
conductor. Its in my role as interpreter that the Dalcroze person that I am
reveals the fundamental principles of Dalcroze. The skills I integrated in
my training appear very clearly when I study the score, for example.
Because I move when I study the score. Sometimes internally, but often, I
move. I move the score, yes, at the beginning of the study.

CD:

What are you moving, the rhythm, the harmonic changes, or the text?

Conductor A:

I move the music [laughs]! I move the phrases, I move the metric, but not
in conducting 2, or 3, or 4, I move the pulse, I move the dynamics,
probably the harmonies changing, but I dont do that consciously. Its
instinctive. I cannot be still when I look at a score. If I have to conduct
the score, if I look at it and I have to conduct it, and those principles, we
can see - anybody can see those principles in my conducting gestures. I
just love to conduct.

CD:

What do they see, Conductor A?

Conductor A:

Most of the time what people say, often if they are not musicians, they
say, Its fantastic, I can see the music. She is the music. And, the
musicians tell me that my conducting is so precise. Yes, precise.

CD:

And, when you move the score at the beginning, does that help you make
decisions about what you want the music to sound like?

Conductor A:

Sure. Sure, it leads me. It inspires me. I take notes. The principles that I
recognize during this kind work is the principle of the body as an
instrument. The basis of musical art is human motion. Human emotion,
sorry. Human emotion, which could be translated through human
movement. Musical ideas can be translated by the body. And, any body
movement also can be expressed musically. So, it is always the journey,
in the music, in the body, in the music and the body. And, when I
conduct, it is exactly what I feel. I just love it. I think its the reason why
I need that my choirs really sing with all the person, with all the body,
with all the love also. I need it to be able to conduct. So, I ask for it, you
understand. I need it. If I dont have this, I cannot conduct. Im not
there! Im not connected! Its interesting. Im very happy to make this
interview with you. So, this is one of the principles. The second one is
the development of sense rhythmique kinesthetic sense. I think that
Dalcroze was absolutely visionary with this sense rhythmique. He named
this, it was not known at this moment, and finally, it is the kinesthetic
sense. This word didnt exist at this moment. And he discovered it. He
named it. And now we are talking about the kinesthetic sense. So, I think
its one of the principles to develop the kinesthetic sense, the internal
audiation also. He talked a lot about this, and when I move the score,

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thats what I am doing. When I study the score, its internal audiation that
I just transfer in movement. I think the internal audiation that Dalcroze
talked of is near Gordons audiation. Its really near Gordons audiation.
And, finally automatisms. Those are three parameters to develop, and as a
conductor, we really have to develop this. So, kinesthetic sense, internal
audiation, and automatism all three
CD:

What do you mean about automatism for conductors?

Conductor A:

Do you know the principles of automatism? You have to develop some

physical reactions, some movements, that are automatic. So, the
conducting pattern had to be automatic if you want to work with
expression and the phrase, so it should be That is one example, but
there are a lot of examples of automatisms to develop as a conductor?

CD:

Do you teach conducting, Conductor A?

Conductor A:

Yes I do.

CD:

And, do you use Dalcroze with that group as well?

Conductor A:

Not yet, but I will. I want to do this, but how can I say? I didnt take
time. I have so many things to do that I didnt take time. I do some. They
dont know I am doing it maybe, but I know that I do. But, I would like to
be more systematic. You know, I was really, really involved in Dalcroze
when I was teaching it at University, when I was a lecturer, but at the
beginning of the 90s, they just cut the people who were notit was hard.
So, I just stopped to teach eurhythmics. I tried to teach with children, and
to make up some groups, and it didnt happen. So, I concentrate much
more on conducting. I think maybe it is the reason I just took this training
for me as a conductor. For ten or fifteen years I conduct choirs, and I
couldnt do any Dalcroze. It was done. For certainly ten years, I just
thought, formidable Dalcroze, thank-you, I have been trained, and I can
use it in my life, whatever I do. But I will never come back to this.

CD:

But it always is there!

Conductor A:

Sure, sure. The third principle is time, space, energy I think its a key
concept. As a musician, I think that in musical interpretation, there is
nothing stronger than conducting to explore, to convey this key concept. I
talk about this to my conducting students often. Its so evident.

CD:

I learned a lot from you thank you so much!!

Conductor A:

I was not so sure that it wasbecause I was so away from Dalcroze

Eurhythmics, all the philosophybut, its living in me. So, Im happy if I
could help you, or be utile for your research.

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Conductor B
Conductor B conducts university choirs and teaches undergraduate-level music education and
conducting. She holds a Dalcroze certificate.
CD:

How did you discover Dalcroze?

Conductor B:

I heard that there was a eurhythmics class at Institution L, by Dalcroze

Teacher L, and somebody had taken it and said it was life-changing. And
I said, Ok! So, that means Ive only been doing thisahthirteen
years. So, that was my first experience with it, and yah, it was lifechanging.

CD:

And how did you proceed with your training?

Conductor B:

So then I took that course, yah, it was a course, and I then went and I saw
Dalcroze Teacher I do some workshops, and I think at that point, yes I
took the course, went to two workshops, and then I went on to Institution
L and spent the three weeks at Institution L, and I knew I wanted to pursue
certification, but I didnt want to complete it there, and Dalcroze Teacher
L had said, You want to go to Institution L. I skipped a summer, and
then I went to Institution L two summers after I went to Institution L.

CD:

And you did your certificate there?

Conductor B:

Right.

CD:

Could you describe your current choral context?

Conductor B:

Ok, so this is officially my first year as the Womens Chorus Director.

And I alsoIm not teaching conducting this semester, but I will be
teaching choral methods as I have the past several years. But the
Womens Chorus, Ive already done some Dalcroze work with them. So,
Im already using it, and its successful!

CD:

And, how often do they rehearse? How big of a group are they?

Conductor B:

Its a group of thirty. They meet twice a week for an hour each, so two
hours per week. I worked with this group once on a sabbatical. And then
I worked with Chamber Singers, that was two years ago. Thats kind of
the top group that was also a sabbatical replacement. And I did some
eurhythmics work with them as well. And before that, I taught middle
school and high school choir for nine years. Ive taught community choir.
Ive taught church choir. Ive done Childrens Honor Choirs. You know,
Ive done choir stuff for the past thirty years.

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CD:

In your view, what are the hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach to music
education?

Conductor B:

I believe this approach is a unique way for peoplemy input is from a

student standpoint, so, you know, Im not thinking about it from a clinical,
or even a dancing, or atheatrical, because obviously mine is the musiced and the K-12 studentsbut what Im looking at is a unique way to
connect and understand music. Because the body is the instrument, and
therefore, people are learning music so kinesthetically that its not just like
a piano player whose fingers are touching, its the entire body. So, that
way of understanding it, really becoming the music no other
methodology does that. And also, it really, really helps focus
concentration, attentionits about detail, its about nuance. To me the
most important thing is the musicality and expression that it reallyit
calls for it, and it just happens if you are attending to the music to that
degree. It makes you hear it and understand it in a way that is just unique.
And there are lots of things, like plastique, where you are working in a
group situation, that sense of ensemble, which you get in performing
ensembles, but again, its truly unique. And, its not dance, so it allows
people to use their bodies in a way that they didnt think they could do
before, cause theyll say, Im not a dancer. Well, its not about dance,
its about your body connecting to the music. And also, from a purely
rhythmic standpoint, it leads to rhythmic integrity, and it leads to rhythmic
nuance, so once you can keep a steady beat, you can go on and use rubato,
and things that make a piece of music much more musical.

CD:

What are your teaching goals when you incorporate the Dalcroze
approach, and/or what have you observed as the learning outcomes?

Conductor B:

My main goal is to find the most aesthetically expressive way for people
to make music. So for me, all those things that go into it, the phrasing,
dynamics, articulation, that again, it tends to it. It goes beyond where I
think in the choral room, especially middle-schoolers and high-schoolers
high-schoolers are so worried about, Ive just got to sing the right notes
with the right rhythm, and then, if were lucky, we get to work on blend,
and then, that last part, that expression, we do, you know, work on, but it
takes it to another level that it becomes more of the This is what has to
happen, as opposed to Gosh, were lucky if we get to that point. It
becomes more natural, so that expression to me, thats really the most
important part of it. But, also with that, confidence comes into gear, that it
really becomes a whole nother way for the student to look at the music.
Theyre going, Oh, my body gets to participate this as well as my voice,
and sometimes that can make for more confidence. The reading skills, and
its funny that lots of times we dont usually think of Dalcroze doing much
with reading because of all the eurhythmics stuff, when in fact, theres so
much to do with solfge, and I think in the choral classroom, we need to
focus and sell this and let people know that theres so much more to do

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with that. So obviously its going to help with reading. But, for me, the
most important thing is the expression, the aesthetic outcome.
CD:

Its funny that you say that, because I think we often do expression last,
when really, in a Dalcroze experience, expression comes first.

Conductor B:

Right, and to me thats life-changing. Its like ah! Its changed the whole
way I think about music and thats what I want my students to do, to go
Wow! I can be more expressive. That attention again to detail, to
nuance theres so much to do when you use your whole body and when
youre hearing a different way.

CD:

So, Ill ask you what different aspects of the approach do you use you
mentioned eurhythmics and solfge. Do you also use improvisation and
plastique and how do you use these and when?

Conductor B:

The solfge has typically taken place in the warm-up, as far as a way to
increase reading and just to increase the ear-training connection. Soin
other words, using a tone-row, having them read it and move their bodies
so the body is following the scale. Altering that tone row, using
augmentation, diminution, retrograde, so it becomes a sight-singing tool is
really what it does. Then taking an extract from a piece of music, and
doing the same thing. So they really, instead of just singing the pitches, or
even singing them on solfge, they are actually moving to them. So, to
me, the way I use it was, yah, in a warm-up for sight-reading purposes, or
to pull out a section of a piece of music. Eurhythmics, use lots of
focus/concentration exercises at the beginning, and then rhythmic reading
all the time is done with the body. I almost completelyI shouldnt say
completelybut I do very little clapping. Now everything is using full
body or some different way besides clapping. So, theyre reading actual
music their choral music. Theyre multi-leveling where they might be
patting the bass part, and they might be walking their melodic rhythm of
the alto part. So, theyre multi-tasking, theyre aware of other parts going
on And then lots of just eurhythmic warm-up exercises to get them in a
rhythmic mode, to get them really to be attuned to rhythmic accuracy, so
lots and lots of just warm-ups. And, again, then bringing it back to the
piece. Um, the plastique anime, Ive done a little bit within the choral
classroom, but now that thats really my area of research, I see tons and
tons of things And the way to do it is to take a piece that they are
working on, and find a recording of it, and let them discover the different
musical elements that are in there and bring them to life. So, like I said,
Ive done a little bit of it already, but now, going around and talking about
it and doing it in workshops, and then, when I start my womens chorus in
the fall, I really do plan on seeing how that will all happen. To me, thats
the culminating experience. And, then, for them to have the opportunity
to sing it after theyve moved to it, you know, again recognizing the

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articulation and the dynamics having shown it in their bodies Thats a

totally different experience.
CD:

So, Conductor B, go back to not clapping for a momentis that just

because you dont feel enough of the body is involved with clapping?

Conductor B:

Right. I feel that they just own it, own it much, much better if they are
using their whole bodies. So, if theyre walking in space And thats not
just from me, Dalcroze was the one who said that walking was much
more, whats the word? It made the learning work much better, but just
because it also frees people up. Clapping is safe, and thats the other nonmusical outcome too is that the risk-taking. First of all, you have to
encourage it and be supportive, but boy, once they start doing it, the more
confident they feel, and the more they can do, so, it kind of takes people
out of their comfort zone a little bit, and its also creative, so its like,
Show me another way to do that, show me another way to do that
rhythm, and you just keep asking them for different ways and you start to
get some real creative things. So, the risk-taking and creativity that can
come out of this is much much much morevaried. I think sometimes
choral music can be, you know, were teaching notes, or the teacher plays
it on the piano and they sing it back, and wheres the creativity in that?
There isnt any, and then obviously where is the music reading? It isnt
there. This just opens up many, many more ways for them to understand
it.

CD:

And improvisation, do you use that at all?

Conductor B:

As far as my own piano improvisation?

CD:

It could be that, or singer improvisation as well

Conductor B:

Yah, singer improvisation I just started to do a little bit, in fact, Dalcrozeteacher M has given me some really, really cool ideas that Im going to
use this summer, and in fact, the first safe way I would do it is just
rhythmic improvisation, where theyre not actually doing anything
melodically, but theyre just scatting rhythms. Then, start to let them,
you know, where they are actually doing some melodic improvisation. So,
I see that as kind of the steps, the progress, to make that happen. I think,
in the choral ensemble, its tricky because obviously its difficult to have
everybody doing it at the same time and have it sound like anything, so
its not pandemonium. So, I have to keep experimenting with that, but I
know Im going to start with the rhythmic improv, then find some way,
once Ive set up that students feel safe, I can get them to do it in either
small groups or solos. But to have 70 people do it at the same time is a
little crazy. Piano improv I do all the time, and it frees up the choices of
what you can ask them to do because you are not just confined to a
recording or even a piano piece that you are playing.

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CD:

And do you always use plastique or an experience with a recording at the

end of the process? Have you ever started with a recording and free
movement of a piece that they are about to sing?

Conductor B:

Well, I can see doing it all three ways, and in fact, with the same piece,
that is actually kind of exciting, is to let them, yah, first hear it, theyve
never practiced the song, and dont know the piece at all, and they get to
listen to it, and they get to start of move and pull out certain things. Then,
after theyve kind of started to learn it, that they have more attention to,
you know, specific parts, there will be a different level of understanding,
and then, of course, at the end, when they really know the piece, that can
be a very wonderful culminating experience, but its more about the
process rather than the product. So, to me, almost the first step, to do it at
the beginning is more exciting.

CD:

Yes, yes, well Im thinking about that idea in relationship to conductor

score study, and to try to get to the idea of how to give conductors an
experience of the music before they look at the score because so much of
what we do is so cognitive, you know? What would it be like if
conductors did movement as their first form of analysis of music?

Conductor B:

Wow, thats very exciting. That, to me, is a whole turning it upside-down,

but living it first. That really makes your ear work so much more than our
eyes just looking at it on the page. And Im such a looking at the page
kind of person, I think a lot of people of a certain age, well, even at
thatthats just how we did it. Its turning things, going let your ear
decide what your body is going to do. And then your eye can look at it
afterwards. I think thats a much more intriguing approach.

CD:

Its funny how much we want conductors to be responsive, spontaneous,

expressive - sort of eurhythmicians, but they arent trained necessarily to
do that

Conductor B:

Youre right, absolutely not! Its very frustrating. You know, Ive been
teaching conducting for a long time, and fortunately the choral guy and
IIm a choral person now too, both have the Dalcroze. Our conducting
class is, I would say, 60% eurhythmics.

CD:

Wow, I need to come see that!! So, my fourth question then, is about how
you incorporate Dalcroze, then. Do you devise the Dalcroze experiences
at the start, or do you devise them in response to what you hear, or are you
running some type of concurrent Dalcroze curriculum to the repertoire
curriculum?

