Over a century ago, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) began experimenting with a pedagogical approach that would give students access to their personal musical voice and a system of technique to express that voice with ease and sensitivity. Music education had lost sight of certain key qualities of exceptional musicianship; qualities such as flow, nuance, imagination, and individuality, so valued in expressive performance, were absent in music pedagogy. According to Jaques-Dalcroze, the antidote to musical arrhythmy (a lack of musical ease and expressivity) lay in the integrated use of the whole body in both musical perception and performance, a coordination he termed eurhythmy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the applications of Dalcroze Eurhythmics to the choral context, including the ways in which the Dalcroze approach shapes the philosophical, pedagogical and musical outcomes of choral pedagogy and practice. More specifically, how do these two areas interact in relationship to the following topics: (1) conductor, chorister and choir as instrument, (2) conductor and chorister score study, (3) conductor and chorister gesture, and (4) choral pedagogy and rehearsal techniques? The original writings of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze provide a framework for the discussion, while interviews with two groups, Dalcroze master-teachers with choral conducting training and/or experience, and Dalcroze-trained choral conductors illustrate the specific applications of the choral context. Study participants reported the use of the Dalcroze approach for three main purposes in the choral context: (a) to develop choral skills, including vocal skills, aural skills, kinesthetic skills, ensemble skills and music literacy skills; (b) to prepare the whole body for accurate and expressive performance of choral repertoire (conducting and singing); and (c) to develop non-musical outcomes that support choral conducting and singing, including mental acuity, creativity, a contextualized view of self and others, self-confidence and risk-taking, and enjoyment in music making.

Over a century ago, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) began experimenting with a pedagogical approach that would give students access to their personal musical voice and a system of technique to express that voice with ease and sensitivity. Music education had lost sight of certain key qualities of exceptional musicianship; qualities such as flow, nuance, imagination, and individuality, so valued in expressive performance, were absent in music pedagogy. According to Jaques-Dalcroze, the antidote to musical arrhythmy (a lack of musical ease and expressivity) lay in the integrated use of the whole body in both musical perception and performance, a coordination he termed eurhythmy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the applications of Dalcroze Eurhythmics to the choral context, including the ways in which the Dalcroze approach shapes the philosophical, pedagogical and musical outcomes of choral pedagogy and practice. More specifically, how do these two areas interact in relationship to the following topics: (1) conductor, chorister and choir as instrument, (2) conductor and chorister score study, (3) conductor and chorister gesture, and (4) choral pedagogy and rehearsal techniques? The original writings of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze provide a framework for the discussion, while interviews with two groups, Dalcroze master-teachers with choral conducting training and/or experience, and Dalcroze-trained choral conductors illustrate the specific applications of the choral context. Study participants reported the use of the Dalcroze approach for three main purposes in the choral context: (a) to develop choral skills, including vocal skills, aural skills, kinesthetic skills, ensemble skills and music literacy skills; (b) to prepare the whole body for accurate and expressive performance of choral repertoire (conducting and singing); and (c) to develop non-musical outcomes that support choral conducting and singing, including mental acuity, creativity, a contextualized view of self and others, self-confidence and risk-taking, and enjoyment in music making.

The system of music education devised by Emile Jacques-Dalcroze is based on an interrelated programme which includes solfege, rhythmic movement, plastique and improvisation. Although Dalcroze wrote numerous articles discussing his methods, he failed to provide a comprehensive account of his approach to the music-learning experience. Consequently this thesis aims, by a critical survey and analysis of Dalcroze’s writings, to provide an insight into the meanings and objectives of Dalcroze Eurhythmics. In addition, this investigation will seek to reveal that Dalcroze’s teaching received direction both from a multitude of influences and his extraordinary pre-occupation with rhythm. As a music teacher, Dalcroze had endeavoured to heighten the rhythmic sensitivity of his pupils by the use of kinesthetic exercises. As an humanitarian, Dalcroze’s research into rhythmic manifestations led him to propose rhythm as a dominating force effecting the future welfare of humankind. An understanding of this theory, despite its grandiose tone, is especially relevant to achieving a fuller comprehension of Dalcroze’s musical studies.

