Exploring the 5 beats in Eurhythmics, Solfège and Improvisation

“A work in progress”

I. Introduction

This session has been recorded in Geneva, Switzerland, with four Master level students from Haute
école de Musique (HEM) in Institut Jaques-Dalcroze (IJD) facilities.
The professional studies, Master and Bachelor programs, are held by HEM, however the students are
studying in IJD building.
Three of them graduated in June 2021.
One of them finished in 2020 and is studying now on the Diplôme Supérieur program (IJD).

The materiel covered was totally new for them. For this reason, I make some comments in part III
about what could be improved.

II. Content

In this video clip, I present some examples about the 5 beats measure.

As a Warm-up, we explore the beats and the value with a recorded music. We pay attention to the
use of space, the eye contact with the group, etc.

Then, we develop the augmentation and diminution in Eurhythmics:
- Clapping the three different speeds in group, while the piano keeps the tempo primo;
- Walking and conducting with the piano, as well as in canon;

In Improvisation, a student plays the speeds shown by the conductor (visual reaction to conventional
gesture).

Back to Eurhythmics, the students walk the pattern played by the piano. On the signal, they
transform it twice fast (“hip”) or twice slow (“hop”), as an aural reaction.

In Improvisation, another student plays the patterns written on the board shown by another student
(visual reaction).

In Solfège (aural training), we use the ancient modes. The mixolydian mode is used for the tempo
primo, the phrygian mode for the augmentation and the lydian mode for the diminution. Students
creates movements by pairs according to the mode played by the piano. They also react in canon
after listening one measure of 5 beats, that they transform to the appropriated speed.

Students memorize a theme: they sing, conduct, step and/or clap it.
Using the translation done before, it is possible to apply the different speeds to the theme:

In Improvisation, one student can play the sequence:

Back to movement, the students can sing the theme and add their previous movement ideas.

In the end, we sing the theme and improvise vocally as a rondo form.

III. Comments

As mentioned in the video clip, in Geneva we use the fixed do system for the aural training. It means
that we sing the theme starting with the syllable “fa”. When students improvise vocally, they also use
syllables.

The room is not big enough for such advanced patterns, particularly when jumps appear in the
diminution. During this session, we could have also used the floor in movement.

The conducting gesture depend on the time-space-energy relationship. We should work more
technically on the arm beats, in order to improve the ability to coordinate legs and the quality of
movement.

Because of Covid regulations, students wear masks. It affects the breath, as well as the sight. In an
ordinary session, I would emphasize more the eye contact as well as the touch connection.

What is Dalcrozian in that session? Generally, we can list the lesson progression and its interrelation
between the three main branches, the use of piano improvisation for the teacher as well as for the
students, the Solfège exploration in movement and with the space, the typical exercises (reactions,
sequences, etc.).

IV. How to use this material

The principles used in those exercises can be easily applied to an easier musical content, like the 4
beats measure (4/4) or with the different speeds (quarter note, eight note, half note). Instead of
using the ancient modes, it is possible to compare the Major, the minor and the pentatonic modes
for example.

V. The number 5

This uneven number can be observed in many ways:

    The continents
    The oceans in the world
    The senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste and the 6th muscular sense of course)
    The toes and the fingers
    The four limbs and the head
    The tastes (sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami)
    Le Corbusier's five points of architecture
    The expression « Give me five! »
    In music: the fifth, the dominant, the mixolydian mode, quintet, etc.

VI. References

You can find several teaching contents on those links:
https://www.dalcroze.ch/informations-pratiques/centre-documentation/
https://www.dalcroze.ch/informations-pratiques/centre-documentation/librairie/
https://www.fier.com/documents


Hélène Nicolet obtained her Dalcroze License in 2006 at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze (IJD) and her Master of Arts in Music Education from the University of Applied Sciences in 2008. She studied classical piano and cello. In 2011, Hélène became a Certified Movement Analyst at the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in New York. In 2013, she completed her Diplôme Supérieur. Hélène has taught in music schools, elementary schools, for adults and seniors, and is regularly invited to teach abroad. She teaches professional students at the Haute Ecole de Musique and is the executive assistant at IJD.
helene.nicolet@dalcroze.ch