Conductor B:

I would say Ive been doing Dalcroze as warm-up activities just for the
sake of them being more rhythmically responsible and being more

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expressive. Then, Im taking - and Im pretty planning for the most part experiences from the piece of music. So, if Im working on phrasing that
day, Im going to give them an exercise, first of all that, just perhaps a
general phrasing rhythmic exercise, and then connect it to that piece of
music. So, Im pulling stuff out of the music. So, as far as reacting toif
I hear them really mess up and Im going, is there something I can do with
them that eurhythmics-based that might fix it? Id like to say I do that a
lot - that would be a wonderfulthat would mean I was totally engrossed
in it I havent done that as much. Im a real planner. Im always
looking ahead to think, how would I solve that problem? Or, if I see an
interval that the altos keep missing, and know that they keep missing it,
Ill say, Ok, we are going to physically move to that tri-tone. Look at the
floor and find out how far apart that is. Or, if theres a dissonant part,
Push the shoulder of the person next to you. I tend to pre-plan, as
opposed to reacting in the moment. But I like to get to the point where I
do that more.
CD:

And, how do you choose? Lets say you are looking at the score for the
first time, youre thinking about what you might offer to the choir in terms
of experience, how do you choose? Is it what you think the piece is asking
us to bring out, or is it training the choir because you know they have
difficulty with phrasing, because you know they have difficulty with
phrasing?

Conductor B:

Well, its probably a little bit of both. But, Im at the point now where Ill
try to go through every elements ofall the phrasing Ill go through, all
the dynamics Ill go through, all the harmonic structures, and for each day,
or each week. Ill go, ok, this week, Im going to work on that. So, really
is looking at almost all of the elements. Thats the point that I started to
get to with the last choir I was with, and thats the approach I am going to
have. So, the Dalcroze is just totally embedded, but I found the issue is,
and everyone is going to run across this, that its not a normal, and that
makes it sound negative, this is not a normal choral experience. So like
my college kids were going, What are you doing? Cant we just sing it?
So, it takes a while. Im like, No, you dont understand - this will make
you love this more, and youll love this! But it took a while to get to that
point. And those kids had had me for eurhythmics, so actually I think they
jumped on board sooner. So, Im really excited to have a choir for a long
time now that I have all of this experience, but I know its going to take a
while. You cant just go in and completely, unless, you know, it was a
brand new choir of people that had never experienced choir before, and
that will never happen. Yah, I think the whole integration thing is very
important as far as how do we do this, because we dont want to scare
them off and make it super uncomfortable. Itll be a little uncomfortable,
and thats ok, not super uncomfortable.

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CD:

So, youre saying that over the course of the year, you want to be sure that
youve touched on movement and experiences in respect to harmony and
melody and all the different aspects of music?

Conductor B:

Right. I do, I do. I dont want it just to be about rhythm. Thats where
Dalcroze lends itself most obviously but the expression part of it, and just
the melodic readingI think there are some things we can do to make that
much more meaningful.

CD:

So, that brings us to the fifth question. Do you use Dalcroze to teach
vocal technique, or diction, or any of the other things on the list there?

Conductor B:

You know, the vocal technique part of it is probably again in the warm-up
situation. If I want an open sound, they are physically going to move their
arms in some way, and thats a pretty common choral technique anyway,
so I guess I dont think of that as being Dalcroze except they are moving
their body. If theyre just trying to do a siren and theyre taking their arm
up and over, so that to me is using your body, but I dont think about that
as necessarily Dalcroze. Above and beyond that, I use it a lot in a vocal
training kind of way. And, Im not really using it for diction except to
dolike for endings of words, like words that end in t, is for them to
make a little flick with their fingers to use some kind of little hand
motion for that diction. Thats probably all Ive really done with diction.
Musical style, I try to do a lot with it as far as just finding a way to
represent what they think stylistically this is. So, if its a jazz piece, I
might use a whole different piece of music and let them move to that
recording, and talk about, is that a swing rhythm, and how can we show
that with our body? So, yah, musical style, I definitely approach. And
then, the musicianship skills, I always think of that as all the elements and
all of the expression thats really what I spend the most time on is b).
Ensemble skills is letting them dowell there are a couple of things.
Making them aware of the other part, so they are again, tapping or walking
somebody elses part. That to me is a real big part of it realizing what
the other groups are doing. So, I do a lot with that. And then, just various
small groups, whether it be kind of an icebreaker, I dont want to say
icebreaker, but its a movement icebreaker, so they get to work with
each other. Thats kind of how I view that. Thats how I would work on
ensemble skills.

CD:

Do you change the formation of your choir or use the space while you are
rehearsing?

Conductor B:

I change a lot. Now, I had a director who changed for every piece I
dont go that crazy. But I do thinkthat to me is kind of Dalcrozian, that
they have to be aware of their space, theyll hear things differently, so to
move them around, even just when theyre singing another piece, is really
important, so I do like that. And again, as far as teaching the following,

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just as far as music reading I guess it kind of fits in musicianship skills,

is making sure that there is some type of sight-singing, and that theyre not
just sight-singing, but that they are doing something physical to it.
CD:

At what point in the learning sequence do you incorporate Dalcroze

approaches?

Conductor B:

Ok, theres a couple things about this. First of all, the fact that, if youre
starting off with a choir, like a new job, its gotta be pretty gradual,
because its going to be a new thing for them. And to me, the best way is
to start with focus and attention [exercises], because theyre usually kind
of fun. They go, Ok, Ill buy into that. You havent messed with the
music part of it. So, that part of the learning sequence, lots of times just
getting their focus and attention at the beginning of rehearsal. But then it
just needs to be embedded in the whole sequence. So, if youre even
trying to teach even a particular measure of music, the way that you do it
is through some kind of movement, that theyre moving to it as opposed to
just cognitively analyzing it. So, its embedded it just becomes part of it
but, its gradual and it depends how long you have had those choirs and
students. If youve had them for four years, it will look totally different at
the end of that four years than it did at the beginning. They just kind of
have to get it, and they have to feel comfortable, and yah, feel like theyre
in a safe place. And of course the space that always is an issue too
how they deal with the space. You have to get creative with that. There
are so many people that put these walls in front of it anyway. But it really
needs to beto me, it should be the first part of the learning sequence.
The first time they are learning a melodic line, a rhythmic line thats the
first thing you do is something Dalcroze with it.

CD:

How would you describe the learning dynamics in your class when
Dalcroze approaches are being employed, or as a result of employing
Dalcroze approaches?

Conductor B:

Ok, I think students become extremely engaged. Once you get past the
This is weird, Im scared, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah Once
youre really doing it, and its been part of the curriculum, and its really
happening, its a very invigorating, engaging, energizing Um, its a
whole different way Its not you be the teacher and them being passive.
They are more actively engaged. Theyre making themselves learn it, you
are not just spoon-feeding them notes. Youre not spoon-feeding them
rhythms. Youre not spoon-feeding themeven the cognitive - if you
have a difficult rhythm and asking them mathematically to figure it out
they dont own that. Most of them time, they dont own that until their
body has its ownand theres real learning going on. The engaging,
energizing, the active Its a whole different ball game. And, for
students who have a hard time paying attention, have a hard time being
engaged You now my students, if Im working with the altos, Im

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asking the tenors, You should be tapping the beat, or tapping their
rhythm Its really a way to get them much, much more engaged in the
rehearsal rather than losing time. To methe more I do it, the more I am
finding so many more positives with using it.
CD:

You used the word own, and earlier, the word confidence. Does that
manifest itself in other non-musical ways as well?

Conductor B:

Absolutely. The students feel better about the fact that they remembered
the music better thats the best way to say it. When they come back to
rehearsal next time, they go, ok, I own that piece of music because I
physically did something to it, so its set in their bodies. And therefore,
they are more excited about it, they feel more confident about it, theyre
willing to try things that maybe before they thought was too difficult
were too difficult. It enables you to push the choir farther because theyre
able to do what you ask them, and they retain it, because they know it in a
different way. They know it besides cognitive, and they know it even
besides aural, because they know it kinesthetically.

CD:

I think a lot about the word imagination and trying to grow the
imagination of the choir.

Conductor B:

Right, so therefore they have their own picture in their head as to what the
music sounds like and whats the overallwhether it be the overall form
of it, or what the melody means to them. Yah, it is very imaginative
creative. Where else do students in a day get to use that part of their
brain?

CD:

Yes. Agreed. Now, this relates to your own experience. How has the
inclusion of the Dalcroze approach influenced your view of your role as
conductor?

Conductor B:

Wow. Huge, huge. Im much less mechanical. Much more expressive.

You know, patterns are important It depends on the age of the students
too, and their ability, but, I can take more risks with my own conducting,
and I can let my conducting gesture be more pictorial. And Im not like
really crazy conductor where theres no pattern and you have no idea what
Im doing, but its freed me up to be more holistic. I was always a rulefollower, you know, in the box, wheres my 4-pattern? And I think that it
enables me to take some risks. Its made me, I think, be much more
rhythmically accurate, and be able to show affective nuances, where I feel
really comfortable with that. Um, and I also feel like its not so much me
being the sole person making the music happen, where now have weve
got this relationship. They can probably do it almost without me. Ive
done a little bit of research on thatwhere, you know, youve worked on
this piece of music, and then they can do it without you. So, sometimes, I
think that that is the best way of looking at it they dont even need us to

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be the conductor, except maybe to start them, and not necessarily even to
end them. So, its really changed just what I think is the absolute, the
textbook, Now, this is how you do the patterns, and, You better not
turn your wrist a certain way Its taken me out of the box a little bit.
Some people would look at me and say, Youre still pretty in the box,
but not nearly as much as I was.
CD:

And in terms of a power differential between you and the students, how do
you think about that through a Dalcroze lens?

Conductor B:

Yah, its totally changed. Totally changed. Because theres a new

comfort level. First of all, we are all just trying to get engaged into this
music. And, theyll see me moving to music just like they are, and they
see us all kind of as equals with the music. Because their body is making
connections to the music if they are listening to a recording, or if they are
singing it and they are reacting to it in a certain way, they got to make a
decision about how they move their body the conductor didnt. So, it
gives them a feeling of empowerment, almost. And, then again, there is
more buy-in. That whole thing well, Gosh, I just need to follow the
leader. I dont think thats necessarily the mindset. Im working with
older people at the point. Im not working with a sixth-grader, and Im not
sure how that would translate as much.

CD:

I just finished four years at a Choir School where I taught Grade 5 and 6
boys, and I was just amazed how much they took ownership of things
themselves. I mean, they still needed structure and leadership from me,
but even with younger students, I was pretty amazed how much ownership
and leadership musically they were able to take on.

Conductor B:

Thats so exciting, that really is. There are many people that go into our
field because they kind of like that power thing that happens with the
podium, but let me tell you, thats really not what its supposed to be
about. But thats a big philosophical debate! They do have the ability to
make some pretty good decisions and have some thoughts about things.

CD:

Two more questions. Number 9, how has your personal study of Dalcroze
informed your conducting work in terms of your personal score study,
gesture, and rehearsal techniques?

Conductor B:

Well, score study, Ive always been pretty good at looking for every single
detail. But, when I look at it, I am immediately thinking, how can I get
them to do it? How can I teach that concept? So, its a more invigorating,
exciting way. I always like to do it anyway, but now its more fun. Its
creative for me, so its going to keep me obviously wanting to do my job.
As far as the conducting gesture, again, I am always asking, Whats
another way I can do this to show them?, but more importantly, its the
teaching technique of How are they going to be able to feel it anyway?

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So, if I wasnt there, they could still do it anyways. So, theyre all kind of
connected, but to me it all goes to what teaching technique, what exercise
can I pull that will help them to really own that music? Thats the most
important part of it.
CD:

So, in conjunction to number four, what are you looking for when you
choose repertoire? Are you also working from the stance of what it might
bring experientially to the choir?

Conductor B:

Yah, well I think theres some standard repertoire that depending on the
age level and the experience level, they should know. But usually within
those, because they are standards and the ones that you hear, theres meat
in them, theres something important. So, you look at the piece and go,
what is it that the students will learn from it, and what will they be able to
experience? Whats the other stuff? And, its usually, its something
thats rhythmically challenging for them, so I tend to look for that, and I
tend to look for what is expressive. I mean, Im just a real sucker for
something thats got gorgeous melody lines and beautiful phrasing and
expressive dynamics. So, its kind of altered how I pick music a little bit.
And then I worry about my agenda thats so much power! Which is
kind of scary if thats the only piece they get to learn the pieces I pick
out. So, yah, looking for things that can teach them something and it will
be musical. I just dont want things that are repetitive or boring and
theres nothing interesting happening. Even if its for a younger group. I
get bored really easily with certain pieces of music Im like, Im not
doing that, its stupid and too repetitive. So, yah, it has altered how I pick
out repertoire.

CD:

Well, great! Ill just finish up asking, is there anything you would like to
add regarding the use of Dalcroze in the choral context?

Conductor B:

Only to say that whatever the barriers that people have, and typically its
space, to think outside the box and get creative, because Ive been in every
kind of space situation imaginable like a locker room, you know, Ive been
in a hallway. Ive been in very small spaces. Ive been in spaces with
tiers. And that there are ways to work around it you have to be creative.
You have to just be dedicated and fully believe that what you are doing
makes a difference. And, you have to do it over time. And you have to be
able to take some risks that students at first may not like it, or feel
comfortable. You have to be really encouraging, and let them feel, ok, we
are all going to do this together and theres not really a right or a wrong
for at least some of the things that are going to happen, in terms of how
they move their bodies. To me, theres a lot of philosophical,
psychological things that have to happen with this. And, thats that
relationship with the students where they trust you, they know you want
them to succeed, as opposed to the oldpodium you know, where Im
the director. You are going to do what I tell you, and theres kind of this

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fear factor, which, you know, some choirs sing well under that, but that to
me does not lend itself to a Dalcroze approach at all! Yah, I think thats
enough to add Its fun to get to talk about, because there arent a lot of
people who, especially in the choral world that know a lot about this.
CD:

Well, yah, and as I do my survey of the literature, as I said, its clear that
some people have made these connections, but for me, as you said, its
also philosophical and psychological, and potentially more of an inversion
of the process than just some ways to incorporate it here and there. So,
that sort of got me thinking, I want to explore this and see how far it can
go.

Conductor B:

Exactly, exactly. And, this is the way to get it out there. So, Im so glad
you are doing this, because I think it will have a really big impact. And,
isnt that what you want? For me, I just think research has to do
something to change, because so much of research is over such goofy
things, you know, that really doesnt change anything. This has the ability
to change. And thats whats exciting.

CD:

Thank you, Conductor B. Its been great to talk to you, and hear about
your thoughts and experience with Dalcroze in the choral context.

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Conductor C
Conductor C conducts university choirs and teaches undergraduate and graduate-level
conducting. He received significant Dalcroze training in his undergraduate music education.
CD:

What type of training did you receive in Dalcroze?

Conductor C:

At Institution H, Dalcroze-teacher I. And she was intimidating, and

awesome. Our first classes with her, she would play Pablo Casals
recordings, and she would ask us, Which way did that note go? Did it
move left of right? Did it go fast or slow? And we had no idea what she
was talking about. And then, one day I guessed and said, It moved to the
right, and she said, Yes, it did. What she was after is what he was
doing to lead us on the line. And he could change his rate of vibrato, he
could change his pressure on his string, he could change the rate of his
bow, and we started to learn that that was how he wanted us to follow the
music and where it was going to lead us to the next level. My piano
teacher at Institution H, the same sort of thing. I would play a chord, and
he would say, How long do you want that to be heard? And again, I was
thinking analytical, which was three beats, you know, thats how long its
going to last. Then he sat down and played it, and I heard it differently.
So all of that, and I took violin all through high school, and I had a terrific
teacher from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. If you played a good
lesson, he would play duets with you at the end. And it always sounded
better, and he never talked about it, but it was the same thing. It was this
sense of line, and how do you get the listener to know where you want to
go and where youve been? So, I started to incorporate all of that. We
had two classes in eurhythmics with Dalcroze-teacher I. The second was
an advanced class, and we studiedif you were an oboist, you played the
oboe in class, and then she worked with you. At that point too we were
listening to a string quartet, and I would be the cello, and I would have to
interpret, through movement, what the cello was doing and how it
interacted with the other parts in an artistic way and in a very structural
way too. But I was a conducting major. I was the first conducting major
in that program with Conductor F. And she came to my recital, and she
could tell every time my mind went out of the music for just a second.
She could just say, Now, you broke the line here, and you broke it over
there. Its amazing, and I can think back, that was when an outside
thought came in. It was frightening. A bit of my gesture would change,
and it would change the sound of the group, and she heard it.

