Caveat: Though I have done my best in this informational guide to provide some characteristic examples of Dalcroze activities, I must stress that no amount of background reading can adequately convey the experience of actually being in a Eurhythmics class. If you are interested in any of the ideas mentioned here, I urge you to seek out a Eurhythmics program near you, or contact the Dalcroze Society of America to discuss having a Eurhythmics clinician come to your area.
Fundamentals of Eurhythmics: Solfege
	Though rhythmic movement is the most idiosyncratic component of a Eurhythmics program, the complete Dalcroze philosophy also includes solfege and improvisation. Just as rhythmic movement enables us to express music with our bodies, solfege and improvisation teach us to express it through our voices and our instruments. Those who are unfamiliar with Dalcroze solfege may be cringing as they recall endless hours of tedious singing drills from their college days, but Dalcrozian solfege is as different as chalk from cheese. No mind-numbing repetition here -- in fact, as soon as an exercise becomes repetitive it should be changed to introduce new challenges. The fundamental point about Dalcrozian solfege is that it's not only educational and musical, but it's also fun.By constantly changing the requirements for the excerpt to be sung and by approaching all challenges from a musical perspective, exercises turn into games. The brain is constantly engaged in adapting to new challenges, so the games never become boring. To give you an idea of the kind of challenge I mean, here is a simple solfege exercise you can do anytime -- in the car, walking down the street, waiting for your sandwich at the deli, etc. The skeleton of the exercise is simply a scale, sung up and down. However, in Dalcroze solfege, all scales are sung from C to C. After all, a G major scale sung starting on G sounds just the same as a C major scale starting on C. The pitches themselves are different, but the intervals between them are the same -- there will always be a half-step between scale degrees 3 and 4, etc. Dalcroze wanted to challenge his students and at the same time teach them to hear specific pitch colors, so he had them sing all scales from C to C. A G major scale sung from C to C would therefore be sung C-D-E-F#-G-A-B-C (or, if the standard solmization syllables are used, do-re-mi etc.). Here, the half-steps fall between scale degrees 4 and 5, and between degrees 7 and 8. Scale Exercise Part I Start by singing a one-octave C major scale from C to C, first up, then down. Travel around the circle of fifths, singing all major scales from C to C (you may need to alter the C to a C# or Cb according to the key signature of the scale). After you sing each scale, sing the tonic note. Part II Too easy? Try the minor scales. Or, start by singing the scale downwards instead of upwards. Part III Still not tough enough? Add a rhythmic pattern to your scales, and conduct while singing. Here's a common rhythmic pattern for this exercise: Notice that the downbeat of every bar is the next note in the scale, so the pickup notes keep "backing up" one eighth note each bar. When you reach the top, start the pattern over again from the beginning. Part IV As a final challenge, substitute hand claps or steps for the rests in the above pattern. One clap or step should occur for every eighth-note's worth of rests. As you can see, there are many variations for this simple exercise. Further variations could include singing one scale on the way up and a different one on the way down. Or changing the meter of the rhythmic pattern from 4/4 to 9/8 (how would the pattern change?). Or singing some notes silently in your head (for example, never singing the note "mi" out loud). If this exercise is done with a classful of students, there are even more possibilities for variation: split the class into two groups and have them sing in canon, have one group start by singing downwards and another start singing upwards, have one group stop singing at a certain point and have the other group pick up where they left off, etc. You can take any worn-out solfege exercise you currently use and turn it into something new and different just by changing the parameters. What ways can you think of to make it more interesting? Remember also that even the simplest exercise should always be executed musically -- that is, with phrasing, direction, dynamics, nuance, color, etc. This example shows how to transform material that you currently have into something more in line with the Dalcroze philosophy of keeping the brain engaged and stimulated. Dalcroze actually had his own theories on how solfege should first be approached; if you are interested in reading about these in detail, check out his treatises on the subject. They include (but are not limited to) the study of tetrachords, pentachords, hexachords, heptachords, minor scales, modulations, and chromaticism.
Fundamentals of Eurhythmics: Rhythmic Movement
	To Dalcroze, movement and rhythm were the fundamental sources of expressivity in music. Once he had detected a connection between hearing a musical rhythm and a corresponding instinctive motor response in the body, he set about trying to deliberately strengthen that connection to achieve a deeper understanding of musical expression. By using movement, the student can experience in a tangible, physical way musical concepts such as tempo, meter, rhythm, dynamics, line, counterpoint, pacing, accelerando/rallentando, harmonic weight, and nuances of phrasing. Dalcroze began by having his students beat time to their singing exercises, as you did in the example above. He found that when his students did this, they were able to grasp something of the organization of the pitches and felt that they were more physically connected to the music. It was a small step from movement which merely accompanied music to movement which expressed it. He then got them out of their chairs and asked them to step to the pulse of music he improvised at the piano, showing the meter with arm movements. (This is still a core Eurhythmics exercise. Like the scale-singing example above, the possibilities of variation are endless, and even the most advanced student can learn something new every time.) Dalcroze then began to make the exercises harder by asking his students to respond quickly to certain commands he issued from the keyboard; at a given verbal or musical signal they were to step twice as quickly, beat time twice as slowly, stop or start marching, change direction, walk in a staccato or legato way, show phrasing and dynamics, etc. If you would like to experiment with this, below are guidelines for one variation on this exercise. This is a simple exercise in canon (though later you can make it as complex as you like), and it can be suitable for any age level. These directions are written for teachers of older students; if your students are younger, you may need to add additional steps to explain what you want them to do. Movement Exercise You will need: a piano, a group of students, and a large room (preferably uncarpeted). For ease of movement, it is recommended that students remove their shoes. Part I You will be improvising the music for this game, so let's keep it simple. Don't be afraid! Anyone who has had the misfortune of hearing me play the piano knows that I am no pianist. I always try to