Frank Martin's (1890-1974) 8 Préludes pour le piano has been studied and analyzed by many researchers, yet the influence of one of Martin's most important educational experiences, Dalcroze Eurhythmics, has not been discussed in connection to this work. The purpose of this research is to investigate the influences of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze's (1865-1950) educational method, eurhythmics, on Martin’s compositional writing, specifically the 8 Préludes pour le piano. This research demonstrates the connection between Martin and Dalcroze through several key observations: 1) their close collegial relationship; 2) the influences of Dalcroze Eurhythmics in Martin's approach to rhythm; and 3) Martin's writings on rhythm as connected to Dalcroze Eurhythmics. The examination of Frank Martin’s major piano work, 8 Préludes pour le piano, reveals a strong connection between these composers and their fascination with the expressive power of rhythm. In this paper, I examine the eurhythmics elements evident in Martin’s 8 Préludes pour le piano: irregular measures, unequal beats, polyrhythm, rhythmic counterpoint and canon. Additionally, Dalcroze Eurhythmics-based activities for learning Martin's 8 Préludes pour le piano are offered with the intent of enriching the pianist's experiences in learning and performing this piece and demonstrating the practical application of the method.

This dissertation investigated the meanings students from beginner jazz ensembles ascribe to learning jazz improvisation through Dalcroze-inspired activities. Over the course of ten weeks, students from three respective beginner jazz ensembles were exposed to Dalcroze-inspired activities as the medium for learning to improvise. The sessions were held on a weekly basis, facilitated by the researcher. Hermeneutic phenomenology guided the research procedures. In-depth interviews, personal reflections, participant reflection essays as well as video recordings were the methods of data collection. Through the use of Atlas.ti 7, the data were organized and analysed by means of coding and categorisation, which led to the identification of five themes. The five themes that emerged from the data analysis were: feeling the music in my body, supporting development as a jazz musician, building character, building relationships, and stimulating and motivating learning. This study provides an understanding of the connection between jazz improvisation and Dalcroze Eurhythmics as well as how students experience learning jazz improvisation through Dalcrozeinspired activities. Through this understanding this study proposes a more holistic approach to jazz improvisation teaching that can inform further research and application of Dalcroze Eurhythmics in jazz pedagogy. / MMus (Musicology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This dissertation investigated the meanings students from beginner jazz ensembles ascribe to learning jazz improvisation through Dalcroze-inspired activities. Over the course of ten weeks, students from three respective beginner jazz ensembles were exposed to Dalcroze-inspired activities as the medium for learning to improvise. The sessions were held on a weekly basis, facilitated by the researcher. Hermeneutic phenomenology guided the research procedures. In-depth interviews, personal reflections, participant reflection essays as well as video recordings were the methods of data collection. Through the use of Atlas.ti 7, the data were organized and analysed by means of coding and categorisation, which led to the identification of five themes. The five themes that emerged from the data analysis were: feeling the music in my body, supporting development as a jazz musician, building character, building relationships, and stimulating and motivating learning. This study provides an understanding of the connection between jazz improvisation and Dalcroze Eurhythmics as well as how students experience learning jazz improvisation through Dalcrozeinspired activities. Through this understanding this study proposes a more holistic approach to jazz improvisation teaching that can inform further research and application of Dalcroze Eurhythmics in jazz pedagogy. / MMus (Musicology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Drawing on phenomenology and the theory of embodied music cognition, and the idea that music is movement and the way we experience music is related to movement and to our bodies, the design and conception of a musical instrument is carried out through a soma design process, with the non-dualistic body at center. In addition to the use of design fiction as a means to imagine new design possibilities, practical somaesthetics are a part of the design process through the bodily practices of Dalcroze eurhythmics and instrument defamiliarisation. These continuous bodily practices provide space for explorations of musical, aesthetic sensitivities and contribute to the designer's attuning to their own body and discoveries of musical sensitivities therein. The experiential qualities of music--movement related rhythm and repetition are identified, and reflected in the design of the musical instrument. While interacting with the instrument does not necessarily provide direct immersion into those experiential qualities, nor an intimate musician--instrument relationship, it might however, open up a fertile breeding ground for new design directions and make space for new experiences. The design process itself, leading up to the instrument, was a great contribution to making room for exploring interactions with the body, movement and music. / Med utgångspunkt i fenomenologi och teorin om förkroppsligad musikkognition, samt iden att musik ar rörelse och att hur vi upplever musik ar relaterat till rörelse och vara kroppar, har designen och skapandet av ett musikinstrument utförts genom en soma-designprocess, med den icke-dualistiska kroppen i centrum.  