CD:

And Conductor F was also using Dalcroze techniques with you?

Conductor C:

Yes. We moved in rehearsals. Our movement there was very basic. We

stepped the pulse and we stepped the notation. Nothing really further than
that. I began to do a lot more when I was at Institution N where I was
experimenting with that type of movement but also adding text into it and

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how they could express the text. I think I have maybe eighteen to twenty
exercises that Ive developed or enhanced over the years that I use all the
time in my choir, again to get them off the notation as if they were
creating the music spontaneously. It incorporates eye contact with one
another Um, so Ive choreographed pieces that would show the
audience the exact structure of the piece. If its fugal or canon, people are
actually following one another, if its a duet, they would have to come up
and move side by side, if its a retrograde, they would actually move
backwards, if its an ensemble where four move together then four people
would move together So that somebody is seeing it as a small child, or
as somebody who plays in a symphony orchestra They all got that it
was the structure, but it was also depicting the text. And then the
interconnectedness from part to part. Thats what were trying to get
especially singers to do. They have a full score in front of them, but they
dont always use it. So a tenor could be singing the same notation as a
soprano but not paying any attention to that at all. So, when I get them on
the floor, then they have to move that together. I do exercises where they
step the piano part, if were doing something like Fern Hill, Corgliano,
then listen to the piano part and begin to step the piano part. Sometimes
Ill have them do a Dalcroze exercise where the piano will start, and they
will step that measure while the piano plays the next measure. Trying to
separate their - I call it the different channels in their brain. And then, still
come in and sing their part, so, it integrates the whole piece to the singer,
so they are not just singing their own part in the end. I would be very
upset if that was all they got.
CD:

And what do you think distinguishes the Dalcroze approach?

Conductor C:

Yah, ok, I think itsfor me, its about teaching the students about line,
the musical line. Thats sort of the bottom line I guess. How things get
connected, and then independence from the score itself is something that I
use all the time. Thats my major goal to get them independent of the
notation. And independent from everybody else while being dependent on
them as well. Thats the other challenge that I strive for.

CD:

Can you say a little bit more about independent while being dependent?

Conductor C:

Yes. Most of the exercises that I devise - that is the goal for each of those.
By that I mean that they are making independent musical choices
themselves, while being dependent on everybody elses choices, because I
love contradictions. Ah, a simple exercise that I do with high school kids,
and my kids too, just to teach a little bit of uhthis has to do with speed
and tempo. Its a vocal exercise that I do, and then I turn it into a physical
exercise, and then I ask half of the group to go twice as fast as they just
did at the same tempo. They say, What?, and I repeat it several times,
and then I ask them to come up with a gesture that makes that happen.
And, of course, my kids are there too and now they know whats going on,

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and so they usually help them. Its a matter of speed of the anacrusis.
Like throwing Frisbees, they wind up, and then they fire them faster than
before, and then with a resistance motion just after that. The sound in the
one that travels faster, but, it also just takes the same amount of time as the
rest of the group. So, I have half the group do the fast motion and half the
group do the slow motion that they started with. And what always
happens obviously, is the people doing the faster motion, are done faster,
and then they realize its the resistance after that initial thrust that they
need to incorporate into their movement. And then I say much like a
waterfall coming down into a lake. To see that surge of water coming in,
soon it dissipates, but it still accepts that surge. And, I say its like a
violin, a violinists bow. She can move the bow faster and still be going at
the same tempo. She can also put more pressure on it to get it louder or to
change the sound, but it can also go fast or slow. And then you have the
rate of vibrato that you can move your fingers with. We have all of those
at our disposal as a singer as well. But, they dont think about that, so
sound often, to me, stagnates. People start a phrase, it stagnates in the
middle, and maybe they recapture it at the end and they just kind of fizzle
out. I ask my students to inhale the phrase. So, they inhale the phrase,
the length of the phrase, the musical high point of the phrase, the diction
of the phrase, and how they connect all that together, so, thats sort of a
final goal of each phrase.
CD:

When you say, inhale a phrase, does that mean they are conceiving of it
mentally before they sing it?

Conductor C:

Yes. This is way down the line. Weve learned the pieces, weve done
movement with them, theyve become independent, they know how their
part syncs with another part, and then, instead of just an inhalation to get
the phrase started, I ask them to actually hear the entire phrase as they
breathe. If they get to that level, then we really have something going.

CD:

So, perhaps that leads to number 2. What are your teaching goals when
you incorporate the Dalcroze approach?

Conductor C:

Yes, obviously musicality. Musicianship skills and listening skills. And

then, the musical independence is probably the most important one. But
again, depending on other people. So, if you have a line thats moving in
whatever notation you have, then if someone else has that same notation,
and theyre moving, those two people should be moving side by side. And
then, their ears are looking for the next event that happen that is different
than that. So they might sync up with another part. I help them out with
this by actually choreographing pieces ah, this comes up later in another
question, so Ill stop there with that. And then, mental coordination as
well. Mental coordination and physical coordination. If we are doing a
piece that has orchestra accompaniment and or might a pianist playing, I
ask them to listen to the piano part and the step that part. Step all of the

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rhythms that they hear, not just the pulse. Usually the melodic is what
they will choose to step. Ill even have them step that in canon sometimes.
They listen to the first measure, then the second measure begins, they
begin stepping that first measure while listening to the second measure.
So, theyre a measure behind. And, then, when they come in with their
part they are still singing their part. So Im asking a lot of them, of their
musical brains, to absorb the score in a much more meaningful way than
just the tenor part.
CD:

And, the second part of that question. What have you observed as the
learning outcomes?

Conductor C:

I would say pretty stunning in what they remember of the piece. Once
theyve done it kinesthetically in their bodies, they will never forget that
piece. I think I mentioned, at an ACDA convention, I asked the kids that
were in the group the year before to stand, and I played a C major triad for
them, and they immediately danced and moved Byrds Laudibus in
Sanctis. They hadnt sung it in a year. It will stay with them forever. Its
just part of their being. And, its integrated more than just their part.
They hear the other parts as well. So, thats why I use this approach. Its
a meaningful learning experience for them. About half of them are going
to be teachers, and the other half hope to be performers. I have a former
student that is at the Met right now, shes been in Europe for quite a few
years big career over there. And, the directors always ask her, Youre a
natural dancer, did you study dance? And she said, No, I had choir.
And then they want to know how that does that happen?? You simply
move in choir. So, thats a pretty good validation of what we do.

CD:

I agree, I agree. So, number 3, what aspects of the Dalcroze approach do

you use in the choral context?

Conductor C:

Clearly the eurhythmics part of it, and again, you have tobecause I just
had two courses in eurhythmics, Im not sureof what you might not
really consider that to be Dalcroze, but this is what I do, so you can sort of
intersect where you have to. So, obviously eurhythmics, and we use it
from the beginning. I think the next question answers a lot of that. But
we do use that all the time. I do use solfge all the time. Im not sure how
Dalcroze differs, but we use moveable-do. I have them solfge in
whatever key their partwould be most helpful to them. The altos say,
We dont like Bb here, we are going to stay in Eb. Sure, go ahead.
The tenors may be in D. When were doing Penderecki, or Schoenberg, I
often have people in different keys, maybe up to three keys
simultaneously. But, it solves the problem. I used to try to teach that
without any solfge, and its like, No, thats a tri-tone. Thats a major
third, but youre not singing it correctly. And, that just didnt work as
well as once they put it in context. But, Im sure how thats different
thanI dont know what solfge rhythmique is. We used to teach that

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here, and our sight-reading was taught through Dalcroze. The plastique
anime, I actually use thatwhen I look at a score, I see choreography. I
see the structure of the piece, and I immediately see how I would put that
on the floor. Ill talk a bit more about that in the next question. At the end
of all of my exercises, we do tableaux. Each group will be in charge of
creating a tableaux and not singing. They can do anything with their
bodies that describes the music. Sometimes its very literal. Sometimes
its abstract. Its always incredibly moving and thought-provoking for the
rest of us. Two-thirds of the choir will stand in a circle and sing the piece
while the other third of the choir act out the piece in a very different way.
CD:

And again, thats at the end of the learning process?

Conductor C:

Yes, thats sort of the next to the last step.

CD:

Lets just go back to sight-reading for a moment. Are you finding that
your movement and eurhythmics exercises are also making an impact on
their ability to sight-read?

Conductor C:

I dont know. I wouldnt be able to quantify that. The steps we usually

use, we begin with solfge, count-singing, learning the music, and then we
move on to movement exercises after that because they memorize as they
go along. They have memory checks every day on maybe two or three
pieces. And maybe only eight or ten measures in each one. Its just a
habit for them. As soon as they get off-book, then I can begin to move
those pieces.

CD:

And what about improvisation, do you use that at all?

Conductor C:

Not really. Through their movement, yes, at times, what I call free
movement. But not actually anything with notes. Basically because of
the literature I use is virtually all classic, classical and spirituals thats
kind of my repertoire, and its always been. New music to old music, but,
basically mainstream.

CD:

And when you say free movement, is that closer to the beginning of the
process? That they might just show you what they hear?

Conductor C:

No. I keep it pretty structured. Again, Ill go through the sort of sequence
I use. Ah, free movement comes basically before they start on the
tableaux. And then they are literally free to do anything they want. And
Ive done workshops with this. Do you knowConductor H has taken
lessons with me, and then Ive worked with his groups. I think they were
doing Fern Hill. I had done some structure things with them, and they had
it memorized pretty much. We did a lot of movement with them over the
couple of daysThen I said, ok, Its free movement, and you can do
anything you want, and I mean anything. So, you have the people that

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are almost being silly, they dont quite get it and are literally just running
around. Other people are in these incredible little tableaux where theyve
gone off by themselves. Other people are working together. But he was
very nervous. He wanted to stop the people that were horsing around. But
I said, No, thats what they are thinking right now, so its ok. I did say
they could do anything they want. So, they have to be able to put up with
that too. They will see other things going on and next time they do it, they
might do something different. Ive had people describe the Stopping by a
woods on a snowy evening, the Robert Frost poetry, and I was doing a
piece by Composer H a free form piece with this text on it. So we
discussed what was going on in the piece and some people thought it was
about suicide. And one guy, it reminded him of the Clydesdale horses in
the Budweiser beer commercials. Thats the gamut of things that were
going on. So, I choose to accept everybody, and thats part of their
independence too.
CD:

Sure. So, well go on to number 4 and you can tell me a bit more about
how you work with the repertoire

Conductor C:

Again, as I said, when Im looking at pieces, I actually see them as

structures that I could put on the floor. I try to put that same structure in
my gesture, so it influences my gesture in the end. And we start simply by
stepping the pulse of the piece. Even when we they are doing just the
pulse, I ask them to look in the mirror I have mirrors on one side of my
walls to make sure they are not just stepping up and down, but that they
are stepping smoothly, sort of sinking into their bodies, so its not just
walking. And then we add line to that by stepping their musical notation.
And this is when I start to get on them about the preparation. I will count
them in, because Im not trying to conduct. Im just trying to observe
what they do. I will count them in, and then on the anacrusic beat, or the
beat before the anacrusic beat, half of them are not moving, as if they are
being pushed into the line, not preparing the line. So, we spend a lot of
time observing the fact that they are going to make a full move a beat
before they are going to make a sound. And this goes right back into what
I do. This is my job as the conductor: I give you the context, I give the
speed, and all sorts of information in my first preparation. But, Im
always a beat ahead of you, and thats what I want to start to impart on
that basic level. They are always a beat ahead of where they are. Their
gesture shows the next thing that they are singing, not the one that theyre
on. And I continue that by saying, Its never where you are thats
important. Its where youve been and where youre going. So, if its a
rest, it has to hook into the phrase, and then begin the next phrase. If its a
quarter-rest, it happens right away, if its a longer rest, then they have to
begin the process all over. So, thats the first thing we do. Then I begin to
do whats important in the piece. If its an antiphonal piece, I will have
Choir 1 stand in a one on one side, and Choir 2 stand across from them,
about six feet away. And this is sort of the inhaling the phrase part. I will

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ask them to breathe in, and that they shift their weight from back to front,
and keep their hips still grounded, and they reach out with their arms, and
start to pull as in a rope-pull, and pull the sound that they are singing. And
what happens is most people pull quickly and they get right back over
their hips center, and theres nowhere to go. And I say, Try that again,
and now inhale, and you only needed four beats, and youve got sixteen,
so start to space that out. Now, Choir 2 is facing Choir 1 and Choir 1 has
started to pull their line, and Choir 2 goes out and is pulled by them. So
you can see one row pulling, and the other row is being pulled by them.
And then the antiphonal part comes and Choir 2 then begins to pull their
line and Choir 1 rises. You have to watch that shoulders are down, that
its a very grounded motion, and its not tense. You get young kids,
especially guys, who think its an actual rope-pull, and they physically
tense up, and thats not the point at all. Im really awareI should have
brought the booklet [booklet of Dalcroze-based exercises used by
Conductor C], but I put heres the exercises, and I put a little caveat at the
bottom with what to watch for both good and bad that might be going
wrong with that. So, thats an exercise that teaches them the length of
phrase and also how it integrates with the other choir. And its all fine in a
Jakub Handl piece where one choir is twelve beats here, and the other
choir is twelve beats there, and then they come to a phrase that is twelve
beats long. The same thing happens. They pull like its going to be a
twelve-beat phrase. And then theyre done. If youre listening to a choir,
the sound changes at that point, the sound is kind of squeezed because
they know that have to go further, but they didnt really prepare for it. So
this exercise really changes that perception. The first time they did that,
they were like, Aha! They actually had the piece memorized, but that
hadnt synthesized into their bodies or into their conscious thought. So
then next time they encounter a longer phrase, they have to use a longer
gesture, and when theyre half-way through the phrase, they should be
half-way through the gesture. If theres a part, as I mentioned before, say
that the altos and tenors are doing the same notation, then I will
choreograph it so that altos and tenors move together at that point. So, I
will actually choreograph a small section of a piece. Friday is our
movement day. So, by Friday, we always have something memorized,
and I will choreograph that little bit structurally. And explain it to them,
have them do it, and then well talk about it, and they will usually have
new insight about how their part integrates with somebody else. And,
thats the beginning of getting away from the notation, and getting back to
what I think must have been in the creative mind of the composer. Try to
make the choir appear as if they are spontaneously creating everything.
Theyre creating the text, theyre creating the speed, the sound, the
dynamic, and the music. And not thinking about, This is a quarter-note,
oh, I forgot that is a dotted quarter note. This is a half note. They are
way beyond that at that point. So, I will choreograph things really pretty
decisively for them. If its a sound we are all singing together, maybe
softly at the beginning, and then it expands, Ill put them in a clump.

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Theyll be really tight looking in at each other. And, maybe, the basses
have the next movement, so they will move out of that clump, and then
begin to move around in a line. In the beginning, when they are moving
notation, I will have them move in their part. So, first basses are moving
together, second basses are moving together. This simply helps them
memorize, because if you step out of line, then clearly you didnt have it
memorized. Youre off by yourself, seeing that you dont have it right.
Ill choose a leader and theyll move in a line. All over the room. I
usually do 1st and 2nds just so the lines dont get too long.
CD:

So, just to go back to the first two steps, when they step the pulse, and
then they step the notation. Are they singing as they are doing this?

Conductor C:

Yes, always. Well notsometimes when we get later in the progression, I

will have them be stepping a part, and maybe this is in February, when the
opera is going full tilt, and all of my kids are the top singers, so most of
them are in the opera I try to find ways to have rehearsals where they
are not singing all of the time. So, I will have them move the section, and
then I will say, Sing. They will have been moving for fifteen measures,
and they are quite amazed when they come in dead on the note, dead on
pitch, so I know that their inner ear is working.