keep my improvisations well within my level of technical control, so rest assured that no particular level of technique is necessary for this game (other than the ability to keep a steady pulse). But remember -- just because music is not technically difficult doesn't mean it has to be boring! You are not limited by your technique -- only by your imagination. Using your left hand, play a steady quarter-note ostinato (one note only; I usually pick C) somewhere in the bass range of the piano. You will be asking your students to step this pulse, so make it slow enough for comfortable walking; I suggest somewhere in the range of quarter note=54 beats per minute (faster for young children with short legs!). They will probably end up walking in a big circle; this is common in beginning students. Explain to your students that this pulse is a quarter note, and they are going to be working with a 4/4 meter. They are to walk the pulse at all times. They will perform an interrupted (echo) canon with you -- in your right hand, in the treble register of the piano, you will play a simple melody, taking up one bar of 4/4. In the following bar, they are to echo the rhythm of your melody by clapping (you do not play during this bar). The melody can be very simple or very complex, depending on the level of your students and your comfort level at the piano. Two helpful hints: 1) I've found that it's sometimes easier for beginning students to hear the rhythm if there is no distraction of harmony, and 2) At the beginning, start all your melodies on the downbeat. Part II Once your students have gotten the hang of it, it's time to shake them up and get them disoriented again (welcome to the Dalcroze method!). Start some of your melodies with a pickup. Add accents, dynamics, and phrasing and ask them to show those through their clapping and stepping. Add a syncopated rhythm. Part III (optional) Ask students to reverse what they're doing -- keep the steady pulse in their hands and echo your rhythms by walking. (Keep these melodies very simple at first!) If you are comfortable at the piano, you might try putting the ostinato in the right hand and the melody in the left. Discuss whether this was easier or harder than the original way, and brainstorm some reasons why. Or, for advanced students, create a different challenge -- you play a bar in 4/4, they echo you in 4/8 or 4/2 (exercises in diminution/augmentation). If you have a friend who can do the improv, jump in and join the group. When you're the teacher you miss out on half the fun, which is actually doing the exercises! You will probably learn a great deal from this game; as with all Dalcroze topics, stimulating the brain is always a primary goal. As you can imagine, there are endless variations on this game. Again, what I have provided are guidelines only. Eurhythmics games are never set in stone. Feel free to modify them to suit your needs by adding or subtracting elements, changing the parameters, etc. As with the scale-singing exercise, this simple movement game can give rise to hundreds of variations, each addressing a specific skill. I don't want to give the impression that all Eurhythmics movement games involve walking and clapping. This is certainly not true. The possibilities of using movement to express musical concepts are limitless. More advanced exercises include correlating quality of movement to specific aspects of music, using spatial relationships to show interaction of different lines of music, experiencing phrasing through movement, and mastering polyrhythm and polymeter (among many, many others). Again, go observe or take part in a real Eurhythmics class to see what it's all about. In Dalcroze, there are (almost) never any right or wrong answers; the emphasis is on the process of creation. Dalcroze himself summarized this by saying that "at the end of their course students should be able to say, not 'I know,' but 'I have experienced.' " As a final note, it should be stressed that Eurhythmics is notdance. Dance is movement set to music, while Eurhythmics is the movement ofmusic. The aim of rhythmic movement is not to impose a beautiful movement onto a background of sound, but rather to use movement as a means of releasing the expressivity of the music itself. Rather than being restrictive, this requirement is actually very freeing, particularly when moving alone. Using movement as a vehicle for music creates a marvelous sense of intimate counterpoint, as if the music itself were an invisible partner matching your every move.
Fundamentals of Eurhythmics: Improvisation
	Improvisation is the natural continuation of the principles learned through solfege and body movement. As with body movement, the emphasis in improv is on the experience of creation, not on the finished product. The ideal improvisation is one in which the instrument becomes an extension of the body. The goal is not to create a perfect composition, but to express on an instrument the musical sensations experienced by the body. Improvisation is a frightening word for many classical musicians. Too frequently, it is not a part of our musical training and we haven't the slightest idea how to go about it. (This is the impetus for the book that I am working on, entitled Classical Improvisation for String Quartets.) Non-keyboard players (like myself) have an extra measure of terror when faced with the fact that improvisation in a Dalcroze setting usually means improvisation at the piano. Give me my viola and I can spout off notes all day with ease, but doing it at the piano is another story. Fortunately, improv is something that gets easier every time you do it (you'll just have to trust me on this one). Start small, and don't be afraid to make a mistake! You don't have to improvise a sonata your first time out -- or even your hundredth time out. All that's important is that you create something that embodies movement. If you did the movement exercise above, you have already done one kind of improvisation. The following exercise is a different kind of improvisation. You won't need to worry about melody or harmony, just about getting some noise out of the piano. Improvisation Exercise You will need: a partner and a piano. Part I Sit at the piano. Your partner should stand away from the piano, somewhere where you can clearly see him or her. Ask your partner to make up a body movement and keep repeating it. (Like the other exercises, it may be best to start with simpler movements and graduate to more complex ones.) Watch the movement, and try to think about what kind of sounds might accompany that movement. Express the movement on the piano. For example, if your partner's movement involves falling to the floor, you might express that with a glissando down the piano keys. Landing on the floor after a jump might be represented as an elbow across the black keys of the low register. Be as descriptive as possible, but don't try to match the movement with structured pitch. Switch places with your partner. Part II Now reverse the process. Come up with some interesting sounds at the piano, and ask your partner to try to express those sounds in movement. This is a fairly non-threatening form of improv because you don't have to worry about playing a wrong note or making an ugly sound. For help in improvising more structured music (here I go again) -- enroll in a Eurhythmics class, and practice, practice, practice!