Description
The Dalcroze approach, often identified as Eurhythmics, consists of three related
components. The first component is solfege rhythmique, or ear training. Jaques-Dalcroze
believed that students must learn sophisticated listening skills and develop "inner hearing."
Musicians should be able to hear what they write and write what they hear. Music notation is
meaningless unless realized in real performance or in the imagination. Rhythmic solfege is taught
using the fixed-do approach, based on the French system. Students develop a sensitivity to
pitches, their relation to each other, and to the tonal framework. What makes Dalcroze solfege
unique is that it is always combined with rhythm and movement, both locomotor and
nonlocomotor.
The second component of a Dalcroze music education is improvisation. Improvisation skills
are developed sequentially and used in many ways. An instructor may play the piano while
students improvise movement, react spontaneously to verbal instructions, or change in musical
character. In the reverse, a student might improvise movement while another accompanies with a
drum, at the piano, or in song. Students soon develop skills to be able to improvise musically and
expressively on their own instruments. These spontaneous performance activities are designed to
improve response time and communication accuracy (Mead, 1994).
The third aspect of the approach is the eurhythmics itself. Often considered the core of the
Dalcroze approach, eurhythmics was actually the last part to be developed. Eurhythmics involves
the action of participants reacting to music through purposeful and spontaneous movement. The
music provided for the movement is most often improvised from the keyboard. Lessons are
sequenced to allow for both discovery and success. Partner and small group activities are
highlighted in order to reinforce peer learning and group collaboration. All elements of music
can be presented in a eurhythmics class. However, these elements are presented in a spiral
approach with increasing challenges to match the participants' progress in musical understanding
and sophistication.