CD:

Can I go back? You said you see music as structures. How did you get
to that point? Or, how did you train yourself to do that, I guess

Conductor C:

I dont know. You know how there are different learners that we all
know? Which is something I didnt know when I started out teaching.
When I auditioned people, I always gave more credibility to people who
could read. And then I realized there are a lot of singers that hadnt
learned to read yet, but they just had the voice, maybe in high school.
They had the voice, but they had no skills. The oboe player that had been
playing for ten years could read anything. I didnt realize how important
those people who didnt read, how advanced their ears were, because they
didnt read. So I do exercises that are strictly for ears when Im doing
auditions too, so I have a more balanced approach in how I choose people
now. So I say that to say how I see pieces. I immediately see how I could
put this on the floor. Youre too young probably to remember probably
the June Taylor Dancers and a guy named Jackie Gleason a famous
comic and arranger of pieces, and he had the Jackie Gleason Show. It
was a talent show, essentially. The June Taylor Dancers were the
dancers that were on his show. And at the beginning of every show, they
filmed them from above, and they were on the floor doing crazy things
with their legs and arms, that made shapes, like a kaleidoscope. When
youre looking at a kaleidoscope, you see patterns and colors change. I
use this a lot with my choir - thats how I see color as well, and pattern
and certain progression I see almost as colors. I have a student in my
choir the last four years he actually sees colors. Hes a brilliant guy. He

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will smile at me and we are ecstatically in tune with the piece because he
sees colors around me, I dont know what color it is, and theres some
scientific credence to that. But, anyways, I see that, and I see how Im
going to conduct the piece. I see my gestureits architecturally
influenced. If youre singing in a cathedral that has a peaked ceiling as
opposed to a more domed shape, my conducting gesture will change. One
will be slightly more angular still full of line, but it may change the
shape of it. If you were looking at me from their point of view, things
would look more triangular. It would be a reflection of whatever the
architecture is above me. If its a domed place, my gesture at the top
would be rounder. I would be giving lower, more rounded gestures. I
change mythis is maybe a little off topic, but it comes up latermy
gesture, I change from, Conductor F that I studied with, his was
incredibly, almost muscularly eurhythmic. I just loved how he went from
point to point. But he did a traditional pattern. 1 comes down the
center, 2 is to the left, 3 is to the right, and its all about, for all of us,
what we do on that anacrusic part of the beat. The end of the beat shows
us where its going shows what we want to hear next. I saw a
demonstration of a guy on a computer years ago, where he put the ictus in
the same place all the time. I looked at it it was on a little Mac computer
on an 8 screen, one of those early computers and I thought it looked
dorky and weird, but then I started messing with it to see if I could still
have that same eurhythmic beat or motion/pattern, but change my actual
pattern to what I call a vector pattern, where everything comes to the
center beat and pulls out of it. Conductor F used to have us conduct with a
little piece of elastic and put it around our foot. And every time youre
pulling up, theres resistance to pull it back down. And that set up a
fantastic elastic beat that I kept from him. Just an incredible sense of line
that is never broken, no place was it ever broken, it was always connected.
I began to change, and experimented when I had an orchestra in front of
me with the traditional pattern, and I noticed when I did my 2nd beat over
toward the violins, that the celli were just perceptively, slightly off. Just
slightly. So, I said, Just do that again, and I didnt tell them what I was
doing, and I went to this other pattern, the vector pattern, and they were
exactly together. Then I moved to my right to the traditional third beat,
then the celli were together and the violins were just slightly behind it.
And again, I would say, Lets do that again. So, I started to change and
it took me a long time to change, and all of my beats go in to the same
place. So, no matter where you are in the orchestra or the choir, you see
the beat happen in the same place all the time. So, people that are
watching peripherally still see that its not moving around, its not dancing
around. And I totally changed, and I teach this method now, and one of
my biggest pet peeves are hitches, which especially choral conductors
get in their pattern where they will hitch at the bottom of the beat, where
they come out of the beat faster than they went into it. And, I often
wonderif you look without sound, and looked at the gesture, you would
say, Oh, the choir should be doing this. And then you turn the sound on,

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and they are actually singing very legato. And looking at the gesture, you
think, how did they do that? And I think what happens is that we as choral
people are in front of the group for so long, because of all the things we
have to teach with diction, as well as all of the musical elements in the
notation, that gesture becomes less and less important. Everything has
been sort of built into what they are going to sound like. We work on the
sound, but we dont work on the sound as it relates to our gesture, I think.
So, Im trying to be true to myself and true to my group in that my gesture
shows exactly what I want, all the time. And, I can change that gesture at
any time, and get a different sound. So, often times I am doing so much
movement before tour tour is the last couple of weeks - they dont see
me conduct at all, theyre doing totally other kinds of exercises. So I must
remember, a couple days before tour, to actually get in front of them
again! And conduct. And then when we go on tour, then I can change
anything I want at any time and I know they are following my gesture, as
opposed to something built in. It has greatly to do with eurhythmics and
how the gesture works. With extraneous movements that mean nothing to
the central line. I think that with conductors a lot of time we wait for the
sound after our initial gesture, and theres a bit of scrambling, sometimes
almost imperceptibly, but we know that its not quite together for a couple
of measures, and then they get settles in. Early in my career, I had a
student that said, Do you always want us to sing behind your beat? I
said, Well ah, I dont know, ah, hmm I didnt realize that was what
was going on, but, in fact, it was. You come to where you think your ictus
is and theyre not there they dont quite sing it so we go down a little
but more, or make a curly-q, and by the second of third beat, we are all
king of together. The next time you need to change something, that same
thing is going to happen.
CD:

So are you saying that the impressions they gather through movement
facilitate your ability to conduct them, basically?

Conductor C:

Yes. Yes. They are so independent then of the score then that they will
do anything that I ask them to do through my gesture. Thats when I know
that my gesture is working, and its not something that we built in
together. He always does this there thats how we sound. And I may
decide based on the sound Im hearing in the room we are singing in that
night, that I need to do something drastically different to get them to sing
when and how I want them to sing. If the room is really wet, or
architecturally something is going on that Im really excited about, and I
decide to do something totally different with tempo in a certain place, and
this is the other thing, I have them look at the audience. They are trying to
tell their forty-eight stories about what is going on, and they are
independent and dependent at the same time. But, they can still see me
peripherally, some see right through me and make eye contact with the
audience. We have the lights up in the audience so that we engage them.
We do not let them escape what we are doing. They must get what we are

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doing. Or we havent done our job. But, I can still change dramatically. I
can change the tempo, I can hold a note longer, I can cut off with absolute
trust that they will follow what I want to do. Or, I can stop conducting all
together, and they would be pretty darn good. They can do this by
themselves.
CD:

Great! Lets move on to number 5. Do you use Dalcroze to teach vocal

technique, or diction, or any of the other things on that list?

Conductor C:

Just the style, musicianship skills and ensemble skills, definitely.

Musicianship skills, the listening skills, especially. Ensemble skills
theres an exercise I developed this year I told you I try to get people to
step with people who share their notation, so they are actively seeking out
the things that they hear, but they dont my group was really good but
they dont quite get that. Ill see a few kids that actually do it. This is
after really explaining to them what it is that I want them to do. Theyre
stillsome of them are kind of lost in figuring out whats next for them.
They havent figured it out. So, I have octets formation I have three
choirs, a centre choir, a left choir, and a right choir. And, there are sixteen
voices in each of those choirs, and perfectly balanced. If I put choir right
and choir left facing each other, theyll be the mirror image of each other,
so that the audience hears equal voicing all of the time no matter where
they are seated. So, Ill have these octets form a small group, and this one
exercise I call the amoeba. They would stand in a circle, hold hands,
and then move thesing the piece, and theyre not moving notation now,
but they can move wherever they want to, but every movement that they
make is going to be influencing everyone else. If you have what you think
is an important part, then you start pulling your partners along to the other
side of the circle, or even going under the other side of the circle. But then
somebody else thinks their part is important, they will pull you back. You
see this sort of live organism in front of you with people deciding, Im
important now, no, Im important, no, now I see that were important.
They love doing it. This is also teaching them to be dependent and
independent. So, now Ive decided, ok, I love that exercise, but I want to
do something that connects them in a different way. So, Ill have that
octet start off together, facing each other in the circle. And now, I if I
have an independent part, say I have a bit of a counterpoint going on, and
the tenors take off. They leave homeof their eight people, and move
about the room. Now, granted, there are seven other groups in the room
doing the same exercise. So they are going to be passing through each
other. And the only caveat is that they cant take their eyes off anybody in
their group. So, as you see one person move away. And then if another if
person answers that, they would move where that person just moved. And
the rest of them would stay home until they get to move out. And it was
incredible! You have people moving backwards, and always stay in sort
of elastic eye-contact, and musical contact with the rest of the people in
their home. And what happens every time is that when they get back to

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the end of a major cadence, or a major structural part of the piece, they are
always back together again. Without really having to figure it outthey
just know that thats where they need to be at that point. So, that shows
me that they really know the structure, and they really know the other
parts and how they affect their part, and how they coordinate with it. The
last exercise - I just started doing it this year I just tried it. And after we
do an exercise like that, new to them too, then we sit down and discuss it.
Clearly thats the one that makes a huge impact on them. The other that
makes a big impact is if I just pair up people. Two people, and they cant
be singing the same part, and they stand facing each other, shoulders
down, with hands in front of them, like patty-cake. And your hands are
not allowed to touch the other hands of your partner. They are two or
three inches away you can feel the heat of the other person. And you
look directly into their eyes. You are not allowed to lose eye contact. I
actually have a few people in my choir this year, and two things they cant
do. One thing is to make eye-contact with anybody else and keep it, its
just who they are, its something in their fabric. And the other is, one
person said, I cant touch another person. When we do this exercise
where we hold hands I wont do that. Ill move, and do everything
else, but I wont be able to do that. In a year she could. She had never
been able to do that in her life. Anyway, this exercise, they look straight
into each others eyes and sing the entire piece while their arms follow and
lead each other. So, they are not allowed to touch the palm of the other
hand, but that palm follows the opposite palm. So your right hand and left
hand might be going up, might be going down, might be going sideways,
and around. They determine, each of them determine, where they should
move. So, theyre both in charge, and they both have to follow the other
person at the same time. And this brings an incredible silence over the
group. When it starts, I feel this incredible kinetic energy around the
room, when it gets going its just silent about each of them. They get so
interconnected with each other with their eyes. Theres also a hug
afterword. Ill do this with high school kids that dont know these kids
and have been squirrely during all of our demonstration and then half of
them try to move with us, but this one just stops them dead in their tracks.
They know what that piece meant when they get done. They have seen it
in the eyes of the people they are working with. Itll being high school
kids to tears without saying a word to them, just singing a song to them
and having high school kids follow their arm movements, because they
end up leading an following each other. So, thats an exercise that has
been incredibly uplifting. Its a game-changer.
CD:

Thats really neat. So, you talked about this a little bit already, but heres
number 6. At what point in the learning sequence do you incorporate
eurhythmic approaches?

Conductor C:

Almost from the beginning. I, again, will usually start with count-singing
and solfge to get them started, but within a couple days of starting a

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piece, Ill start to move. Again, just the basics. By the end of that week
we will try some of these other more advanced activities.
CD:

Are they looking at the music before theyve moved?

Conductor C:

Yes. My rehearsalsI call these manageable bitsI may have four

things that I am going to do in a rehearsal. Four or five things, and I have
the minutes divided up, how long its going to take. I will learn and begin
to memorize a section of a piece, and then move to something else in
another piece. And by the end of that week, I may have maybe four pieces
that I can do eight to ten measures that I can do from each one of those
that would be memorized to the point they might not think its
memorized I have memory checks every day. Those sixteen voices, in
that formation of three choirs, they have to come down and sing it. And if
they mess up, they know theyve let the group down. They just do it.
They cheer each other on. When one group does a really fantastic job, it
gets really nice applause from them. Only occasionally do they fail, and
they look at each other, and we dont say anything. We just go back, and
the next time they do a memory check, theyre dead on. And that works
really well. So, by the end of the week, we have things pretty well
memorized, and then, with a little bit of movement, totally memorized
very quickly. If its in their bodies, theyve got it.

CD:

How would you describe the learning dynamic in your classroom?

Conductor C:

Its amazing. Once we get going, they hate risers. They see the risers are
down, as each one comes in, Were moving today?? They just love it.
And what gets me now, some of them try to do it right away, start to do
the movement. I think in the last 15 years, Ive spent more time
explaining these exercises, and telling them what to look for and hear, so
theyre not just participating, theyre beginning to think, If I do this
someday, I will understand how to do it. A lot of them get out there and
say, I want to do movement today, and the kids go, Whats that?, and
they dont know how to make it effective right away. So then they give
up. Other kidsI just got an email fromshes teaching 4th grade, and
she said, I had movement day with them Friday, and they were wild with
excitement about what they did. She asked them, much as you asked
earlier, they listened to the piece, and she had them just put it on the floor,
just describe what you heard, and you get to move it. And she had a
discussion with them afterwards. This is with 4th graders. She was just
beside herself. A lot of them do go out, and sometimes theyll call me and
say, Will you do a session with me? And I say, Sure, and they see
their kids really get it. Sometimes the kids just need reinforcement from
someone else. Oh, I have this crazy guy at Institution M we did this stuff
with. And then the crazy guy comes and does it with them, and they say,
Hey, this is really cool. They get something out of it. So, thats sort of

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been my goal more lately, to do more teaching of the teachers that are
going so they can see how to progress thishow to start this anyways.
CD:

Number 8, how has the inclusion of eurhythmics influenced your view of

your role as conductor?

Conductor C:

Um, a lot. Again, it has to do with the gesture that I use and trying to be
really true to my art as a conductor and true to the musical score. I tell my
conducting students, once I start a piece, I do not move my feet, almost as
if I am getting the music from the floor, and my whole body is pliable.
But Im not going to move my feet. Its almost an honor thing with me. I
am honoring the music by staying there as if Im receiving it from the
soles of my feet through my body and then out through my hands with the
gesture that I want to show. You can come up and try knock me over, and
you will not be able to knock me over. Its an athletic endeavor that we do
both as conductors, I think, and especially as singers. The whole body has
to be integrated. The whole approach of movement and being integrated
and what youre doing has everything to do with my gesture and my being
on the podium. That once Ive started, Im grounded, and I am not going
to let go of that piece until the end. I think I told you that Dalcrozeteacher I that I worked with at Institution H she came to my recital, and
she nailed every time I left the score. She heard something change in the
group. And it was frightening to me. And she was deadly accurate,
because I remember what I was thinking each of the times that she heard
that. We didnt have video at that time to see what my gesture did at the
time, but something happened to the sense of line in her ear. And, of
course, my mind did go away for a moment, as I was thinking, Oh this is
going really well. And once I thought about my girlfriend, who is now
my wife of forty-five years. She came to the concert, and I thought about
her at one point. Dalcroze-teacher I nailed that one too. It kind of
frightened me. It also was a great lesson.

CD:

Conductor C, when youre studying the score before you bring it to the
choir, do you find yourself moving in order to figure out where the music
is going?

Conductor C:

I do. Especially with sort of rhythmic things, I will step them out in my
office and make sure that my gesture is then showing what I want.
Sometimes its a matter of a direction of flow coming out of a beat, or
incorporating a move. Lets say we have in 3/4 a dotted quarter and three
eighths, theres a move that I will move on my second beat that will give
the illusion that Im pulling those three eight notes in a line, around in a
circle, and pulling them back to the downbeat. I will actually change the
direction of my beat to make that happen. Things like thatI see patterns
in music, and thenso like being a choreographer on the floor, I will
choreograph that move in my gesture that I think will help them the best.
Its the musical line that I want to be heard by them.

