505590

research-article2013
GMTXXX10.1177/1048371313505590General Music Today XX(X)Carlisle

Article
General Music Today

Handheld Technology as a Supplemental 2014, Vol 27(2) 12­–17

© National Association for
Music Education 2013
Tool for Elementary General Music DOI: 10.1177/1048371313505590
gmt.sagepub.com

Education

Katie Carlisle1

Abstract
This article argues that The Eclectic Curriculum in American Music Education warrants consideration within current
elementary general music education contexts. One way to consider this foundational text is in terms of how
technology can serve as a tool for enriching instructional approaches. While handheld technology use within these
approaches is uncommon, current educational contexts may invite integration. Integration of technology within the
Dalcroze, Kodály, and Orff instructional approaches operates at a tertiary level. Each approach articulates a primary
focus and states a unique secondary function of instrument use. Technology is supportive of and integrative to the
primary foci and secondary functions, granting it tertiary status. The article describes ways handheld technology as
a supplemental tool can provide feedback to students on the primary focus and enrich the secondary instrumental
function. Handheld technology presents an opportunity to scaffold students’ musical learning, enhance self-expression,
and explore timbral relationships.

Keywords
Dalcroze, elementary general music, Kodály, music education, Orff, technology

Introduction They argued technology “must be viewed only as another

The Eclectic Curriculum in American Music Education
(Carder, 1990; Landis & Carder, 1972) is a foundational
text for American general music education pedagogy. It
clearly and succinctly delineates the instructional
approaches of Dalcroze, Kodály, and Orff. Moreover, it
advocates that all three approaches can be used by a sin-
gle educator and combined or blended in ways that meet
instructional objectives and student needs. The text indi-
cates which elements of the approaches “can be adapted
to enrich and make more efficient the music teaching and
learning in American schools” (Carder, 1990, p. 2).
Despite the publication dates (1990, 1972), this text
remains useful in presenting core ideas on instructional
approaches. These ideas may serve as a well-defined
starting point from which to consider elementary general
music education in the twenty-first century. One way to
consider this text in contemporary elementary general
music teaching contexts is in terms of how handheld tech-
nology (such as tablet and smart phone devices) can serve
as tools for enriching instructional approach.
In an earlier article in General Music Today, Woody
and Fredrickson (2000) explored how music teachers
could use a desktop computer in an elementary general
music classroom without it being seen by the students.
tool or instrument that Orff teachers can use in their music
classrooms” (p. 11). The technology was used only by the
music teacher and did not take center stage in the class-
room. It served as musical accompaniment and to scaf-
fold students’ learning of ostinato parts played on
percussion instruments. The computer was situated out of
students’ line of sight. Present-day technology in educa-
tion includes student use of handheld computer devices.
The ways in which technology can integrate into the
classroom is diversifying. Elementary music education
might include students using handheld computer devices
alongside traditional classroom instruments.
The purpose of this article is to describe how handheld
technology, as a supplemental tool, can provide feedback
to students on the primary focus and enrich the secondary
instrumental function of the Dalcroze, Kodály, and Orff
instructional approaches. It is realistic that general music
teachers may be presented with the opportunity to integrate
1
Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Corresponding Author:
Katie Carlisle, School of Music, Georgia State University,
PO Box 4097, Atlanta, GA 30302-4097, USA.
Email: kcarlisle@gsu.edu
Carlisle 13
handheld technology into their teaching. For example,
schools or districts pursuing STEM (science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics) initiatives that include art
and design in response to U.S. Congress House Resolution
51 (U.S. Congress, 2013) may turn to music teachers for
approaches to innovative practice. Alternatively, music
teachers may desire to use handheld technology resources
already existing in their school or if their district adopts the
BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) policy. The use of
handheld technology presents opportunities to scaffold stu-
dents’ musical learning, enhance self-expression, and
explore timbral relationships.
This article will include discussion of applications for
handheld technology that assist student engagement in
