Music
Orff Summer Institute
The University of Memphis Orff Summer Institute is one of the nation's longest-running Orff Schulwerk certification programs. Revitalize your teaching practice as you learn to engage your students in joyful and creative music-making and dance in our historic course. Build lasting connections with instructors and colleagues in our intensive two-week teacher education courses and focused one-week masterclasses. Our distinguished and dynamic faculty will provide an educational, inspiring, and transformative experience for you.
Graduate credit from our Orff Schulwerk certification courses can also be applied toward our Master of Music (M.M.) in Orff Schulwerk degree.
Orff Schulwerk is a celebration of the diversity of creative thought. In the Orff
classroom, every student has an opportunity to shine and contribute their gifts, and
this applies to our adult learners and much as children. This approach has the power
to profoundly change your teaching, positively impacting the lives of your students.
As Orff teachers, we develop a strong sense of community by intentionally fostering
a safe environment where students feel comfortable engaging in play and taking risks
as they learn new skills. I hope that you will join us at the historic Memphis course
where we will sing, say, dance, and play in the home of Blues and BBQ.
Read more about Course Director Elisabeth Crabtree >>
Contact Memphis Orff Summer Institute
memphisorff@memphis.edu
e.crabtree@memphis.edu
FACULTY I TUITION I ACCOMODATIONS
(3-hours undergraduate credit available as MUSE 4802 or graduate credit as MUSE 6802)
Basic Orff Schulwerk techniques, including pentatonic scale, simple borduns, ostinato,
and playing pitched and unpitched percussion instruments and soprano recorder. Topics
and skills in this highly participatory course will also include vocal and rhythmic
training, movement, and improvisation. A degree in music or strong musicianship is
required.
PREREQUISITE for MUSE 4802: Junior standing in music or permission of course director. PREREQUISITE for MUSE 6802: Graduate standing in music or permission of course director.
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(3-hours graduate credit available as MUSE 7103)
It builds on the foundation laid in Level I, adding folk melodies, diatonic modes,
mixed meter, and rhythms from many parts of the world. Accompaniments, musical forms,
and improvisations are more complex. Both the alto and soprano recorders are studied.
Music, movement, and speech are synthesized in cooperative learning lessons.
PREREQUISITE: MUSE 6802 OR successful completion of Orff Schulwerk Level I at an AOSA-approved course.
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(3-hours graduate credit available as MUSE 7104)
Explores polymeters and functional harmony to include I-V, I-IV, and I-IV-V accompaniment
settings. Forms include theme and variations, chaconne & passacaglia, decoration of
the third, and ground bass. In pedagogy, students apply the Orff process to conceptual
teaching. All recorder voicings are explored in a variety of combinations.
PREREQUISITE: MUSE 7103 OR successful completion of Orff Schulwerk Level II at an AOSA-approved course.
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Karen Medley's "Through Children’s Eyes: Masterclass Focusing on Creativity and Improvisation"
(3-hours graduate credit available as MUSE 7214)
M.M. PREREQUISITE: MUSE 7104 OR successful completion of Orff Schulwerk Level III at an AOSA-approved course.
Register > 2026 Memphis Orff Course Books and Materials
Meet our 2026 Presenters! >>
Orff Schulwerk is a dynamic and active approach to music and movement education created by composer Carl Orff and his colleague Gunild Keetman. The Orff approach builds on children's innate musical abilities through things they do naturally: sing, speak, move and play. Through singing, rhythmic speech, body percussion and movement, children gain experience and develop instincts for making music in a joyful and accessible way. Orff Schulwerk uses songs, rhymes, games and dances to explore traditional and original music in elemental style, introducing musical skills and concepts in a logical and integrated way. Music and movement are often accompanied by clapping, snapping and stamping or with pitched and unpitched percussion and recorders. The American Orff-Schulwerk Association approves the Orff Schulwerk Certification Program at the University of Memphis.