All Are Welcome – Orff

• Michelle Brinkman
• Posted 8/29/22
• 0 comments

Pentatonic Composition

Suggested Grades: 3-5 

National Core Arts Standards 
#1 – Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work. 

Objectives 

• Create a rhythm using text and Elemental Building Bricks. 
• Compose an eight-beat pentatonic melodic pattern. 

Materials  

• Book: All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold  
• Welcome Cards & PowerPoint (optional) 
• Worksheet (optional) 

History

Carl Orff and his associate, Gunild Keetman, developed the Orff-Schulwerk approach to teaching music in Germany during the 1920s. It is an active music-making approach in which children learn musical behavior by creating, listening, analyzing, and performing through speech, singing, movement, body percussion, and instruments. The Orff approach teaches musical skills and concepts through a four-stage learning process:  imitation, exploration, literacy, and improvisation.  

Lesson Overview

This Orff pentatonic composition lesson featuring All Are Welcome, a children’s book by Alexandra Penfold, uses Keetman’s Rhythmic Building Bricks to identify the rhythm of the word “welcome” in different languages to compose an eight-beat melody in C pentatonic.   

Suggested Teaching Process

Lesson 1: Book and Body Percussion Piece

1. Teach the All Are Welcome chant: 

All are welcome here.

1. Read All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. 
2. Add the chant All Are Welcome Here every time this phrase appears in the book.
   • Helpful Hint: Adding snaps on the rests prevents students from rushing. 

4. Discuss the meaning of “All Are Welcome Here.”  
5. Layer in the body percussion. 
6. Perform piece.
   • Speech
   • Body percussion only (whisper words/audiate)
   • Speech and body percussion

Lesson 2: Barred Instruments

1. Review the chant with body percussion. 
2. Teach the song using echo imitation.
   • Inspired from Rhythmische Übung by Gunild Keetman #17 
   • Text and melody by Michelle Brinkman 

All Are Welcome Here.  All Are Welcome Here. 
All Are Welcome Here at School! 
All Are Welcome Here.  All Are Welcome Here. 
All Are Welcome Here at School! 

3. Set up barred instruments in C pentatonic (remove F & B bars) 
4. Teach melody by rote. 
5. Label as A section. 

Lesson 3: Rhythmic Building Blocks

1. Create a list of different ways to say “welcome.”  

2. Display rhythmic building bricks. 
3. Sort “welcomes” to fit the Keetman’s Rhythmic Building Bricks. 
4. Create an eight-beat rhythmic pattern using four rhythmic building brinks using elemental forms. 
5. Provide an example pattern. 
6. Students create their patterns using an Elemental Form. 

Elemental music is pattern-based  music  built on natural speech and body rhythms, familiar melodic patterns, and simple forms that can be learned, created, understood, and performed without extensive technical or theoretical musical training.  – Definition by Nick Wild 

      Elemental Forms – Each letter is replaced with one of the “Welcomes.” 

• AAAB 
• ABAB 
• ABBA 
• ABAC 

7. Students notate their compositions on their worksheets. – Optional  

Lesson 4: Student Composition

1. At barred instruments, students perform their rhythms on C. 
2. Students repeat playing their phrase any two notes of their choosing, beginning and ending on C. 
3. Continue adding a note until students can improvise using all of the notes in the pentatonic scale. (beginning and ending on C) 
4. Discuss the idea of what makes a melody sound best with students. 
5. Use notes that repeat. 
6. Choose notes that move by skip or step. 
7. Perform as a Rondo, using Rhythmische Übung by Gunild Keetman #17 inspired melody section and student improvisations for contrasting sections. 

Extension

1. The song Hello, Hello by Dan Zanes works in conjunction with this book beautifully.   
2. The lesson sketch Say Hello by Michelle Brinkman also works well with this lesson. 
3. Compose a different ostinato pattern to accompany the A section. 
4. Students create a dance to accompany the A section. 

References

Keetman, G. (1970). In Rhythmische Übung (p. 6). essay, B. Schott’s Söhne. #17 

Penfold, A., & Kaufman, S. (2020). All Are Welcome. Scholastic Inc.  

titusXpullo. (2011, July 24). Hello. YouTube. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zLqp7C5Uqg  

---

Shop This Lesson