The Five Principles of a Jaque-Dalcroze Education

Too often educators attempt to teach using the methodology without having had a personal experience of learning through that methodology. They have not been changed, which prohibits them form teaching from the resources of their experience. In effect, their teaching may appear to be successful but in reality, it is shallow, replete with technical exercises, and void of the power to change others. There is no substitute for years of continuous work where one studies the art of music and musicianship through the method and can then say, “I have experienced.” It is on this path, the teacher can emerge out of his mastery of the art form and find himself compelled to communicate the joy he has experienced to others. True teachers are not taught, they are reborn. (See The Teacher)

For this ex perience, there is no substitute. There is no workshop, text, article, film, or other media capable of conveying the depth of a Jaques-Dalcroze Education. Neither can it convey how it applies to the fields of music education, performance composition, conducting, and music theory, in addition to dance, drama, opera, and movement therapy.

However, musicians, educators, and therapists must first have a means that exposes them to the most basic philosophy and grounding principles, of the Dalcroze Approach; then perhaps they will seek out a valid Dalcroze experience, and consequently THE EXPERIENCE will fuse into their own work. Thus, the aim of this article is not to explain all that encompasses a Dalcroze Education. Rather, it is an attempt to entice the "non-Dalcrozian" to go beyond these pages and discover how rewarding a Dalcroze Education can be for himself and for his students.

In the following lines are several quotations from Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) which best present the most basic principles of a "Dalcroze Education" as related to the study of music. In my view, there are five such principles: Theory Follows Practice, Listening—The Basis of Music Education, Time plus Space plus Energy, Self-expression—The Aim of Eurhythmics, and Joy —Unity of Body, Mind, and Spirit. After careful analysis, one readily sees that the principles are closely interrelated and function together as the basis for sound pedagogical practice.

"The whole method is based on the principle that theory should follow practice, that children should not be taught rules until they have had experience of the facts which have given rise to them."

Emile Jaques-Dalcroze , Rhythm Music & Education, translation, Harold F. Rubenstein (London, The Dalcroze Society (Inc.), 1967), pp 63.

The teacher must guide his students using the eurhythmics subjects through a series of musical experiences where that lead them to a visceral and an intellectual understanding of a given music parameter: The journey will cadence on a need and desire to study analytically what has been experienced.

One applies this principle by immersing the student in music with little talking, a great deal of doing, and always encouraging them to listen. Later, once the physical, aural, and mental processes begin to function harmoniously, the student, again guided by the teacher, will draw into consciousness from these now-existent subconscious and kinesthetic impressions the signs and symbols for labeling musical ideas.

"To my mind, musical education should be entirely based on hearing or at any rate, on the perception of musical phenomena; the ear gradually accustom ing itself to grasp the relation between notes, keys, and chords, and the whole body, by means of special exercises, in itiating itself into the appreciation of rhythmic, dynamic and agogic nuance of music. 2

"There is something profoundly ludicrous in the fact that, while musical instinct is based on the experience of the ear, a child is taught exclusively to play and sing, never to hear and listen.” 3

In order to teach the student to hear we must first invite him to listen. He will only want to listen if the music is aesthetically rewarding, incites his body, and allows him to move. How else is the teacher to promote good listening without good piano improvisation? Only through improvisation, can the teacher create the proper dynamic level, rhythmic design and phrase structure at any given moment that would correctly match a child's movements. By using the piano for improvisation, one can more readily emphasize form, articulation, dynamics, agogic nuance, register, tonality, and other musical elements from a musical context and employ them as tools for learning.