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CD:

Wow.

Conductor C:

Thats the thing too. I wont give that gesture away necessarily as we are
learning the piece theyre not watching anyway, at the beginning. And
then, as I said, I will go away from conducting sometime quite a bit before
the concert. It allows me to be quite a bit more free to give some other
kind of gesture that I know will make a difference in how they sing the
piece, how they deliver the piece. And its not something that has been
built in.

CD:

Do you ever find that in the rehearsal process you discover something
about the music by watching the students that you can then incorporate
into your own gesture for performance?

Conductor C:

Yah that does happen sometimes. Theyre insightful kids. When I studied
with Conductor F, the one thing he told me that I didnt like was that I
needed to be more of a dictator. Im a pretty laid back guy, but that was in
a time of conductors being dictators. They dictated everything, and you
were absolutely in charge of everything. And, when you give up some of
that, it can be a little terrifying that you are relying on information from
other people, but I have learned that that is the only way to go. And
instead of me telling them what a text means, I ask them what it means to
them, and I preface it by saying, We are going to have a discussion on the
composer today, or, Were talking about just this one poem today, and
theres something about the poet, why theyre writing, when they did
But then, I want to make sure that everything is valid thats being said.
And everybody accepts what somebody else has, even if its totally
opposite of you believe and think about that. Whereas in my earlier times,
I would have just confirmed what somebody said, or, Thats what I
believe too I will never let them know what I think about a piece,
especially early on. Later, this is what this means to me, for whatever
reason. But, I really want them to be as fully in charge of as much as
possible of their musical decisions, their intellectual decisions, their poetic
decisions And I try to equate what they are doing in the ensemble with
what theyll do on stage when they give their recital that they take this
manner, they will pull the audience in. If not, I dont really care about
hearing the rest of their recital. So what were doing when we are on stage
is looking out at the audience, and getting the audience to understand what
it is we are telling them. And at half time, I will ask the choir, So whats
going on in the audience? And they will be able to describe in detail
people in the audience that are being moved by what we are singing. They
are not allowed to just sit there or to watch. They need to be enveloped in
us and understand what it is we are trying to do.

CD:

Wow. The last question: how has your personal study of Dalcroze
effected your conducting score study, gesture, and rehearsal technique?

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Conductor C:

Yes, I think all of those.

CD:

Is there anything else that you would like to add to the conversation about
the use of Dalcroze in the choral context?

Conductor C:

No, I think Ivewhat I can do when I get back to Institution M, if you

want me to send you that booklet that Ive written. Its in the old part of
the old computer. Then you can try some of the exercises I have
developed, and there have been more since then as well.

CD:

That would be great. I was very interested in what you said about using
exercises as a structure so that studentsyou know, that you give them a
tool that they can continue to use. And I think that is one of the sort of
mystical things about Dalcroze and the way that its taught. Sometimes
its sort ofI dont know, an apprenticeship model where the teacher has
all this movement experience, but doesnt sort of package it in a way thats
students can take it away.

Conductor C:

Right, yah, I agree. Thats why I said with these exercises have that little
caveat there heres what you should be looking for. I have students in
my graduate conducting program. I have one each year, so there are
always two there, and one gets to work with the choir and do a full recital
with the choir. Its fantastic experience for them. And I ask them to run
some movement rehearsals, and of course they want to, and then they
stand there and they conduct, although people are moving all about the
room! Why are you conducting? Nobody is following you! Nobody
wants to watch you. The point of this is you watch them and direct their
movement on thing that you see them not doing. As opposed to just
letting them move about. And some people are craning their necks as they
walk away from the conductor, trying to stay with their beat, and that has
nothing to do with what you are supposed to be doing. Theyre in charge
of it now, so let them go. You know, someone is playing the piano and
giving them a tempo, but I dont conduct that either. I want to observe
and see whats going on. So I can work with that, see what I like and I
dont like. Some people are incredible. This is what they do they move.
And so the rest of them can learn from them. Its their outlet to express
themselves in a way that they dont normally get to.

CD:

Do you use the word Dalcroze, or do you always call it movement

class?

Conductor C:

I use the word Dalcroze. The only caveat there is not having studied it
fullyI call it movement based on Dalcroze.

CD:

Does Institution M offer a class in Dalcroze that students may have

already taken?

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Conductor C:

No. We dont have any Dalcroze here anymore. Students are now trying
to see if that could happen.

CD:

Well, I dont know of a lot of people in our field that are approaching
things from this perspective, so thats why its been so interesting for me
to talk to all of these different conductors, you know? Well, thank you so
much, Conductor C!

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Conductor D
Conductor D conducts church and high-school choirs. He holds a Dalcroze certificate.
CD:

So, how did you discover the Dalcroze approach?

Conductor D:

I took some piano lessons with Dalcroze-teacher N, and I remember, many

years before, at Institution O, I did a conducting course with Conductor I,
and he said then, You should all take a Dalcroze course. And then every
time I heard anything about Dalcroze after that, it was something for little
kids. And I could never figure out what did he mean. Did he mean to take
a class with six year-olds, or what? It wasnt until I talked to Dalcrozeteacher N and sort of figured out how it worked. And so I then took the
firstthe introductory course at the conservatory, and would have taken
the second level course, but they never offered it again. And so, I went off
to Institution L and did my work there. Did my certificate exams all in a
bunch at the first possible opportunity after two years, and then, I mean it
was like six years later before I felt ready to take theto get the
certificate. I held off on all of the other requirements. Because I really
didnt feel I knew how to teach the stuff, I mean I knew how to do the
stuff well enough to pass the exams. But I think Institution L has been
revamping its pedagogy work and it needed to, because basically at that
time they left you to figure it out on your own, and I finally did, but it was
a slow process.

CD:

And did it at any time ever overlap with any conducting training?

Conductor D:

Only that in Dalcroze-teacher O did a workshop on Dalcroze for

conductors, which I took a couple of times. I mean, its a shortits a,
you know, one-afternoon session of an hour, hour and a half, something
like that. And hes got some great ideasbut thats it. No, Dalcroze was
a hugely important corrective for all the bad things I learned in formal
conducting study. I was a stiff, unmusical, by-the-book conductor, and
very proud of the fact that, you know, I was a minimalist with my
gesture And at a certain point, I got a repetitive strain injury, probably
from playing, but which my conducting technique at the time didnt help
at all. So, Dalcroze probably saved my professional life

CD:

And would you describe your current choral context or where you might
be using any Dalcroze techniques?

Conductor D:

Yah, I have aIve just moved churches, so I have a new church choir.
Its an SATB choir of thirty-five, when they are all there, with four
professionals. And at school, I have a TTBB choir, purely extra-curricular
they meet twice a week, and Im lucky to get 25 minutes a week with
them, and thats high school boys at Institution P. So thats it

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CD:

In your view, what are the hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach to music
education?

Conductor D:

Well, obviously the classic is experience before theory. In terms of

practical music-making, I think perhaps the most important is the whole
body approach - a generously, freely physical approach to making music
of any kind. And, I think the fact that its both very slow and very deep.
Its not going to win any prizes for speed when judged against traditional
music education, but its so deep by comparison. Also, it teaches a whole
lot of things that standard music education tends to feel you either have or
you dont. Whereas, Dalcroze has found ways to teach all of those things,
so, its a great equalizer between the people that are ordinarily gifted and
the people who are much more gifted. Because it teaches you the stuff
that really gifted people knowby instinct.

CD:

What is that stuff?

Conductor D:

Um, well basic stuff, like how to keep a tempo. Your standard music
teachers advice on keeping a tempo if you have a problem is use the
metronome. Well, Dalcroze has a better solution for that. The ability to
feel harmony. To, you know, a sort of sophisticated appreciation of
harmonic tension and movement. You know, thats something that
standard music education thinks if you dont have it, they cant teach it.
Well Dalcroze can teach it. Ah, I think the kind of precision that Dalcroze
inculcates, you know, right from day onea simple thing like going from
a beat to a subdivisionum, you know all that stuff is really assumed. I
mean, I think that standard music education thinks that if you explain to a
student that there are two eighth notes in a quarter-note, that youve given
them all the information they need. And, of course, you havent. And we
get frustrated with them when they cant do that in time. Musicality! I
think people have concerns sometimes about the kind of rule-based
language thats used withyou, know, the Dalcroze rules of nuance, and
rules of accent. But, they are a systematic, teachable approach to musical
expressiveness, which again, I think, is usually assumed. If a student cant
make expressive music, they just have a tin ear for it and theyll never be
able to do it. Well, Dalcroze can take people who maybe arent perhaps
very musical by nature and get them there. So, I mean, I think a whole
bunch of things like that.

CD:

So, what are your goals in incorporating the Dalcroze approach in the
choral context? Musicality, musicianship, ensemble skills, etc. Or, what
have you observed as the outcomes of using the approach?

Conductor D:

Well, one striking outcome was that it got me my present church job, I
think! Well, not really I think I kind of had it going in to the audition.
But, I kind of had to sell myself to the choir, and I told them about
Dalcroze, and if I went there, they were going to get some of that in their

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rehearsals. And if so, you might as well know what its like, and so we
did variations on Frre Jacques. And they came out saying to other
people that they had so much fun doing that and they just loved doing that.
So, my goals in doing it I have very little time with my high school
boys, and relative to the amount of repertoire we have to get through, little
time with my church choir as well. So, what I have tended to do is,
instead of the rather fuller vocal warm-up I used to do, I have a very sort
of short, stereotyped set of vocal exercises that I do that covers it. But, I
no longer invest much effort in trying to be being creative or imaginative
about group vocal technique, which is a loss in a way, but the time for the
people that I work with is much better spent on training their sort of
musical minds. And so, Dalcroze-teacher O in his workshop said that the
greater need is for brain warm-ups, not vocal warm-ups. So, I do a short
warm-up, and then I do a chunk of Dalcroze. And I may take 10 or even
15 minutes on that. And its obviously more focused on solfge
rhythmique than eurhythmics, althoughI have to rehearse in two spaces
with my church choir, and when were in the church hall, I actually do
have the luxury of getting them on their feet and moving, and we do
some One of the particular problems of this choir is tempo. Theyre
smart musically, but they tend to want to sing at any tempo they find
comfortable. And so, Ive done a lot of basic eurhythmics exercises, on
the floor, to get them to have a stronger sense of tempo and a greatera
more intense commitment to it. Um, but most of it is still solfge
rhythmique.
CD:

Are you working with fixed-do?

Conductor D:

Oh dear No, I dont insist on that. Partly because Ive now had to
change back and forth three times, and Im driven completely crazy by it.
And Ive now finally realized that to go further [in Dalcroze training], I
simply have to use fixed-do. And they have a little bit of moveable-do, so
I dont want to mess with that. When its possible, I will give them the
option of using moveable-do, or numbers. And when we do something
where moveable-do would really get in the way, than I just have them sing
on numbers. We do do-to-do scales, but I dont have them sing it on
fixed-do syllables.

CD:

How do they sing it, can you demonstrate?

Conductor D:

I have printed out the scales with the half-steps wherever they occur the
notes are placed close so they get an immediate image of where the half
steps are. And I have a standard half-step/whole-step gesture where a flat
hand is a whole-step and a flat hand leading to a fist, up or down, is a halfstep. Between physicalizing it and having a kind of graphic notation of
itand I dontwe will do one or two in a session. I dontIm not all
that systematic about it. And, of course, I play the relevant version of the
dominant underneath too to help them feel it. We do a fair bit of work on

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whole-steps/half-steps where I play and they have to sing it back on those

words, whole-step/half-step and use the gesture. Later on, Ill ask them
to sing whole-steps and half-steps, and I have a thing I got from Masterteacher A where this is a whole-step ascending [shows gesture], and a
half-step ascending [shows gesture], and a half-step descending/wholestep descending [shows gestures]. Um, and we sing chords, we use
variations on Frre Jacques, we do variations on interrupted eighths, well
use interrupted canon
CD:

Do you clap it or sing it?

Conductor D:

I do both. I had never done it singing until Dalcroze-teacher P did it a

year or two ago, and I thought, what an obvious thing to do, so we do that
sometimes. And sometimes Ill play and theyll clap or Ill play and
theyll step. So, you know, its not by any means a systematic Dalcroze
education I dont have the luxury of time for that. But I can, I think,
really develop their ears, and their sight-singing abilities, and their general
choral musicianship with Dalcroze. So, thats pretty much what I am
trying to do.

CD:

Great. So, what aspects of the Dalcroze approach do you use in the choral
context: eurhythmics, solfge rhythmique, improvisation, or plastique
anime?

Conductor D:

Not plastique. Not really improvisation. Although in very simple ways,

one of the things Ive done, with some success with this choir, is have the
women sing their part, and have the men improvise drumming patterns
underneath, just to a) set a relentless kind under the women, and vice
versa, of course, but also to give them a sense of vitality and buoyancy and
even fun about rhythm. But no, not much. I will improvise, in the way
that a Dalcroze teacher does, but not for them. So, as I said, its mostly
solfge rhythmique, but we do have the luxury of space to move, so we
will do that probably every other, or every three rehearsals, we will take as
much as ten minutes to try to solve a problem on the floor. And, frankly,
even before I did Dalcroze, I was completely convinced about the need for
choirs to move. So, I remember rehearsing my last church choir on the
Hostias from the Mozart Requiem, and it was plodding and dull, so I said,
On your feet. You are going to waltz. And so they waltzed, and
instantly they sang it beautifully. In fact, I should tell you that the very
firstafter one Dalcroze class, I was in front of my choir and we were
doing a Hosanna in excelsis in 7/8 by Composer I, and they could not get
it, and we were clapping And suddenly, I remembered the Dalcroze
way. And I said, almost with mockery, You know, Dalcroze which Im
studying, has a special way to clap, and then I thought, lets try it. So,
they were clapping the triple part of the 7/8 with a more expansive gesture,
and that solved it instantly. I mean, literally, within seconds, Dalcroze
clapping had solved the problem, and it was at that point that I realized

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what a powerful tool it could be. And they were astounded. It was one of
those moments where the choir thinks you are really quite the magician
because youve solved what seemed like a difficult problem easily.
CD:

When working with the repertoire, how do you devise Dalcroze

experiences for the choir? Do you create Dalcroze experiences based on
your vision for the repertoire, or do you integrate Dalcroze training as a
concurrent curriculum to the repertoire, or do you incorporate Dalcroze
techniques in response to the choirs need while learning the repertoire?

Conductor D:

All three. I tend, as I said, to have a Dalcroze component by way of

moving along their choral skills, and their musical skills in general. And
then, I willits my go to thing when we have a problem. I dont tend
to sit down and try and anticipate problems and craft exercises in advance.
I probably did more of that when I was younger. I tend to do it on the fly,
and also, I have little enough time, that I can usually come up with
something to address problems as they happen.

CD:

So, its not a part of your score study?

Conductor D:

Ha! Score study? You know, with like three and four jobs! I do score
study when Im working on a major piece of repertoire, you know, if Im
doing the Mozart Requiem, then Im doing some score study. But, you
know, for the standard Sunday by Sunday repertoire for the church, or the
standard rehearsal by rehearsal repertoire for the kids at school, I frankly,
by now although it would be nice to be able to sit down with the scores
in advance I dont have the time for it, and frankly, I dont think I need it
after this long in the game. But maybe Im just fooling myself, who
knows?

CD:

Do you use the Dalcroze approach to teacher the following: vocal

technique, diction, style, musicianship, ensemble skills, others?

Conductor D:

Musicianship absolutely, probably preeminently. What came after that?

CD:

We can go one by one. Do you use it to teach vocal technique at all?