the primary focus of each instructional approach. ZYMI
metronome is an Android application that will be dis-
cussed and is available at GooglePlay (http://play.google.
com). The other applications discussed in this article are
available at iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com).
Technology Integration at a Tertiary
Level
Within the context of the instructional approaches of
Dalcroze, Kodály, and Orff, the integration of technology
necessarily operates at a tertiary level. Each instructional
approach articulates a primary focus and states instruments
play a secondary function to the primary focus. The
Eclectic Curriculum details the following primary foci:
Within the Dalcroze approach, rhythm is the primary
focus: “Rhythm is the fundamental, motivating force in all
the arts, especially in music” and first is expressed through
movement (Landis & Carder, 1990a, p. 11). Within the
Kodály approach, singing is the primary focus: “Singing is
the foundation of all music. The voice is the most accessi-
ble instrument to everyone” (Zemke, 1990, p. 93). Music,
movement, and speech in the Orff approach are “insepara-
ble” and extend from a primary focus on rhythm (Landis &
Carder, 1990b, p. 109).
Each instructional approach articulates a unique sec-
ondary function of instrument use. From a Dalcroze per-
spective, the purpose of students playing instruments
is to “mirror movement” (Landis & Carder, 1990a, p.
22). Within the Kodály approach, students play non-
pitched percussion and pitched barred percussion
instruments to accompany their singing, in place of
piano accompaniment. To maintain the primary focus
of singing, Kodály cautioned against the “mechanical
domination” of instruments (Kraus, 1990, p. 89).
Landis and Carder (1990b) caution instruments can
become too large a part of the instructional program
within the Orff approach. They recommend instruments
to be used “sparingly” (p. 129), citing Keller’s (1970)
assertion that instruments “are primarily an extension of
the child’s own singing, speaking, and moving.”
Instruments also serve to help students “to improvise, to
invent their own rhythms, melodies, and accompanying
figures” (Walter, 1990, p. 159). While instruments are
used often within the Orff approach and provide distinc-
tive acoustic timbres, their functions are to serve the pri-
mary focus of rhythm and extend elemental music
making.
The adaptation of technology within these approaches
as a tool or instrument remains uncommon, with some
asserting it as unorthodox (Woody & Fredrickson, 2000).
Technology can support the primary focus of each
instructional approach. While students may use virtual
instruments in ways that support the secondary function
of instrument use detailed in the preceding paragraph,
technology does not supplant traditional classroom
instruments. Therefore, technology operates uniquely
from the primary focus and secondary function of instru-
ment use of each instructional approach. It is arguable the
adaptation of technology within these instructional
approaches operates at a tertiary level.
Scaffolding Students’ Musical
Learning
Handheld technology may scaffold students’ learning by
providing feedback as they engage in the primary focus
of each instructional approach. Students who find diffi-
culty expressing a steady beat through movement might
benefit from haptic feedback technology. One experi-
ences haptic feedback technology with cell phone vibra-
tion. This technology provides kinesthetic stimulation in
the form of vibration and tactile stimulation to the skin
when the user touches the object providing haptic feed-
back. Currently, ZYMI metronome offers a metronome
with haptic feedback. Users set the frequency of vibra-
tion. The handheld device offering steady beat haptic
feedback can be placed in a soft material drawstring bag
that is worn around the child’s neck and rests on the
chest at heartbeat level. This tactile feedback may be
helpful for children who have difficulty mirroring
teacher or peer modeling of steady beat clapping. It also
may be helpful if the teacher is not permitted to touch the
child for whatever reason and may not model steady beat
hand-over-hand with the child. The metronome feedback
can assist students to synchronize their steady beat
movement with the metronome’s steady beat vibration.
Students could use the device until they can generate
steady beat independently. It is anticipated by the author
that all handheld technology platforms will offer haptic
feedback musical applications and vibration modifica-
tion to match students’ sensory processing needs.
14 General Music Today 27(2)
Videotaping students is an established form of tech-
nology for documenting visual and audio phenomena.
Within the Kodály approach, videotaping students per-
forming folk song melodies by singing solfège syllables
and using hand signs provides a record of their hand