With tasteful, well played, and functional music for movement the art of listening becomes a vital part of the learning process; it functions it has purpose. After having established the motivation for listening, the student begins to function as a finely tuned in strument. He is capable of distinguishing and realizing pitch, color, timbre and duration, and of "realizing all the nuances of time—allegro, andante, accelerando, ritenuto—all the nuances of energy—forte, piano, crescendo, [and] diminuendo.4

This is not only a pedagogical principle but also the hallmark of the entire Jaques-Dalcroze Approach. It is the one axiom in the work of Jaques-Dalcroze that truly separates it from all other systems or methods of music education. The understanding through experiments with movement and music that SPACE, TIME, and ENERGY directly relate to each other in equal or unequal proportions is the most significant contribution Emile Jaques-Dalcroze made to the world of music and education. Dalcroze writes,

"Muscles were made for movement, and rhythm is movement. It is impossible to conceive a rhythm without thinking of a body in motion. To move, a body requires a quantum of space and a quantum of time. The beginning and end of the movement determine the amount of time and space involved. Each depends on the gravity, that is to say, (in relation to the limbs, set in motion by the muscles), on the elasticity and muscular force of the body.

"If we assign in advance the ratio be tween the muscular energy to be deployed and the quantum of space to be traversed, we determine thereby also the quantum of time.”

"If we assign in advance the ratio be tween the muscular force and the quantum of time, we thereby determine the quantum of space. In other words, the finished movement is the product of the combination of muscular energy and the space and time involved in its formation.” 5

Through this added element of space to time to energy, and with effective listening, one can now physically experience duration, pitch, intensity of sound, phrasing, progression (harmonic and melodic), timbre and form. In effect, one becomes a crescendo and a diminuendo; one becomes the duration of sound.

"The aim of eurhythmics is to enable pupils, at the end of their course, to say, not "I know," but "I have experienced,” and so to create in them the desire to express themselves; the deep impression of an emotion inspires a longing to communicate it, to the extent of one's powers, to others." 6

This axiom is quite telling. It clearly communicates the point that eurhythmics is not a means in itself but rather a means to an end, which is to perform for others and express one’s deepest emotions. It goes further because “to the extent of one’s powers” means to the best of one’s ability. There is no good or bad performance, no judgment. The desire to express to others is the goal. Therefore, it is not sufficient to "experience"; one must "express" in order to be whole, and the extent of one's experiences will determine the depth of one's expression.

"Functioning develops the organ, and the consciousness of organic functioning develops thought. And as the child feels himself delivered of all physical embarrassment, joy will come to birth in him. This joy is a new factor in ethical progress, a new stimulus to will-power."'

7"Our organs are developed by use; our mental powers are developed by conscious control of the body. As we become freed from physical restraint and from the more elementary forms of mental preoccupation we experience a sense of joy. This joy is a new factor in moral progress, a new stimulant to the will.

By the very nature of movement alone, a skillful pedagogue attains the privilege of working with the whole person, i.e., body, mind, and spirit. By working with the whole person, the teacher can create special exercises that gradually link the student’s know-how to perform a certain function, his desire to perform that function, and the physical means required for its performance. In effect, the student begins to take command of himself, his entire self; he begins to understand, accept, and live in joy with his physical, mental, and spiritual restraints. Jo Pennington , a renowned British Dalcroze authority writes:

"[With this joy the student] will conceive a profound joy of an elevated character ... it will not be based on external cir cumstances. It will be distinct from pleasure in that it becomes a permanent condition of the being, independent alike of time and of the events that have given rise to it, an integral element of our organism. It will not necessarily be accompanied by laughter as is gaiety. It may quite well make no external display.” 8

Therefore, creating a warm and friendly classroom atmosphere is not enough to instill joy within the student. The Dalcrozian must go beyond the external and reach him at his core, his center, his spirit.

The application of these principles to various teaching situations is nothing less than an art form mastered over time. However, with these principles at the heart of an educational philosophy, lives are changed.

1 Emile Jaques-Dalcroze , Rhythm Music & Education, translation, Harold F. Rubenstein (London, The Dalcroze Society (Inc.), 1967), pp 63.

2 ibid. pp 67, 3ibid, 4ibid. 60, 5ibid. 39, 6ibid. 63,

7 Emile Jaques-Dalcroze , Rhythm Music & Education, translation, Harold F. Rubenstein (London, The Dalcroze Society (Inc.), reprint ed., 1980), pp 89-99

8 Jo Pennington, The Importance of Being Rhythmic New York : B.P. Putnam 's Sons, 1925), pp.52.