Reading Task 4

Discuss the musical and social outcomes of including movement in a music lesson for children.
How are eurhythmics and creative movement related? How are they different?

Including movement in music lessons serves many purposes. One of the most important musical outcomes is that, since moving is a part of daily life, the students can begin to make connections between music and the rest of life. Also, moving is natural for most people. Thus, walking, or skipping, or dancing to the beat of the song can help reinforce internal pulse as well as simply the ability to find the pulse (beat) of the music.

Socially speaking, movement helps kids feel more comfortable singing and participating in music with their peers. Some may be self-conscious about singing in front of others; however, virtually no one is afraid of walking or being silly in front their peers, so doing these things while singing takes some of the focus (at least in the other kids’ minds) off the singing and “real” music concepts. Also, there are many movement-related activities that involve the whole class working or playing together; this is practically forced socialization and is terrific for helping kids get to know each other better.

Eurhythmics are very similar to creative movement; however, there is one main difference. Eurhythmics are “what the music tells you do to,” meaning that they are relatively directly related to the music. Whether the students are walking the beat, tapping a rhythmic ostinato, or conducting the meter, they are all directly related to, and indicative of, the musical content. Creative movement, then, different in that it is not as specific to the music; it does not directly represent anything, especially not any time signature or tempo or rhythms. Creative movement, then, is more along the lines of simply moving one’s body as they feel appropriate; essentially it is elementary-level interpretive dance. I think that both of these are valid for use in a music classroom setting; in fact, both should be used!

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