Elemental Music Education

Elementary Music Education (EMP) is a holistic approach that combines music, movement/dance, language and playing. It focuses on the individual and their abilities, skills and potential, encourages creativity, self-expression and social interaction, and provides accessible entry points to music for people of all ages in a variety of settings.

Über Elementare Musikpädagogik (EMP)

Elemental Music Education (EMP) is a German-language concept that has its historical roots in the Orff Schulwerk and rhythmics from the early 20th century, as well as in the precursors known as Early Musical Education (»Musikalische Früherziehung«, short MFE) and Basic Musical Education (»Musikalische Grundausbildung«, short MGA). This conceptual reorientation takes account of developments at national and international level and sharpens the profile of EMP with a view to expanding its target groups beyond kindergarten and school age.
The EMP focuses on the fundamental areas of musical experience, encompassing both the performance and the creation of music. The focus is on perception, exploration, improvisation and the creation of songs, dance forms, scenic-musical performance forms and musical pieces of all kinds. The content is based on fundamental musical phenomena, which are explored at various levels of expression, such as voice, language, body movement and sound production with instruments.

Foto: Dominik Dirschmid
In this context, »elemental« refers less to »the simple« and much more to »the essential« or »the fundamental«. Elemental music forms the basis, the foundation, for any further artistic engagement with music. The repertoire of elemental music extends far beyond classical music and incorporates models and approaches from the jazz, pop and rock genres, as well as the music of different cultures.
The terms »music« and »movement/dance« are broad and open in EMP and can encompass various cultural forms of expression of human musicality. From a musicological and anthropological perspective, »elemental music-making« is a form of holistic music-making and can be found in various forms throughout the world.
The approach in EMP is action- and experience-oriented. Central to this is the interplay between the quality of the experience (physical, cognitive, emotional, interpersonal and socio-cultural experiences) and the artistic outcome. Elemental music-making is process-oriented and underpinned by learning with and from one another within the group. In this way, EMP combines musical and character-building objectives. The aim is to offer people experiences that enrich both their musical and personal lives.

The characteristics of the learning and teaching processes in the EMP can be described as the following:
- body-oriented, engaging all the senses
- play- and action-oriented
- creative and imaginative
- open, flexible, receptive, keen to experiment
- holistic, comprehensive, versatile
- experience- and process-oriented
- going beyond individual forms of expression
- relationship-oriented, collaborative, intercultural
Foto: Matthias Gansloweit
www.a-emp.de – Arbeitskreis Elementare Musikpädagogik (D)

www.emp-a.at – Elementare Musikpädagogik Arbeitsgemeinschaft (A)

www.iosfs.org – International Orff-Schulwerk Forum Salzburg (Netzwerk internationaler Orff-Schulwerk Gesellschaften, Schulen und Institutionen)

www.orff-schulwerk.de – Orff-Schulwerk Gesellschaft Deutschland

www.musikbewegung.de – Arbeitskreis Musik und Bewegung/Rhythmik an Hochschulen e. V.

www.iosfsjournal.com – Orff-Schulwerk International – The journal of the International Orff-Schulwerk Forum Salzburg

www.orff-schulwerk.de/lexikon – Online-Lexikon der Orff-Schulwerk Gesellschaft Deutschland e.V.

Information on the Bachelor’s degree course (and the possible Instruments or singing) can be found here:

Elemental Music Education (Bachelor of Music – Teaching)

Contact Elementare Musikpädagogik

Prof. Dr. phil. Andrea Sangiorgio

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EMP an der HMTM (auf YouTube ansehen)