sign movement and singing efforts. The Singers’ Mate
application provides precise graphical representation of
solfège syllables, pitch duration, lyrics, and (transpos-
able) letter names to public domain folk and art songs
that video alone cannot. It records the student’s vocal
performance and provides visual feedback on pitch
accuracy. The feedback may further develop students’
understanding of solfège syllables and help students
develop the skill of listening for pitch accuracy of their
recorded singing. When students accurately provide
their own pitch accuracy feedback, the technology can
be withdrawn.
Students with identified speech impairment can par-
ticipate in Orff experiences that actively combine music,
movement, and speech. Musical applications designed
for use by all people may be effective with special needs
populations. For example, SampleWiz for iPad, enables
students to sample their voice and play back the recording
as a vocal ostinato. Students who first have sampled their
voice (perhaps at a musical center in the classroom) then
are free to engage in movement while listening to their
sampled voice in real time. The music teacher and stu-
dents can decide the most effective way to infuse sampled
speech or song into Orff activities for the musical effect
they desire to express. Over time, students’ ability to
combine speech, music, and movement in real time with-
out technology assistance may improve.
Enhancing Self-Expression
Dalcroze viewed performance as “a means of self-expres-
sion” and desired students to develop the range of feeling
inspired by music (Landis & Carder, 1990a, p. 8). The
Eclectic Curriculum text describes a Dalcroze exercise
whereby a student plays a rhythmic phrase on an instru-
ment while other members maintain a steady quarter note
pulse and light tapping of the eighth note subdivision
(Becknell, 1990, p. 32). Drum sounds from a variety of
cultures could be used in this exercise, providing teachers
with a variety of timbres that often are unavailable in the
classroom. Exploring a variety of drum sounds may help
students develop self-expression. For example, the taiko
drum sound is very powerful. However, general music
teachers might not have access to, storage for, or experi-
ence with taiko drums. The Taiko Drum Virtual Instrument
application enables the soloist to self-express rhythmi-
cally within a taiko sound when the acoustic instrument is
not accessible. However, virtual instruments encourage
fine motor tapping movement, rather than gross motor
striking movement. Presently, virtual instruments do not
offer haptic feedback that would simulate the feeling of
striking a drum. The sampled taiko sound is high quality,
can be amplified, offers means for self-expression, but
does not offer overt physical performance.
Dalcroze viewed instrument use for the purpose of
mirroring movement. Campbell (1990) describes a
number of gestures for musical expression including
“low and ascending,” “high and descending,” and “glid-
ing and sliding” (p. 49). It can take time for general
music teachers to acquire a full complement of class-
room percussion instruments. They might not have
access to the larger barred percussion instruments,
including bass bars, which would enable expression of
“low and ascending sounds.” A digital keyboard within
the GarageBand application can provide means for this
expression. While mallets can glide over barred percus-
sion instruments, there is not opportunity to manipulate
pitch that would mirror the physical movements of bend
and slide. The virtual keyboard on the SampleWiz appli-
cation enables performance of slippery pitch-sliding
sounds that cannot be achieved even with the pitch-
bending wheel common to synthesizer keyboards. The
developing diversity of sounds on virtual instruments is
worthy of consideration in terms of potential to mirror
physical gesture.
The Orff approach encourages an appreciation for many
kinds of tone relationships to encourage self-expression.
Landis and Carder (1990b) argue “modes and non-western
scales can be as natural to the child as the diatonic system”
within the Orff approach (p. 118). Students can explore
modes and scales vocally and on barred percussion instru-
ments. By removing bars from the instruments, the number
of pitches can be reduced. Flat and sharp bars can be added
to complete specific scales. Handheld technology may
enhance self-expression when children are overwhelmed
with the physical instrument set-up or a music teacher may
not have access to all chromatic percussion bars. The fol-
lowing applications enable users to customize modes and
scales: ThumbJam, MorphWiz, SampleWiz, and Seline
Ultimate. Partial modes or scales can be created, which
could replicate the tone set of folk songs that students are
learning. Students can improvise vocally and virtually
using this tone set, using text from the folk song for inspira-