Utöver användandet av designfiktion som ett satt att föreställa sig nya designmöjligheter, ingår praktisk somaestetik som en del av designprocessen via dem kroppsliga praktikerna Dalcroze-rytmik och instrument-främmandegöring. Dessa kontinuerliga, kroppsliga praktiker ger utrymme for utforskning av musikaliska och estetiska mottagligheter och bidrar till designerns själsstämning av sin egen kropp, samt upptäckter av musikaliska mottagligheter inuti densamma.  De empiriska kvaliteterna hos musik-rörelserelaterad rytm och repetition identifieras och återspeglas därefter i utformningen av musikinstrumentet. Aven om interaktion med instrumentet inte nödvändigtvis leder till en direkt upplevelse av dessa kvaliteter, eller en intim musiker-instrument-relation, sa kan den emellertid lagga en bördig grogrund for nya designriktningar och skapa utrymme for nya upplevelser. Själva designprocessen, som lett fram till instrumentet, gav stora möjligheter till att skapa plats for att utforska interaktioner med kroppen, rörelse och musik.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka instrumentallärares uppfattningar och erfaranheter av att arbeta med rytmik i instrumentalundervisning. Undersökningen grundar sig i intervjuer av fyra instrumentallärare. I bakgrundskapitlet beskrivs Dalcroze-metoden, rytmikinspirerad undervisning och tidigare forskning om rytmik. Som teoretisk utgångspunkt har ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv med ett livsvärldsperspektiv använts för att ta del av instrumentallärarnas erfarna livsvärld i användningen av rytmikinspirerad undervisning. Metoden som används i föreliggande studie är semistrukturerade intervjuer som presenteras i metodkapitlet. Här presenteras studiens analyssätt som är tematisk analys. Metodkapitlet ger även en presentation över de fyra intervjupersoner som ligger till grund i föreliggande studie. I resultatkapitlet presenteras instrumentallärarnas användande och syn på rytmikinspirerad undervisning. Kapitlet är uppdelat i tre teman: upplevelsen av rytmikinspirerad undervisning, erfarandet av rytmikinspirerad undervisning ochbegränsningar. Resultatet visar att lärarna använder sig av rytmikinslag på liknande sätt men olika mycket.  Erfarandet av rytmikinspirerad undervisning som framkommer är klapp, stamp, gå i puls och att kroppen används för i utlärning av takt, periodkänsla och gestaltning. I resultatet framkommer även att de flesta lärarna vill använda sig av rytmikinspirerad undervisning, men på grund av begränsningar såsom tid, rum och okunskap gör de inte det. Dessa lärare vill även ha mer fortbildning för att lära sig mer om rytmik och hur det kan integreras med de instrument de undervisar i. I diskussionen lyfts studiens frågeställningar fram i två teman utifrån studiens frågeställningar: upplevelsen av rytmikinspirerad undervisning  ocherfarandet av rytmikinspirerad undervisning. / The aim of this study is to explore the instrumental teachers' perceptions and experience of working with rhythm in instrumental teaching. To investigate the this purpose, four instrumental teachers have been interviewed about rhythmically-inspired teaching. The background chapter describes the Dalcroze method, rhythmically-inspired teaching and previous research on rhythmics. The theoretical starting point for this study is a pheomenolocical perspective with a life-world perspective used to take part in the instrumental teachers' experience in the use of rhythmically-inspired teaching. The method used in this study consists of semi-structured interviews and is presented in the method chapter. Thematic analysis is also presented as the studys method of analysis. The result chapter presents the instrumental teachers' use and view of rhythmically inspired teaching. The chapter is divided into three themes: the view of rhythmically-inspired teaching, the use of rhythmically-inspired teaching andconstraints. The results show that the teachers use rhythmic themes in a similar way. However they use it in various amount. Rhythmically-inspired teaching that emerges is handclaps, stamp, pulse and the body is used for the learning of pace, periodicity and gesture. Evident in the analysis is that most teachers in the study want to use rhythmically inspired teaching but due to limitations such as time, space and ignorance, they do not. These teachers also want more education to learn more about rhythmics and how it can be integrated with the instruments they teach. In the discussion, the study's research questions are divided in two themes: the use of rhythmically-inspired teaching and the view of rhythmically-inspired teaching.

