Incorporating Movement into High School Choral Classrooms: A Practical Approach

Presenter Information

Peri Leavitt, Oberlin CollegeFollow

Location

King Building 127

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-27-2019 5:00 PM

End Date

4-27-2019 6:20 PM

Abstract

Integrating kinesthetic movement into the choral classroom yields more sophisticated musical understanding. As music education scholar Hilary Apfelstadt notes, “the body quite literally supports the vocal mechanism” (1985). While there are several existing studies on the effects of incorporating movement into musical spaces, their theoretical or technical frameworks can act as a barrier to their application in actual classrooms. My project offers a practical approach to incorporating movement into the high school choral classroom. Based in extensive study of the leading philosophies and practices for using movement in music rehearsal (e.g. Dalcroze eurhythmics, Laban movement analysis, etc.), this capstone presents an example curriculum, which includes musical pieces specifically chosen to exemplify the strategies and objectives of each method. The curriculum also includes detailed, accessible explanations of connections between the vocal work and movement activities as well as recommendations for implementation in a high school classroom.

Keywords:

Movement, movement in music, education, secondary education, choral music, choir/chorus, curriculum

Notes

Session VII, Panel 23 - Music | Education

Moderator: Jody Kerchner, Professor of Music Education and Director of the Division of Pedagogy, Advocacy, and Community Engagement

Major

Musical Studies; English

Advisor(s)

Jody Kerchner, Music Education
Laura Baudot, English

Project Mentor(s)

Kathryn Metz, Ethnomusicology
Jody Kerchner, Music Education

April 2019

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Apr 27th, 5:00 PM Apr 27th, 6:20 PM

Incorporating Movement into High School Choral Classrooms: A Practical Approach

King Building 127

Integrating kinesthetic movement into the choral classroom yields more sophisticated musical understanding. As music education scholar Hilary Apfelstadt notes, “the body quite literally supports the vocal mechanism” (1985). While there are several existing studies on the effects of incorporating movement into musical spaces, their theoretical or technical frameworks can act as a barrier to their application in actual classrooms. My project offers a practical approach to incorporating movement into the high school choral classroom. Based in extensive study of the leading philosophies and practices for using movement in music rehearsal (e.g. Dalcroze eurhythmics, Laban movement analysis, etc.), this capstone presents an example curriculum, which includes musical pieces specifically chosen to exemplify the strategies and objectives of each method. The curriculum also includes detailed, accessible explanations of connections between the vocal work and movement activities as well as recommendations for implementation in a high school classroom.