Conductor D:

Um, only in the sense that I am convinced that much of what goes wrong
with amateur singers is the result of tension. And anything which gives
them a reason to move while they are singing is a) likely to solve vocal
issues, and I think b) illuminate for them the difference between free
singing and tense, constricted singing. Diction? Um, not that I can think
of except in terms of syllable weight. I will often have them physicalize
differing syllable weights in various ways. Do people do that? Do you
have a way of teaching diction with Dalcroze? Tell me all about it
sometime Im very curious

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CD:

I use gesturing more than anything

Conductor D:

Their gestures of your gestures?

CD:

Our gestures. We create gestures in order to capture the movement

qualities in the text.

Conductor D:

Yah. Yes, yes.

CD:

Especially in foreign language diction, where there are sounds that we

dont have in English, but I have also used it for syllable weight, or where
we think the phrase is going in terms of text, or exploring the meaning of
the text. So, I guess I mean diction in any relationship to the text.

Conductor D:

Certainly phrase. I will do certain things to a) establish if they have any

sense of the goal of the phrase, and then b) if they do, then the degree to
which their vision of the phrase is common or whether its conflicting.
So, things like leaning forward to the climax of a phrase and leaning back
towards the end. You can immediately tell visually if they are thinking
about the phrase in the same way. Things like pulling on an imaginary
elastic band I do stuff like that. There are some kinds of accents I will
have them making stabbing gestures for, like a series of accents, you
know, stabbing gestures with an index finger can be a great way for them
to feel that. Or, a dotted rhythm, if I want a particular energy for a dotted
rhythm, Ill have them slam the heel of their hand against an imaginary
wall and bounce off it thats very effective for getting them to do that.
So all that kind of stuff, sure. Style? I think the answer is yes, and what I
said earlier about waltzing for the Hostias is an example of that. Oh,
one thing I love to do for phrases, I havent done this in a while, is have
the choir pair off the choir and push palm-to-palm towards the climax, and
thats something you can do in a regular choir configuration. Im not sure
Im going to be very intelligent about how I use it for style, but I
thinkmy gut tells me I do a fair bit.

CD:

And one last one, which is ensemble skills.

Conductor D:

Well, to the degree that at the moment my choirs main ensemble

challenge if rhythmic, sure. I tend to assume with amateur choirs that they
will assume that the notes are the problem. And I tend to assume that if
you get the rhythms really solid, the pitches more often than not will
follow with apparent ease. So I will often try to solve rhythmic problems
first. Even just having them read the text on rhythm is something I do a
fair bit. But, as I said, everything I am doing with this choir right now is
designed to convince them that a pulse is not optional once the conductor
establishes it. But, beyond that, that its not just a relentless tick, but
that its something that has vibrancy and vitality. And I think the other
piece of that, of course, is gradually convincing them that beats have

217

different functions. Give them a sense of anacrusis. Thats the oneI

seldom get beyond that to worry about metacrusis. But amateurs have no
idea about anacrusis, and if you can give them that, youve solved a
multitude of problems right there. I used to wonder why Conductor I
insisted in his four-gesture that the final beat, which I was always taught
was a small gesture at the top of the pattern, was in fact this great big
offering, this great big scooping from below. And I realized it was just his
way of forcing on his choirs a sense of anacrusis.
CD:

At what point in the learning sequence do you incorporate Dalcroze

approaches?

Conductor D:

Wellgiven that the learning sequence we are talking about is just the
rehearsal?

CD:

Could be the learning sequence of a piece over the course of 2 weeks, or 9

weeks, or just 15 minutes

Conductor D:

Well, as I said, its a kind of invariable part of typically the beginning of

my rehearsals, and then its just introduced to solve problems. I think its
as simple as that.

CD:

Sure. How would you describe the learning dynamic when Dalcroze
approaches are being employed, or as a result of incorporating Dalcroze
approaches?

Conductor D:

People have fun. I inherited a church choir which was very, very serious this recent one - and people did not smile very much. And did not laugh
hardly at all. And, when I first asked them to move, said, We are
Presbyterians, you know And Dalcroze has been, as much as anything,
a vehicle for convincing them that making music can be joyful. And, if it
does nothing else, I think its worth the whole thing there, because I think,
so often, music-making is hard, un-joyful, dry work, and its almost a
wonder that people put up with it. Im in awe of their commitment to the
art, that they will do it under those circumstances. But how much better if
it can be something that, you know, gives fun, and joy, and lightness to
their life. So, thats what happensall of the things that I think we will
hope will happen also happen. They have the musical experience through
Dalcroze which they then readily transfer to their singing, and all of that
happens. But for me, the crucial one is that it makes working together in
the choir a joyful experience.

CD:

And people are expressive of that?

Conductor D:

Oh yah, absolutely. And I can justeven if they hadnt, Ive seen it. Ive
seen them get visibly lighter and smile.

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CD:

How has thethe following questions are a little bit more about you as a
conductorhow has the inclusion of Dalcroze approaches influenced your
view of your role as conductor?

Conductor D:

Well, Ive always thought my role as conductor was primarily a teaching

role. Um, because Im alwaysI seldom have the luxury of conducting
professionals exclusively, almost never Im always dealing with a
mixture of amateurs and professionals, at most. So, there are always
people there that love to sing, but may not have particularly welldeveloped skills. And so, I always see myself in front of the choir first
and foremost as a teacher. But, what Dalcroze has done is given me a) a
sort of core philosophy about how to do that. I mean, Im not just trying
to pluck things out of the dim and distant past, I have a kind of rationale
for what I do and a systematic way of thinking about it, so it gives me a
kind of pedagogical structure which I find really helpful.

CD:

How do you mix together the sort of pedagogical structure it gives you
with the notion of conductor?

Conductor D:

For me, Dalcroze utterly transformed my physical presence in front of the

ensemble. And my approach. I move more freely, Im more generous
with my gestures, ah, I think I know how to incarnate in my physical
presence what I want from them. So, we were singing a very simple thing
it was a Taiz chant, in which there was an elaborate solo going on, but
the choir had essentially four chords that they had to sing over and over
again. And I conducted it continuously, and with a lot of gesture, not
because they needed it to keep together, but because they were so quick to
fall off the kind of buoyancy that I wanted them to feel, so I was standing
there trying to be, and I think succeeding, buoyancy incarnate for them.
And I think it kind of worked. So, a lot about how I hold myself and how
I move and how I conduct and just how I am as a physical presence in
front of the choir has been completely changed and transformed by
Dalcroze.

CD:

Has is changed the way you think about the choir as an instrument?

Conductor D:

Yes, because its given me the tools to lead them to do most of what I
want them to do. Whereas before I think there were whole areas of choral
work I knew they werent doing well, but I didnt have a way of leading
them to do that. And I think now, almost anything that I can imagine
could happen in the music, Dalcroze will give me some way of getting
there.

CD:

So, one last question, how has your personal study of the Dalcroze
approach informed your conducting work in relationship to your score
study, gesture, and rehearsal technique. You said in our last question,
Dalcroze has given you a means to do anything that you imagine could

219

happen in the music. How do develop that imagination for pieces you
havent seen before? Are you tapping into your Dalcroze training to
imagine what that piece could sound like?
Conductor D:

Yes sure, I think thats absolutely true. I mean, my score study is

probably mostly just playing it through and living with it for a little while,
but I think its so deep inside me now that it informs everything I do. If I
had half an hour to sit down and study a piece, its at play there because I
see everything now through that lens.

CD:

And what is it that you hear? What is it that you see in the music?

Conductor D:

Well, I think it gives one a clarity and an intensity about the phrase which
I think is often not there in the absence of Dalcroze. I think the whole
business about the different function of the beats and scale degrees, you
know, you see music in a different way when you realize that beat 4 has a
different function than beat 3. And when you realize that the 4th scale
degree has a very distinct character and color, and feel, and drive I
mean, I think at a certain point, anyone whos been to university
understands that the 7th degree of the scale has a tendency to rise to the
tonic and the 4th degree has a tendency to fall to the median But, you
know, what Dalcroze does is gives you a sort of visceral feeling of that so
those things kind of leap off the page and influence how you hear the
music in your head, and how you teach it.

CD:

And gesture? We talked about how this transformed your gesture already
a bit

Conductor D:

Absolutely. And in the deepest possible way. I went from being a

conductor that used as little gesture as possible and thought that clarity and
a lack of kind of showiness was the hallmark of really fine conducting.
And, its not that Ive become particularly flamboyant even now, but Im
free. The whole body is involved all of the time. And, when necessary,
that may mean much more extravagant gestures, not all the time The
other thing, now that I think of it, was conducting slow tempi was
something I learned from Dalcroze. And I think it was specifically timespace-energy that allowed me to get over the habits that were allowing
conducting to contribute to my repetitive strain injury. I dont think
anybody ever said that the way to get good, fast gestures is to make them
smaller. I was teaching that to three year-olds today. And, you know, I
had some pretty good conducting teachers. And, either they didnt make it
clear to me, or I managed to miss that lesson. I think time-space-energy is
a huge, huge area in which again standard music education knows nothing
about, I mean, the geniuses do it by instinct, and the rest of us just dont
figure it out. Dalcroze actually makes that clear to ordinary mortals.

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CD:

And lastly, how has your study of Dalcroze impacted the way you
approach rehearsal technique?

Conductor D:

Its left me with the confidence that there is always a solution, and most of
the time, I can find it. And I think a lot of conductors, perhaps not at the
kind of level you are thinking of at university with doctorates, but I think a
lot of people that conduct church choirs think there are all these problems
that they just havent a clue how to solve. And I think, first and foremost,
that Dalcroze has given me the confidence that I can figure it out. I have
all these new tools, new to me, tools at my disposal, and I dont ever need
to be the kind of conductor that gets nasty with choirs because Im
frustrated with my inability to solve a problem. So, that whole business of
saving me from kind of conductors crotchetiness But beyond that, it
puts me in a different space, and it puts choirs in a different space, again
because of that sense thatyou know, its not for nothing that Dalcroze
calls all of his methods games. It restores a sense of fun and fun and
playfulness, you know, and even childlikness to what we do together. So,
its just a more positive and humane kind of experience. Im sure theres
other things, but thats the core of it.

CD:

Yes. Is there anything else you would like to add to the conversation
about Dalcroze in the choral context?

Conductor D:

I think that about covers it.

CD:

Thank you, Conductor D. Its been a great experience talking with you!

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Conductor E
Conductor E conducts university and high-school choirs and teaches undergraduate-level
conducting. He holds a Dalcroze License.
CD:

How did you discover Dalcroze?

Conductor E:

When I was at Institution H, I had a wonderful Russian piano teacher that

mid-way through my sophomore year said to me she would ask these
wonderfully direct questions she looked at me and went, Why are you
so uncoordinated? And then she sort of looked at me and said, You
need to take Dalcroze and you need to take modern dance. I just never
disobeyed her because you just didnt disobey Piano-teacher G, so that
summer I went, and I researched all I could, and figured out that the most
Dalcroze I could get would be three weeks at Institution G with Masterteacher B, and then I did three weeks directly after that at Institution K
with Dalcroze-teacher Q. So, six weeks there that summer, and then when
I came back to Institution H in the fall, I started playing about eight
measures for Piano-teacher W, and she stopped me, and said, What
happened? Your tension is all gone. So, from then on, I was pretty much
hooked on eurhythmics.

CD:

And you mentioned that you went forward and studied in other programs
after Institutions G and J?

Conductor E:

Yah, at Institution H, Dalcroze-teacher P was teaching, so I was able to

take several winter term eurhythmics classes with him, and Dalcrozeteacher O was there as well he taught in those winter terms classes.
And then they also brought in Dalcroze-teacher S one winter term. Those
were sort of my main teachers. I did my certificate with Dalcroze teacher
P at Dalcroze training institution K, and then I did my license with Masterteacher B and Dalcroze-teacher H at Institution G.

CD:

Can you describe your current choral context?

Conductor E:

Sure. Im the Director of Choirs at Institution Q, and there I direct the

large mixed choir and the small chamber choir as well. And in the
summers, I teach at Institution Q, and there I direct the womens chorus,
the high school womens chorus, and I also teach eurhythmics for all of
the voice majors.

CD:

In your view, what are the hallmarks of the Dalcroze approach to music
education?

Conductor E:

That it connects movement to sound and sound to movement. Um, and I

think there are any number of ways of getting there. Dalcroze-teacher Q
used to use the term phonomimesis a lot, and he saw it in a very literal

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way for any given sound, there is a given movement, for any given
movement, there is a specific sound. He was very exact and literal, and I
think, you know, in reality, for any given movement there are a number of
fitting musics. And probably for any music, there are a number of fitting
movements as well. But, anything that calls itself Dalcroze is about
connecting the bodys movement to music in a very exact way and a literal
way, such that the expressivity of the music will also show in the
expressivity of the body, and vice versa.
CD:

Great. So, what are your goals when you incorporate the Dalcroze
approach in the choral context (musicality, musicianship skills, musical
independence, physical and mental coordination etc.)? Or, what have you
observed as the learning outcomes of incorporating the Dalcroze
approach?

Conductor E:

I think, for me, how I learned music was so connected to the Dalcroze
method that its difficult for me to think about any one goal. I use it for all
of those. For me, if theres a problem in the sound, there are any number
of ways you can fix it. You can talk about it. You can move it. Those are
the two I think of a lot. And so, for any given issue, I try to both
physicalize it for the singers, and intellectualize it for the singers, and
usually, in that order. So, lets think about the common issues that come
up in a choral rehearsal, starting with warm-ups, and getting the breath
moving I will almost always have my singers move in such a way as to
reflect the movement of the breath, or the shape of the line we are singing
in the warm-up, or even the shape of the vowel that the mouth is doing in
the warm-up. Things to externalize the internal experience of the music.
Rhythmic things. Dalcroze, especially if you read his rhythmique
booksso much is done while conducting. So, when Im dealing with
rhythmic issues, which is probably the first thing I took from Dalcroze, is
that most rhythmic issues are related to not being able to keep clearly in
ones mind the rhythm and its relationship to the meter. And, different
conductors have solved that in different ways. Of course, Conductor U
had his choirs famously constantly count-singing, ah, which is a way of
applying the meter to the rhythm, subdividing the rhythm into the metric
subdivisions. I very frequently have my choirs conducting while they are
singing, or conducting while they are stepping, or various things to
somehow physicalize the meter or physicalize the rhythm. Um, ok, so
thats simple rhythmic issues. Issues of the shape of the line, or a gesture,
rightto have the gesture have the right shapefor them to find an
expressive gesture, an expressive movement that fits that gesture. I dont
usually plan these things, but something comes up, and thats really a
reach-up that isnt fulfilled, and you dont get to what it is, and
rehearsing that motion with them, until theyre really feeling that motion,
and then adding the voice on top of that, so that they find it that way.
Even issues of intonation. I took so much from Dalcrozes solfge
approach with the do-to-do scales. And theres a warm-up I use a lot

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where Ill take my hands, showing my five fingers, and I use those five
fingers to represent five steps in the scale. So, if Im holding my hand up
so you are looking at the back of my palm, my pinky would be like do,
and my ring finger would be like re, and my middle finger like mi,
and my pointer finger like fa, and my thumb like so. But then I set the
key, or the distance between them, by if I brought my pinky and ring
finger together, and left a space between my ring and middle fingers, that
would be like going C Db Eb. I use the distance between my fingers to
represent the whole and half steps they are singing. And then I point to
various fingers and can create little modulations by changing the distance
between my fingers as I do that. Which I think is a very Dalcrozian way
to get singers to think about whole and half steps. Thats not of my own
creation. I learned that from Conductor K, who taught for a long time at
Institution S. And he credited it to Conductor L, who I think was at
Institution T for a long time with coming up with that exercise. In any
case, its a classic Dalcrozian way of doing that. I spend a lot of time with
my singers, especially at Institution Q, a good 20% of every rehearsal,
doing various sight-singing and ear-training things. Being in an
educational setting, I think that is sotheyre not as good at sight-singing
as they need to be, so thats a huge part of it. But, also, applying sightsinging to the choral rehearsal teaches them to listen to their music in a
different way, and to be much more conscious of the notes they are
singing. One of the other things I do a lot with them, which I also think of
as being very related to Dalcroze, is when we are doing a warm-up, I will
often have them switch to singing it on scale degrees, or, Ill tell them the
key, and they have to sing it on letter names. Things that really require
them to conceptualize the notes that they are singing. For any choral
problem, I can usually think of a physical or Dalcrozian solution to it. For
me, thats how I learned to solve those issues for myself, so thats how I
tend to solve them when Im working with a choir.
CD:

Sure. So, the third question. What aspects of the Dalcroze approach do
you tend to use in the choral context: eurhythmics, solfge rhythmique,
improvisation, or plastique anime?