Den schweiziske musikern och pedagogen Emile Jaques-Dalcroze utvecklade under sin livstid den rörelsebaserade musikpedagogiska metod som i dag går under namnet rytmik. Syftet med denna magisteruppsats är att undersöka uppkomsten och den tidiga utvecklingen av Jaques-Dalcrozes ursprungliga rytmik och framför allt solfège – rörelsebaserad gehörsträning – som är ett av dess huvudmoment. För att finna svar på frågan om hur Jaques-Dalcrozes egen historia påverkade hans val av pedagogisk inriktning för hans gehörsundervisning och på frågan om på vilket sätt samtiden påverkade framväxten och mottagandet av solfègen, undersöks Jaques-Dalcrozes liv fram till 1906 samt kulturella, pedagogiska och andra samhälleliga strömningar under 1800-talet. Utgångspunkten är i historisk metod och med ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv och resultatet presenteras i en delvis biografisk form. Undersökningen visar att Jaques-Dalcroze tveklöst influerades av samtiden och påverkades av människor som kom i hans närhet, framför allt hans pianolärare de Senger, Prosnitz och Lussy, violinisten Ysaÿe, psykologen Claparède och Jaques-Dalcrozes kollegor Gorter, Boepple och Chassevant. Pestalozzi, Nägeli och Fröbel var pedagoger vars idéer återspeglas i Jaques-Dalcrozes metod. De olika influenserna i synergi med hans egen personliga historia och förutsättningar var det som ledde fram till utvecklingen av rytmiken. / During his lifetime the Swiss musician and pedagogue Emile Jaques-Dalcroze developed Dalcroze-Eurhythmics, a movement-based methodology in music education. The purpose of the present study is to explore the early development of Jaques-Dalcroze’s original Eurhythmics and especially solfège – movement based aural training – which is one of its main fields. This study aims to fathom Jaques-Dalcrozes life up to the year 1906, as well as the cultural, pedagogical and other societal tendencies during the 19th century to investigate how Jaques-Dalcroze’s personal history influenced his choice of pedagogical emphasis for his aural training, and how contemporary society in his time influenced the development and reception of Eurhythmics and solfège. The methodological basis of the study is historical with a hermeneutic perspective. The result is partly presented in a biographical form. The study shows that Jaques-Dalcroze was without doubt influenced by the world of his time, and was affected by people in his milieu, particularly his piano teachers de Senger, Prosnitz and Lussy, the virtuoso violinist Ysaÿe, the psychologist Claparède and the colleges of Jaques-Dalcroze Gorter, Boepple and Chassevant. Pestalozzi, Nägeli and Fröbel were pedagogues whose ideas were mirrored in the method of Jaques-Dalcroze. These different influences, in synergy with his own personal history and preconditions, led to the development of Dalcroze-Eurhythmics.

