The Dalcroze Approach : Experiencing and Knowing Music through Embodied Exploration

Abstract

This chapter addresses the aims, content areas, principles, and applications of the Dalcroze pedagogy, an approach of music education that integrates rhythmic movement, ear training, and improvisation and recommends that elements of music are effectively experienced, expressed, understood, and learned through body movement. The approach builds on a constructivist view of learning, facilitates learning through kinesthetic experiences, and aims at developing students’ general bodily skills and knowing, musical understanding, expression, and a sense of self. Drawing on recent research, this chapter suggests that the Dalcroze pedagogy offers an example of a practice in music education that acknowledges the meaning and importance of holistic mind-body experiences for musical knowing and personal development. It challenges teachers to recognize the importance of embodiment in knowing and learning in general. It concludes that the possibilities and challenges of the Dalcroze approach should be discussed reflectively and critically.