Orff Summer Institute
BBQ, Blues + Orff Schulwerk
The University of Memphis Orff Summer Institute is one of the longest-operating Orff
Certification Programs in the country. Learn to engage your students in joyful music-making
and dance while you develop supportive connections with instructors and colleagues
in this two-week teacher education course. Our engaging and accomplished faculty will
make this an educational, inspiring, and transformative experience for you.
2024 Orff Certification Courses
(3-hours undergraduate credit available as MUSE 4802 or graduate credit as MUSE 6802)
Basic Orff-Schulwerk techniques, including pentatonic scale, simple borduns, ostinato,
and playing pitched and unpitched percussion instruments and soprano recorder. Topics
and skills in this highly participatory course will also include vocal and rhythmic
training, movement, and improvisation. A degree in music or strong musicianship is
required.
PREREQUISITE for MUSE 4802: Junior standing in music or permission of course director.
PREREQUISITE for MUSE 6802: Graduate standing in music or permission of course director.
(3-hours graduate credit available as MUSE 7103)
It builds on the foundation laid in Level I, adding folk melodies, diatonic modes,
mixed meter, and rhythms from many parts of the world. Accompaniments, musical forms,
and improvisations are more complex. Both the alto and soprano recorders are studied.
Music, movement, and speech are synthesized in cooperative learning lessons.
PREREQUISITE: MUSE 6802 OR successful completion of Orff-Schulwerk Level I at an AOSA-approved
course.
(3-hours graduate credit available as MUSE 7104)
Explores polymeters and functional harmony to include I-V, I-IV, and I-IV-V accompaniment
settings. Forms include theme and variations, chaconne & passacaglia, decoration of
the third, and ground bass. In pedagogy, students apply the Orff process to conceptual
teaching. All recorder voicings are explored in a variety of combinations.
PREREQUISITE: MUSE 7103 OR successful completion of Orff-Schulwerk Level II at an
AOSA-approved course.
“Popular Music and Orff Schulwerk” presented by Martin Vasil and David Dockan
(3-hours graduate credit available as MUSE 7214)
Explore the use of popular music with movement, ukulele, voice, and instruments through
the Orff Schulwerk approach.
PREREQUISITE: MUSE 7104 OR successful completion of Orff-Schulwerk Level III at an
AOSA-approved course.
Meet our Presenters:
Martina Vasil is Associate Professor of Music Education and Director of summer music education programming at the University of Kentucky, which includes Modern Band, Orff Schulwerk, and Dalcroze Eurhythmics. She has Orff III and World Music Drumming I certification and has completed training in Dalcroze and Modern Band. She teaches undergraduate courses in elementary music methods and modern band and graduate courses in qualitative research. Before her appointment at Kentucky, Dr. Vasil taught K–8 general music and 4–8 instrumental music (band and strings) in Pennsylvania, working in parochial and public charter schools in rural, suburban, and urban areas. She currently teaches preK–6 music at Lexington Montessori School. Her degrees are in music education: West Virginia University (BM and PhD) and Eastman School of Music (MA).
David Dockan is a Ph.D. Candidate in Music Education at the University of Kentucky, where he teaches sections of a course titled Teaching Music in Elementary Grades, supervises student teachers and helps run the community music group New Horizons. Before pursuing his Ph.D., David taught elementary and middle school music in Prince George County, VA. He is Orff-Schulwerk certified through the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. David has also completed Dalcroze training in Lexington, KY, and Modern Band training in Fort Collins, CO. David is an active clinician and scholar on Orff Schulwerk, popular music pedagogies, modern band, and democratic music education. His degrees are in music education from West Virginia University (BM) and Kent State University (MM).
What is Orff Schulwerk?
Orff Schulwerk is a dynamic and active approach to music and movement education created by composer Carl Orff and his colleague Gunild Keetman. The Orff approach builds on children's innate musical abilities through things they do naturally: sing, speak, move and play. Through singing, rhythmic speech, body percussion and movement, children gain experience and develop instincts for making music in a joyful and accessible way. Orff Schulwerk uses songs, rhymes, games and dances to explore traditional and original music in elemental style, introducing musical skills and concepts in a logical and integrated way. Music and movement are often accompanied by clapping, snapping and stamping or with pitched and unpitched percussion and recorders. The American Orff Schulwerk Association approves the Orff-Schulwerk Certification Program at the University of Memphis.
Coordinator of Summer Orff Institute
Meet Allen Moody
As music educators, we aim to inspire our students to be life-long lovers and appreciators of music by helping them find their inner musicians. Orff-Schulwerk training empowers you to give your students the experiences they need to grow as musicians. Your training will also refresh you as you invest in your teaching with an encouraging and collaborative staff of instructors and classmates. I hope that you will join us at the historic Memphis course where we will sing, say, dance, and play in the home of Blue and BBQ.