Super Do Re Mi - Session Notes
DSA National Conference 2023
This post will serve as the session notes for my presentation a the 2023 DSA National Conference in Berea, OH. I hope you were there, but if not perhaps these notes will give you a glimpse into the workshop! If you’re seeing this post, and you are planning to attend my session this morning, you might want to wait to read it!
First of all, thanks for attending my session. Personally, I always struggle to decide which session to attend and I’m honored that you decided to attend mine.
The Dalcroze approach is so powerful, in my opinion, because it begins with embodied experience, connecting students through sensation to musical elements. As a public school educator, this kind of experiential learning is so valuable as many of our students come in to school with little to no concept of what it means to be immersed in joyful music making.
For some classroom teachers, the embodied experience of rhythm (beat, meter, etc) is easy to grasp and the utility of Dalcrozian activities appears self-evident. But how do these principles apply to teaching solfege and ear-training? Elementary public school ear training curricula are plentiful, but I’ve noticed a real lack of this same embodied experience that makes the Dalcroze work so powerful. Often times, tonal activities seem more like thinking activities. Even the term “ear training” limits itself to a single sense. But what does solfege FEEL like? Can the students recognize tonal and harmonic patterns through embodied experience? Can the students discover and explore this experience TOGETHER? How does this experience utilize interpersonal learning and create group bonds?
I’ve found that one of the most fundamental binary sensations created by harmonic elements is the contrast of TENSION and RELEASE. It’s probably worth mentioning that there are many ways that these sensations can be diagrammed, and when I try to capture these feeling through movement, I seek to find only ONE way to think about them. The easiest way for children, in my experience to connect to harmonic tension is by exploring the relationship between DOMINANT and TONIC.
In my experience it is difficult for children to describe tonal concepts using words, and explaining it through theory is, of course, a non-starter. Movement, however, seems to be a much better way for children to connect to the sensation and explain it. I developed a few songs and games that allow students to explore this feeling through embodied experience.
This song and activity is designed to allow students to recognize the difference between the tension implied in a dominant chord and the resolution of the tonic. It also allows the teacher to assess the students’ response to the harmonic tension.
Another similar activity to this one is called “The Existential Snowflake.” It builds on the construction of the first activity and deepens the complexity a bit more. I also might use a great New Orleans parade song called “Crawfish Fiesta.”
Once I feel satisfied that the students are recognizing the difference between Dominant and Tonic, I will begin to introduce solfege. I have developed an activity called “Super DoReMi” which is both highly engaging and powerful. The students use TRICHORDS and story imagery to associate tonality with sensation.
Do Re Mi - Super Do Re Mi enters the scene with a strong step.
Re Mi Fa - Super Do Re Mi sees a bus that is about to fall off of a bridge, and they PULL the buss up from the edge.
Mi Fa So - Everyone is SO happy that Super Do Re Mi saved the day.
So Fa Mi - In a horrible accident, Super Do Re Mi put the bus down on a puppy. How tragic!
Fa Mi Re - Everyone pushes the bus off of the puppy.
Mi Re Do - What a relief, the puppy turns out to be OK!
Re Do Ti - In a final scene we find that the puppy was actually a SUPER PUPPY!