tion. Additional pitches gradually can be introduced until
the mode or scale is complete. The Seline Ultimate applica-
tion allows for pitch bending, which enables students to
manipulate pitch. The ability to manipulate pitch allows
students to explore a variety of performance practices. For
example, with the ability to manipulate pitch, students can
engage on virtual instruments with East Indian raga modes.
In this practice, the performer bends a sustained pitch after
the initial attack as a way to develop the mood of the raga.
Teachers can determine which approaches to technology
Carlisle 15
will enable students to engage readily with modes and non-
Western scales.
Exploration of chord progressions is another avenue
to develop appreciation for tone relationships within the
Orff approach (Landis & Carder, 1990b, p. 118). The
problem is barred percussion instruments do not enable
students to perform chords, except for learning two- and
four-mallet grip technique or pairs of students perform-
ing single-mallet closed or open chord piano voicings.
While playing chords is relatively easy on a keyboard
instrument, keyboard instruments and instruction are
not often part of an elementary music experience and
not overtly featured in the three instructional approaches.
Moreover, general music teachers may not have access
to a keyboard lab. The application Simple Songwriter2
allows users to listen and select chord buttons to con-
struct chord progressions. It is a simple process and
allows students to explore chord progression possibili-
ties. The GarageBand application has keyboards of dif-
fering sounds and key sizes. A class set of iPads forms a
virtual keyboard lab for playing chord progressions. The
website www.jamstudio.com features chord progression
selection and performance by rhythm section instru-
ments in preset or hybrid genres. As a whole class, stu-
dents can decide on a chord progression they have
developed using technology. Students can use the chord
progression to generate improvisations, invented melo-
dies, and accompanying figures on barred percussion
instruments.
Exploring Timbral Relationships
Technology used with specific intention can support
instrumental work. One way to consider virtual instru-
ments with acoustic classroom instruments is through the
exploration of timbral relationships. Working with single
virtual instruments provides opportunity to make distinc-
tions and comparisons between timbres. Timbral relation-
ships can be described in terms of timbral consonance,
timbral dissonance, and timbral modulation (Schnittke,
2006).
Timbral Consonance
Timbral consonance is “a combination of related timbres
that create a blended sonority for the ear to analyze, in
which the individual characteristics of instruments are
fused into a single tone color” (Schnittke, 2006, p. 163).
Timbral consonance occurs with instruments of similar
pitch range performing with similar decay. Examples of
related timbral pairings include soprano metallophone
and flute (played legato) or bass xylophone and cello
(played staccato). If acoustic flute and cello are not
available for performance, the application ThumbJam
offers high-quality instrument sampled sounds, whereby
the user can control articulation. Unison melody perfor-
mance of these pairings encourages students to experi-
ence single tone color created by multiple instruments.
Students also can describe the unique timbral qualities of
each instrument.
Timbral Dissonance
Timbral dissonance is “a combination of distantly
related timbres that retain their own individual charac-
teristics” (Schnittke, 2006, p. 163). Orff described how
the pitched barred percussion instruments together
blend well to produce a “mellow and delicate timbre”
(Landis & Carder, 1990b, p. 121). On their own, the
barred instruments do not provide timbral dissonance. A
strategic pairing of a virtual instrument with an acoustic
instrument can produce clear auditory examples of dis-
tantly related timbres. An example might be an elec-
tronic slippery synthesizer sound on SampleWiz paired
with an acoustic staccato soprano xylophone sound. The
sounds might mirror similarly contrasting staccato and
slipping physical movements. In addition, a unique form
of “show and tell” can encourage children to locate and
present their own examples of timbral dissonance and
articulate precise adjectives and musical vocabulary to
describe the dissonance.
Timbral Modulation
Timbral modulation occurs when a melody or theme is
subtly transferred from one instrument to another,
resulting in gradual changes in tone color. The second
instrument enters before the first instrument stops play-
ing and continues the melody independently (Schnittke,
2006, p. 163). The well-established and iconic “vocal
staircase,” which visually represents the diatonic scale
as a set of stairs (Madurell, 2010, p. 30), can inspire