Conductor E:

I dont use much improvisation. I could maybe use more. It invites so

much creativity, and I wish I incorporated that more. Eurhythmics,
certainly. In terms of moving gesture and moving lines, both in place and
moving around the room as well. I will say, something that hate that I
have often seen, when choral conductors quote unquote start using
eurhythmics, is theyll just have all of the singers march around in a circle
in time while they sing. I just hate it. I cant stand itbecause so many
times when they are moving in the circle, they are moving in this
unmusical, gangly, loafish way, and the point of eurhythmics is to move
the music, and if thats how you are moving, thats how your music is
going to sound. So, the first time I have a choir move across the floor, I
will take a good twenty minutes just getting them to walk in a really

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graceful way, and I will specifically take a piece of music that we can then
apply that grace to the singing of it, and I almost never have them go in a
circle. If the rooms not big enough, Ill have half of them stay off to the
side, or on the risers, changing directions, in straight lines, changing the
direction at the phrases things like that rather than the deadly Dalcroze
circle. Plastique anime I use less frequently than I would like. I use it a
lot in my own score preparation for me, Ill have chosen music, and one
of the early stages of learning the piece for me, if theres a good recording
of it, I will often prepare a solo plastique for myself to the music. Its just
a quick way for me to basically aurally memorize the music and get a
sense of physically how the score feels. Its not me doing a plastique with
them, but its that preparation that then lets me pull things from that
plastique as needed, and teach those motions for the choir. I have on
occasion, but rarely, done plastiques with choirs, and I think thats a
wonderful thing to do. When I choose easy enough music that actually
allows enough time to explore all of the music. You know, I think its
really great to have a choir coming up with movements and
choreographies to the piece, and really thinking about, what movements
does this music inspire in us? And then, to reverse that, and say, in our
performance, how can we more strongly inspire that sense of motion in
our listeners? So, even if they were sitting still, they would feel that they
are moving, or quite literally being moved, in various ways by what we
sing. And Ill often do that on a phrase level, with particular phrases, but
its rare, and I wish I did more, its rare that I will do that for an entire
piece or movement. I dont use plastique nearly as much as I would like.
You know, the Dalcroze solfge method, a lot of people call solfgerhythmique. But I really think thats a misnomer. He wrote one little
book, called a Preparation for Rhythmic Solfge its like 40 or 50
pages, and its tiny, and I really think its secondary to his solfge method.
A lot of people think that book because Dalcroze-teacher Q translated it,
and sold for a number of years a translation of it. Originally, Dalcroze
wrote three volumes of Les gammes et les tonalits, and thats really the
heart of his solfge method. And then he also, just prior to that, 1898 if I
recall, he has one little, honestly 14-page volume, which is a volume on
intonation for singers, and I forget the title, but I have a Dalcroze
bibliography I can pull that from And all that is is an explanation of the
do-to-do scales. And I do, I use the do-to-do scales a lot in choral warmups with them. At Institution Q, we use moveable-do solfge. So when
we do them, we will either sing them on moveable-do, or on note names,
with or without the accidentals. And as you dive into the Dalcroze solfge
method, its really a method of orienting oneself within a key and the
ability to quickly change that key and reorient oneself within the new key.
And its a wonderful way just the simple study of the whole and half
steps of teaching singers to sing in tune, without them ever realizing that
you are teaching them to sing in tune. Because you are teaching them to
be aware of the whole and half steps. Unlike a pianist who sees the
missing half steps between the whole steps, a singer doesnt, and so often,

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youll have them sing a major scale, and youll find the mi is a little bit
flat. Its like they try and change the whole-whole-half at the beginning of
the scale to be like these equal subdivisions of a perfect fifth, which of
course they are not. That awareness of half and whole steps is the main
thing that intonation is about. And so, I do just enormous amounts of that,
usually in the warm-ups related to hearing the distance between notes,
really the true sense of interval measuring the distance between them.
CD:

Cool. Lets see, number 4. When working with the repertoire, how do
you devise Dalcroze experiences for the choir? Do you create Dalcroze
experiences based on your vision for the repertoire, or do you introduce
Dalcroze as a concurrent curriculum to the repertoire, or do you
incorporate Dalcroze techniques in response to the choir while learning the
repertoire?

Conductor E:

Mostly the third. As I said, I learn the piece in plastique before I get in
front of the choir. And so, thats my Dalcroze preparation to teach a
piece. But, for instance, here at Institution R, I have the fortunate
experience of teaching all of the singers eurhythmics. They see me three
days a week for an hour each for eurhythmics and I see them in choir. So,
Im lucky in the sense that I can be working on their physical technique on
a regular basis. So, then I do a lot more integration of eurhythmics into
the rehearsal here, just because Im not starting from scratch with the
singers. I dont have to teach them how to move in different qualities of
motion because I get them three days a week in the morning, and I have
the luxury to respond to different qualities of music with different qualities
of motion. And, to build in different rhythmic challenges in their
movement as well, and that, that is the ideal, and we dont often get that.
Um, lots of people talk very fondly about when Conductor F was
conducting the choirs at Institution H, and Dalroze-teacher I was teaching
eurhythmics there at the same time. And he studied eurhythmics with her.
She taught a faculty eurhythmics class, and I think the reason it worked so
well when he integrated eurhythmics in the choral rehearsal was because
his students were already doing it with her. And so, there was this
understanding about what it was aboutand how to move Um, and I
actually think you can do harm if you do it wrong. Like the deadly
Dalcroze circleI always think about it in that sense when they dont
have the concurrent eurhythmics training, if you are going to incorporate it
into the choral rehearsal, then you are both their choral teacher and their
eurhythmics teacher. And you have to do both I taught at Institution U
for their summer choral conducting program, and the thing I always
emphasized there is: how they move is how they sing. So, look at their
motion, and if its not how you want them to sound, then fix the motion,
and spending the time rehearsing and perfecting the motion until it has all
the beauty, all the shape, or all the anger, all the fire that the piece you are
working on needs to have. Um, and then you will get all of that in the
sound, and it will be ever so much more visceral. So yah, when I do it

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here at Institution R, its concurrent, and I love that, and its a dream, and I
wish I had that at Institution Q - where I had them all for movement! But,
when I integrate it, it usually takes the form of my teaching them a
movement, and rehearsing the movement, because by and large, I havent
done the movement vocabulary work with them theres just not the time
to where they are going to come up with fitting movements. Some of
them will. I mean, Dalcroze said this himself, some people dont need
eurhythmics they just feel it and do it. And thats great. But, by and
largeand Dalcroze-teacher T did it at the national conference, he said
something about that too with the adolescent demonstration class, it was
just wonderful, he said, um, They dont start with a movement
vocabulary you have to teach them a movement vocabulary. And, its
absolutely true. You teach them the movement vocabulary and they
gradually expand and develop it on their own. Um, so when I use it in
rehearsals thats almost always the first thing, lets learn the movement
vocabulary, now lets apply it to this piece.
CD:

Mm hmm. Very interesting. Lets move on to number 5. Do you use the

Dalcroze techniqueand you may have highlighted some of these
alreadyto teach the following: vocal technique, diction, musical style,
musicianship skills, ensemble skills. We can go one by one if you like?

Conductor E:

Sure. Vocal technique was first, right? Its worth saying that movement
to teach vocal technique is sometimes Dalcrozian in that it connects to
sound, and its sometimes not Dalcrozian at all in that youre making
external the sense of internal motion. A classic example of that is having
someone spin their arms in front of them to get the feeling of breath flow.
Um, thats great, it definitely gives a sense of motion, but the musical line
may just be a held note, and there may be a sense of motion, but probably
not free spinning motion like that, but more of a sustained glide or even a
pressing motion to it. So, I use movement a lot to teach vocal technique,
but I wouldnt say that its exactly Dalcrozian, or its certainly not always
Dalcrozian. Sometimes it is.

CD:

And just to be clear about that, Conductor E, its Dalcrozian when its a
representation of the music in the movement?

Conductor E:

Yes, exactly. And otherwise, its movement to teach vocal technique,

which is wonderful. But theres not necessarily anything particularly
Dalcrozian about that.

CD:

Sure. Ok, and what about diction?

Conductor E:

Diction, yes, somewhat. A lot of diction, especially choral diction is about

unifying rhythmically the different part of a word or words getting them
together. I think right now we are working on Vaughan Williams Dona
Nobis Pacem here at Institution R. And so, if you take even the first

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movement, so beat, beat drum, blow bugles blow [sings in rhythm]

If you look at just the words, words that are one syllable, like drum end
up having to have two syllables to be understood. Or, blow, right?
With the orchestra doing what they are doing, drum, blow [speaks with
one syllable only], you end up totally losing the text Da-rum-mih balow make it work, right? So those two one-syllable words become, Darum-mih ba-low 5 different phonemes when you split it up. But
splitting it up isnt enough. As a solo singer, you can be understood, but
as a choir singer, you have to do it at the exact same moment as well, so I
will often have them put the newly created rhythm into motion, and
sometimes into body percussion to make that totally come together. There
are other elements of diction I use it a lot for. The word stress I talk a lot
with my choirs about stresses at different levels. AboutI say
microscopic and macroscopic stresses. If we are talking about the
word stress of the phrase, to actually move, to be gesturing the word stress
of the multiple-syllable words the scansion, as it were. Um, the poetic
scansion. And then zooming out to look at the more macro level, to look
at the macro level of the phraseand then to move both at once. To, say,
with the body move on the floor shaping the phrase speeding up and
slowing down with the shape of the phrase, while showing with the arms
the microscopic word stresses as well. So the twothe shape of the
microscopic has to happen within the shape of the macro. I think its
Thomas Grubb in his book that speaks about the different levels of diction,
where the first level is just being able to pronounce every sound of every
word correctly, and then the second level is to pronounce the sound of
every words correctly within the right rhythm and stress of the language,
and then the third level is to have all that and to also understand the larger
meaning and the shaping of the poetry. So, I think movement is a great
way to integrate all of that. Ah, yah, thats sort of how I use it for diction.
CD:

Ah, musical style?

Conductor E:

Musical style, thats huge. Musical style equals movement style in my

book. And so, if youre doing a classical-era Mozart work, thats entirely
different than if you are singing O Fortuna from Carmina Burana, for
example. You know, and theres a particularly, especially in Mozart, and
Haydn as well, theres a certain cleanliness in that style where just putting
singers into that posture, and just getting them to walk in that sort ofto
walk with their corsets on, and with their big powdered wigs on their
heads, they suddenly start singing in a different style as well, and, you
know, to put oneself in that time period, and move in the style of that time
periodand Ill show pictures from dance textbooks from different eras as
well so that they can even copy the posture of different time periods. Ah,
I think is just a delightful way to get students into different styles. Or, you
can go to the opposite extreme with O Fortuna, where you are talking
about the beginnings of modern dance where if ballet is by and large about
weightlessness and being up, modern dance is about weight and

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downward, and a sense of embracing gravity. And getting students to

move with that sort of weight and style is a totally different experience
and way of singing and thinking. And then the weightless moments
within the piece are so special and unique because they are different, you
know? I think of the Dulcissime, that wonderful soprano solo in Carmina
Carmina is on my mind because theres a band next door that is playing
an arrangement of movements from it but that Dulcissime, which is a
perfect example of that utterly weightless motion, and it has that moment
where she gives herself over to him, of course its not a choral movement,
its for soprano, but you know, to have those varieties of movement they
correspond so exactly to what I mean about style. And if you can get
students into the physical character of the time, and of the piece, it
changes so wonderfully the sound with which they sing. Suddenly they
sing in that style without your ever having to go into, Ok, this is classical
era style singing Its all there intuitive. If you move that way, you
cant help but sing that way.
CD:

Mmm. Wow. The next one is musicianship skills we may have already
addressed that? And the last one is ensemble skills.

Conductor E:

Ensemble skills, yah, I should do it more with ensemble skills. When we

talk about ensemble skills, Im very scientific about it. Theres rhythm,
intonation, balance, and diction are the four I consider ensemble skills.
And, um, rhythm, I use conducting and various other movements, so, fine.
Intonation I mainly address with the do-to-do scales and things like that.
But we also use some exercises from Conductor M, which are not
Dalcroze-related, but which are just delightful. And balance, well huh,
take a Bach chorale, I love to torture students by going like one quarter
tempo through a Bach choral, and having them sing not on solfge, not on
words, but on what part of the chord they are on. So, if youre on the third
of the chord, you sing third. If youre on the fifth, sing fifth, and so
on and so forth. If youre on a non-harmonic tone, label it pass for
passing, neighb for neighbor, and we talk a lot about tuning of chord,
equal temperament versus tuning closer to the overtone series. Thats not
really Dalcrozian, but its a way I address balance. And, oh, I said
rhythm, I said balance, and diction? We talked a little bit about diction
vowel shape is huge. I do frequently, in warm-ups, I do a lot of hand
shapes representing vowel shapes and I have them do that in various ways,
and doing a lot of shaping with their hand to show me the shape of their
tongue. And that borders Dalcrozian, but again, I think it comes back to
thats movement to help vocal technique, not necessarily actually
connected to the sound, so I wouldnt put that in my Dalcroze handbag,
just in my tricks handbag.

CD:

Sure. So, number 6. At what point in the learning sequence do you

incorporate Dalcroze experiences?

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Conductor E:

Every stage. On first reading, we will be conducting as we are reading.

And, as it gets better, we will be refining our conducting to also reflect the
dynamic we are singing, so our conducting is becoming more and more
musical. And then well be working with some of the diction things I
mentioned the word stress and the larger stress of the phrase, and then,
you know, as we further refine, working on specific gestural moments
within it, or getting ourselves within the body language of the music as
well. So, its throughout.

CD:

Great! How would you describe the learning dynamic in your classes
when you use Dalcroze approaches, or as a result of incorporating
Dalcroze approaches?

Conductor E:

I think it entirely depends on how successfully I present the Dalcroze

approach. Ive had things backfire on me, and students be totally shy and
reluctant to move, and just created a tense dynamic instead of freeing
things up, and that was when I first started incorporating Dalcroze into
choral rehearsals, and thinking, surely theyll move just the way I move,
because doesnt everyone move just the way I move? No, of course, they
dont. And I didnt either. And it made me go back and think about after
my second summer doing six weeks of Dalcroze, I came back into my first
senior year I was five years at Institution H, and my friends were all
saying things to me like, You move differently, Youre so much more
relaxed. My Dalcroze training was transformative for me in that sense.
So, and yah So, now when I do it, I remember that, and I start with
something they can do, and gradually expand to things that are less like
their normal day-to-day body motion, and would feel strange, if we hadnt
gotten there gradually, but they dont realize its not part of their normal
motion. But, I think, by and large, when you let them move and keep
them moving, they love to move. People have to sit still for so much of
their lives and their bodies just arent built for that. Theres great joy in
moving. So, by and large, yah, it brings joy into the rehearsal. Once you
get over that initial fear of, Wait, you want me to move? Ah, yah!