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to interpret and understand the manifestation and meaning of embodiment in Dalcroze Eurhythmics. Dalcroze Eurhythmics is an approach to music education that builds on the ideas of Émile Jaques-Dalcroze and aims at developing musicianship in a broad sense. Following Maurice Merleau-Ponty's philosophy, in this study embodiment refers to experiencing and knowing the world subjectively through the living body-subject. The perspective of embodiment accounts for how human beings think and act holistically and how the body can be considered a constitutive element of cognition and creativity. The research questions were formulated as follows: 1. What aspects of embodiment can be found in Dalcroze Eurhythmics? 2. What are the theoretical accounts in support of the practice of applying body movement in music education from the perspective of embodiment? These questions have been approached through research material drawn from the essential writings of Jaques-Dalcroze, commentary books, articles and studies about Dalcroze Eurhythmics, and the talk of some selected Dalcroze master teachers. The dissertation is an overview of four substudies. In the theoretical substudies, the research questions have been examined in relation to the philosophical question of the body-mind in practical music education, and in dialogue with Merleau-Ponty's notions and recent literature on embodiment. From the perspective of embodiment, Dalcroze Eurhythmics primarily teaches habits of musical action or, more generally, 'a bodily way of being in sound', rather than a conceptual, or abstract knowledge of music. Equally, the study sheds light on the meaning and importance of consciously reflecting on 'lived experience'. It illuminates how Dalcroze teaching engages embodiment in ways that aim to reinforce the mind-body connection and facilitate personified, holistic involvement and, thus, embodied learning. The study discusses how Dalcroze Eurhythmics offers a ground for examining music's felt qualities and their relation to musical knowledge and how it turns our attention and interest towards students' lived experiences in relation to musical practices. It challenges music educators to consider that musical learning can profitably make use of holistic bodily experiences and that bodily involvement can facilitate developing a wide range of kinds of musical knowing. Furthermore, the study offers a critical viewpoint and new vocabulary in music education for explaining the practice of Dalcroze teaching. / Tiivistelmä Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli ymmärtää ja tulkita kehollisuuden ilmenemistä ja merkitystä Dalcroze-rytmiikassa. Dalcroze-rytmiikka on musiikkikasvatuksen lähestymistapa, joka perustuu Émile Jaques-Dalcrozen ideoille ja joka pyrkii kehittämään muusikkoutta laajassa merkityksessä. Merleau-Pontyn filosofiaa myötäillen, tässä tutkimuksessa kehollisuus viittaa maailman subjektiiviseen kokemiseen ja tuntemiseen elävän keho-subjektin kautta. Kehollisuuden näkökulma selittää sen, kuinka ihminen ajattelee ja toimii kokonaisvaltaisesti ja kuinka kehoa voidaan pitää kognition ja luovuuden keskeisenä tekijänä. Tutkimuskysymykset muotoiltiin seuraavasti: 1. Mitä kehollisuuden näkökulmia voidaaan löytää Dalcroze-rytmiikasta? 2. Mitkä ovat kehollisuuden näkökulmasta teoreettiset argumentit liikkeen käyttämiseksi musiikkikasvatuksessa? Näitä tutkimuskysymyksiä lähestyttiin tutkimusaineiston kautta, joka sisälsi Jaques-Dalcrozen keskeisiä kirjoituksia, Dalcroze-rytmiikkaa käsitteleviä kommentaareja, artikkeleita ja tutkimuksia sekä muutamien valittujen Dalcroze-mestariopettajien puhetta. Väitöskirja pohjautuu neljään osatutkimukseen. Teoreeettisissa osatutkimuksissa kysymyksiä tarkasteltiin suhteessa mielen ja kehon suhdetta koskevaan filosofiseen kysymykseen käytännön musiikkikasvatuksessa sekä dialogissa Merleau-Pontyn käsitteiden ja viimeaikaisen kehollisuutta käsittelevän kirjallisuuden kanssa. Kehollisuuden näkökulmasta Dalcroze-rytmiikka opettaa ensisijaisesti musiikillisia toimintatapoja, tai yleisemmin, 'kehollista tapaa olla musiikissa', eikä niinkään käsitteellistä tai abstraktia musiikista tietämistä. Toisaalta tutkimus valottaa 'eletyn kokemuksen' jatkuvan reflektoinnin merkitystä ja tärkeyttä. Se tuo esille, miten Dalcroze-opetus oppilaiden kokonaisvaltaisen ja omakohtaisen kehollisen aktivoimisen kautta pyrkii vahvistamaan mielen ja kehon yhteyttä ja siten edistämään kokonaisvaltaista oppimista. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan miten Dalcroze-rytmiikka tarjoaa pohjan musiikin laadulliselle kokemiselle ja sen yhdistämiselle musiikilliseen tietämiseen ja miten se suuntaa huomiomme ja kiinnostuksemme oppilaan elettyyn kokemukseen musiikin käytännöissä. Tutkimus haastaa musiikkikasvattajat ottamaan huomioon, että musiikillisessa oppimisessa voidaan hyödyntää konaisvaltaisia kehollisia kokemuksia ja että kehollinen osallistuminen voi edistää musiikillisen tietämisen useiden eri osa-alueiden kehittymistä. Lisäksi tutkimus tarjoaa kriittisen näkökulman ja uutta sanastoa Dalcroze-opetuksen käytännön selittämiselle.