instrumental timbral modulation. Students might
engage with a C Major solfège staircase descent. In this
musical sequence, students first can sing and sign the
solfège syllables for one octave of the descent. The
instruments then will accompany the students’ singing.
Starting with a higher pitched barred percussion instru-
ment, students can “walk” their mallets in descending
fashion (and also develop their mallet sticking tech-
nique). Figure 1 shows how the descending melody is
transferred from soprano xylophone to alto metallo-
phone to bass xylophone with each successive octave.
The six-string bass guitar virtual instrument (found on
ThumbJam) finishes the walk down to the basement
floor. This musical sequence might form an interlude
between sections of an Orff orchestration or a class
composition.
16 General Music Today 27(2)
Figure 1.  Timbral modulation.
Closing Thoughts
This article has advocated the adaptation of technology
within the instructional approaches of Dalcroze, Kodály,
and Orff operates at a tertiary level. While the integration
of handheld technology as a supplemental tool within
these approaches is unorthodox, current educational con-
texts may invite its integration. Handheld technology
may serve to scaffold students’ learning as they engage in
the primary focus of each instructional approach. This
article has demonstrated technology can function as a
tool to “fill” in areas where there are technical limitations
with the classroom instruments, physical limitations
experienced by students, or a lack of access to acoustic
instruments and timbre diversity. Carder (1990) argues
that music educators continually need to review “what we
teach and why” (p. v). Technology may become inte-
grated with general music educators’ eclectic approach to
curriculum. Continually considering how technology can
be used in the elementary general music classroom can
result in integration that effectively enhances students’
musical learning without sacrificing hands-on learning
and active engagement.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
References
Becknell, A. F. (1990). The timelessness of Jaques-Dalcroze’s
approach. In P. Carder (Ed.), The eclectic curriculum in
American music education (2nd ed., pp. 31–36). Reston,
VA: MENC [now NAfME].
Carlisle 17
Campbell, P. S. (1990). Eurythmics, aural training, and creative
thinking: The Dalcroze pedagogy for children. In P. Carder
(Ed.), The eclectic curriculum in American music educa-
tion (2nd ed., pp. 43–54). Reston, VA: MENC.
Carder, P. (1990). Preface to the second edition. In P. Carder
(Ed.), The eclectic curriculum in American music educa-
tion (2nd ed., p. v). Reston, VA: MENC.
Kraus, E. (1990). Zoltán Kodály’s legacy to music education. In
P. Carder (Ed.), The eclectic curriculum in American music
education (2nd ed., pp. 79–92). Reston, VA: MENC.
Landis, B., & Carder, P. (1972). The eclectic curriculum
in American music education (1st ed.). Reston, VA:
MENC.
Landis, B., & Carder, P. (1990a). The Dalcroze approach. In P.
Carder (Ed.), The eclectic curriculum in American music
education (2nd ed., pp. 7–32). Reston, VA: MENC.
Landis, B., & Carder, P. (1990b). The Orff approach. In P.
Carder (Ed.), In P. Carder (Ed.), The eclectic curriculum in
American music education (2nd ed., pp. 109–136). Reston,
VA: MENC.
Madurell, F. (2010). France: An uncertain and unequal combat.
In G. Cox & R. Stevens (Eds.), The origins and founda-
tions of music education: Cross-cultural historical studies
of music in compulsory schooling (pp. 29–44). London,
England: Continuum.
Schnittke, A. (2006). Timbral relationships and their functional
use. In P. Mathews (Ed.), Orchestration: An anthology of
writings (pp. 162–178). New York, NY: Routledge.
U.S. Congress. (2013). House Resolution 51. Retrieved from
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-113hres51ih/pdf/
BILLS-113hres51ih.pdf
Walter, A. (1990). Carl Orff’s Music for Children. In P. Carder
(Ed.), The eclectic curriculum in American music educa-
tion (2nd ed., pp. 157–160). Reston, VA: MENC.
Woody, R. H., & Fredrickson, J. M. (2000). A partnership proj-
ect: Integrating computer technology and Orff-Schulwerk.
General Music Today, 13(2), 8–11.
Zemke, S. L. (1990). Folk song in a Kodály-based curriculum. In
P. Carder (Ed.), The eclectic curriculum in American music
education (2nd ed., pp. 93–102). Reston: VA: MENC.
Author Biography
Katie Carlisle, PhD, is assistant professor of general music
education and graduate faculty member at Georgia State
University in Atlanta, offering programs at the baccalaureate,
masters and PhD levels. Her peer reviewed and refereed publi-
cations include General Music Today, British Journal of Music
Education, Music Education Research, and Middle Grades
Research Journal. She is the director of the Center for
Educational Partnerships in Music at Georgia State University.