CD:

Great! Ah, how has the inclusion of Dalcroze approaches influenced your
view of your role as conductor?

Conductor E:

Ah, not as much as it should have. Theres a wonderful line in Dalcrozes

introduction to his first volume, Les gammes et les tonalits, where he
says, um, what is the line? Oh, the tyranny of nuance forced upon the
singers by the conductor! He was very big, especially early in his career,
on teaching the rules of nuance. The idea that the musicians would learn
to find the nuance themselves rather than having it imposed on them. Um,
boy I wish I were always like that. But there are times when I simply say,
Measure 14, crescendo, measure 17, decrescendo. Where I go with
expedience rather than helping them find the physical why of that
crescendo. What is that really about? When I am at my most Dalcrozian

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as a conductor, its about having the singers experience the physical

implications of the piece and translating them into sound so that they are
ever more apparent. And Dalcroze has really helped me get better at that.
I am still a bit of a scientist, and when I am at my least Dalcrozian, I am
still a tyrant imposing the nuance on the choir. And sometimes that
works, but if it comes from them and they do it physically, you only have
to do it once and they remember it forever. Theres another line from that
introduction that I think is just wonderful, Dalcroze quotes a philosopher,
and Im not going to remember the philosopher, but he says, um,
something like, The music has to become more than just painted on the
soul, but attached to the soul. When the nuance and the rhythm comes
from their own physical being, it s already attached to them, and it sticks.
I think the Dalcroze study has mainly influenced me in that I see an ideal
goal where all the music is coming out of this shared physical experience,
and I dont always, I would even say rarely, sadly, do I get there always
with a piece of music with the choir. But, it stands there as a utopian, sort
of ideal to strive for. And it certainly makes our rehearsals more musical
and more musically and emotionally satisfying when I actively work
towards that.
CD:

How has your personal study of the Dalcroze approach influenced your
approach to the following: score study, gesture, and rehearsal technique?

Conductor E:

Score study, I move while I study the score. I move the lines even
sitting still, Im hearing implied motion. There was a wonderful point,
when I was so immersed in Dalcroze study, especially when I was
studying it there at Institution H, and then going and studying it in the
summers as well, this wonderful point happened, when I would see people
gesture, and I would hear the music for that gesture in my mind. And it
was the weirdest sort of kinesthetic experience. And I still get that a bit,
but Im not doing Dalcroze every moment of my life anymore, sadly. But,
I think thats huge in score study. And, even when Im not moving, Im
imagining moving. And then I am moving, because Im always building a
plastique for myself. What was the next thing?

CD:

Conducting gesture.

Conductor E:

Right, well that becomes the conducting gesture! Your plastique put it
in the shape of a pattern, and you have your conducting gesture. All the
conductors gesture is is where you have to be at a certain time, but how
you get there, thats what the music is about. And so, thats straight from
plastique. And the, yah, rehearsal technique, thats sort of everything
weve been talking about so far.

CD:

Is there anything else you would like to add to the discussion regarding the
use of the Dalcroze approach in the choral context?

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Conductor E:

No. Well, I think whats unique about me is that I work primarily as a

choral conductor, but Im one of the few choral conductors I know that
also does a lot of Dalcroze teaching, and so I do it differently. I
mentioned to one of my friends here at Institution R about your
dissertation, and that we were going to be talking, and she said, Yah, I
went to a New York state music education conference and someone was
giving a presentation on eurhythmics in the choral rehearsal, and they
were having people trudge around the room while singing, and my friend
said, Having been in a few of your eurhythmics classes, I just sat there
wanting to scream, this isnt eurhythmics, this isnt what its about! Um,
on the one hand, Im always so excited when someone wants to use
Eurhythmics, but on the other hand, it drives me nuts when I see it used,
when people think they are doing eurhythmics, and its instead some type
of terribly unmusical movement. Thats just always myI get nervous
when I hear about conductors using eurhythmics when they maybe dont
have any eurhythmics experience themselves.

CD:

Thank you Conductor E. I really appreciate your perspective and your

sharing your experience, as both a Dalcroze teacher and choral conductor!

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Appendix E - A Dalcroze-based Score Study Sequence for

Conductors - Toms Luis de Victorias Amicus Meus, No. 1
from the Tenebrae Responsories (1584)
This exercise is based on a presentation given at the Dalcroze Society of America national
conference in Seattle, WA on June 18, 2012. As a practical and perhaps underexplored aspect of
the Dalcroze approach in application to the conductors work, this presentation was designed to
demonstrate how conductors may incorporate bodily exploration into score study. Inspiration
for this presentation came from three sources: (1) Timothy Caldwells Suggestions for learning
a score musically from his book, Expressive singing: Dalcroze Eurhythmics for voice (1995, pp.
166-167), (2) Jaques-Dalcrozes statement, Musical thought is the result of a state of emotion,
and a musical score may record this emotion (1921b, p. 105), and (3) the researchers own
experimentation with a body-based type of score study, including the preparation of Toms Luis
de Victorias Amicus Meus for a conducting audition in June 2012.

This Dalcroze-based score study sequence aims to follow the same pedagogical sequence found
in a typical Dalcroze Eurhythmics class, beginning with sensory experience (aural and
kinesthetic), and leading to affective response, cognitive analysis (including visual analysis), and
finally, the preparation of conducting gestures and rehearsal strategies. It was created to address
the following questions: How can the kinesthetic sense become involved in conductor score
study? What strategies can help the conductor build a personally-informed and musically
accurate and expressive vision for the music? How can the conductor bridge the gap between
aural/visual analysis of the score and the use of conducting gesture? What score study strategies
prepare the conductor to develop movement-based rehearsal exercises for the choir?

Score study sequence:

1. Choose a quality recording(s) of the piece. Find a space where your whole body can
move freely. Listen to the recording, and as you do, respond in movement to the sounds
that you hear. Allow the music to dictate your bodys motion. Avoid applying gesture to
the music, or attempting to choreograph its motion. Instead, simply respond

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spontaneously to sound. Move the whole body, or any part of it, as you feel lead,
including your breath, limbs, torso, head etc.
2. Listen again. Do you hear something different this time? Notice how the music is
moving you. Are you responding to the sound by moving in lines, in circles, by floating,
or by stomping? Are you responding to the musics color, meter, rhythmic patterns,
dynamics, phrase, harmonic motion?
3. Listen a third time, but listen in a seated posture, translating your whole-body movement
into a more internalized sense of motion. Work to aurally memorize the score. Can you
hear ahead to anticipate the next section or entrance? Develop a gestalt for the score, a
feeling for the entire composition (Caldwell, 1995, p. 124).
4. List some of your impressions. How does the music moving through your body make
you feel? How did you move? Which parts of the music did you embody? What are the
physical sensations associated with the music? List some of the affective qualities of the
music.
5. List what you know about the music based on your whole-body explorations (a basic
analysis of the music without referencing the score). Here are some ideas of what you
may already know:
a. Tonality: major/minor/atonal?
b. Voicing: male/female voices, number of parts, divisi?
c. Texture: monophonic/homophonic/polyphonic ?
d. Form/Design: repetition vs. contrast/number of sections?
e. Meter/Rhythm: time signature/rhythmic patterns/use of rhythmic devices/
polyrhythmic?
f. Other identifiable compositional devices: use of harmony, use of melody, use of
phrasing, use of dynamics, use of articulation, use of time-duration?
6. Read the text of the music without referencing the score. What affective response does
the text evoke? What is the relationship between the text and the music? Does the
composer use the music to reveal the text, and if so, how?
The sign by which my friend betrayed me was a kiss:
He whom I kiss, that is he: hold him fast.
He who committed murder by a kiss gave this wicked sign.
The unhappy wretch repaid the price of blood and in the end hanged himself.
It had been better for that man if he had never been born.

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7. Listen again with the text in mind.

8. Look at the written score. How does the notation compare to your experience and
impressions of the music? In what ways does the notation capture your experience of the
music? In what ways does the notation fail to capture your experience for the music?
Connect the translation to the music notation (word for note).
9. Avoid marking the score. Continue your conversation with the music by selecting a short
portion or line in the music. Move while you speak/sing the line. How would you like to
articulate or shape the line? Connect the notation with your movement and your vocal
sounds.

OR

10. Practice integrating your movement-musical intentions into a conducting pattern, but do
not be constricted by the pattern. Traditional conducting patterns emphasize beat-quality
and meter. Experiment with ways to show line and shape. How do the rhythmics of
the music interact with the plastique of the music (Shenenberger, 2008)? In the case of
polyphonic music, as in the Victoria, how can you indicate the shapes of the lines while
also meeting the technical demands of the music (cuing parts, maintaining steady tactus),
for example, in the following passage?

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11. Develop score-marking strategies that reflect the motion/emotion of the music.
12. Develop a personal choreography for the music as a memorization tool (plastique
anime).
13. Develop Dalcroze rehearsal techniques under the following categories:
a. Mental/aural challenges in the score: Develop Dalcroze exercises/games to aid
choristers to develop the necessary awareness, concentration, and ensemble skills
required by the score.
b. Musical challenges (rhythmic and plastique) in the score: Develop Dalcroze
exercises to aid choristers to meet the specific technical and musical challenges of
the music.
c. Develop a choral plastique or large-scale movement exercise to help choristers
learn the entire score.

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Appendix F - Dalcroze Rehearsal Techniques for John

Taveners The Lamb (1974)
This rehearsal sequence is an adaptation of various Dalcroze-based exercises that were both preprepared and developed during rehearsals with the Trinity Western University Chamber Singers
in the Fall of 2012.

Dalcroze rehearsal activities are designed to answer the following question: What skills and
experiences are necessary to create an accurate and expressive performance of this piece? These
activities were developed (1) in the score study process, as a means of targeting areas of
technical and musical challenge, and (2) in rehearsals, as a means of fixing technical and musical
challenges as they arose.
The following areas were defined as areas of technical and musical challenges in John Taveners
The Lamb.
A. Use of atonality, including retrograde and inversion of a tone row.
B. Use of the rhythmic device twice-as-slow (Jaques-Dalcroze, 1921b).
C. Use of linear melodic motion (atonal) vs. vertical harmonic motion (tonal).
D. Use of non-metrical motion in the poetic shaping of text, including the use of tenuti,
agogic accents, and free tempo.

A. Atonality
Tavener employs a 7-note tone row as the main musical material in the A section of The Lamb.
This tone row is also presented in retrograde, in inversion, and in retrograde of the inversion:

Tone row original:

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Retrograde:

Inversion:

Retrograde of the inversion:

Objectives:
1. To develop G as a pitch-centre.
2. To teach the Dalcroze concept of intervals as measured distance.
3. To develop accuracy with measuring intervals up to the major third above and below the
pitch-centre of G.
Dalcroze Techniques:
1. Work to develop a strong sense of pitch memory for G. Beginning warm-ups on G. Ask
choristers to hum G at the beginning of the warm-up or at various points during rehearsal.
2. Teach the following a cappella warm-up: Sing G on oo vowel while gesturing a flat
hand, palm-down. Ascend a semitone, raising hand to show two bent fingers (minor
second). Return to G and flat palm. Descend a semitone, lowering hand to show two
bent fingers (minor second). Return to G and flat palm. Ascend a whole-tone, raising
hand to show to extended fingers (major second). Return to G and flat palm. Descend a
whole-tone, lowering hand to show two extended fingers (major second). Return to G
and flat palm. Ascend a minor third, raising hand to show three bent fingers (minor
second). Return to G and flat palm. Descend a minor third, lowering hand to show three
bent fingers (minor third). Return to G and flat palm. Ascend a major third, raising hand
to show three extended fingers (major third). Return to G and flat palm. Descend a
major third, lowering hand to show three extended fingers. Return to G and flat palm.
3. Walk forward as you sing an ascending chromatic scale, taking small steps. Walk
backwards as you sing a descending chromatic scale, taking small steps.
4. Walk forward as you sing an ascending whole-tone scale, taking larger steps. Walk
backwards as you sing a descending whole-tone scale, taking larger steps.
5. In order to combine the tone row in its original and inverted forms, stand in an inwardfacing circle. Voice parts may be mixed. Sing mm. 15-16 (on text or on note name) and
step inwards if the note ascends and outwards if the note descends. Return to the circle
when singing G. Measure the size of the step based on the size of the interval. Make eye

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contact with another chorister while you sing the phrase, preferably with the opposite
voice part.

B. Twice-as-slow
In mm. 9-10 and mm. 19-20, Tavener makes use of twice-as-slow, or augmentation, doubling the
value of each note.

Objectives:
1. To switch easily between original tempo and twice-as-slow.
2. To acquire a sense of time-duration as an expressive parameter of music (JaquesDalcroze, 1921b)
Dalcroze Techniques:
1. Stand in a circle and establish a common pulse at quarter-note = 80. Have choir clap this
pulse with a medium-sized circular clap. On a signal, switch to twice as slow, quarternote = 40. Clap size should be twice as large. Alternate. Combine both.
2. Step the pulse of the music (improvised at piano) at quarter-note = 80. Step twice as slow
as the piano, stepping every other note. When the piano switches to twice-as-slow, step
twice-as-fast as the piano, stepping twice for every note. Alternate, stepping the opposite
of the piano. Or, when the piano plays twice-as-slow, step the slow pulse, and clap the
off-beat.
3. Sing m. 9-10, stepping eighth-notes.
4. Sing mm. 9-10, stepping each note value. Insert eighth-note complements (clapping) if
note values are inaccurate.

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C. Linear melodic motion (atonal) vs. vertical harmonic motion (tonal)

Mm. 1-6 employ 1 and 2-voice linear melodic motion (monophony). Mm. 7-10 employ 4-voice
vertical harmonic motion (homophony). Mm. 1-6 are atonal and do not imply a strong sense of
harmonic motion (tension and release). Mm. 7-10 are tonal, making use of functional harmony
and a sense of tension and release.

mm. 5-6

mm. 7-8

Objectives:
1. To distinguish the qualities of linear melodic motion (atonal) and vertical harmonic
motion (tonal).
Dalcroze Techniques:
1. Play a game with body shapes/hand shapes. Play chord clusters at the piano (chord
clusters may repeat on a pulse). With each changing cluster, create a different body/hand
shape. Make shapes in pairs or in threes.

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2. Stand in an inward-facing circle, raise hands, and touch palms with adjacent choristers.
Sing m. 7, pressing into the palm of adjacent choristers towards the dissonance on the
third note, such. Gradually release the tension in the palms as the phrase dissipates
towards voice at the end of the measure. Repeat for m. 8.
3. Step and sing mm. 1-6, taking you own path as you sing. By the end of the last note of
m. 6, bright, arrive in a line formation. On the downbeat of m. 7, walk as a choir in one
single direction.

D. Use of non-metrical motion in the poetic shaping of text, including the use of tenuti,
agogic accents, and free tempo
Tavener writes the music without a time signature, indicating to sing with flexibility, guided by
the stress of the words. He also stipulates that the music should be sung with extreme
tenderness.

Objectives:
1. To reflect on the meaning of the text and the composers choices in the musical setting of
the text.
2. To develop an affective response to the music.
3. To convert affective response into musically accurate and expressive choral performance.
Dalcroze Techniques:
1. Read the text aloud. Have one person read the first stanza, as the question, and another
person read the second stanza, as the answer to the question. Discuss affective response
to the poem. How does the composer capture the text in the music? For example, in m.
11, why does the music move ahead in tempo?

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2. Expressively speak a line from the piece. Connect this expressive delivery with free
conducting of the music (non-metrical conducting). What shape is in the music?
3. Sing while using free conducting or free movement.
4. Develop a plastique anime for the music, or alternatively, ask choristers to develop their
own plastique. Perform the plastiques and discuss how the choristers embodied the
music.

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Copyright Acknowledgements
The Lamb
Music by John Tavener
Copyright 1982 Chester Music Limited.
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
Used by permission.