Orff Basic Class Notes 2013 - Beatin' Path Publications, LLC

VCU Basic Orff 2013
Brent Holl, Instructor
fit the natural flow of the text.
3. Create two body instrument ostinatos using complementary rhythms, diminution or augmentation.
Complementary Rhythms - Sound well in ensemble and don’t come together
in unison to much. They preserve the feeling of the several parts.
Diminution - Halve the note values
Augmentation - Double the note values
4. Notate them exactly on the score under the text. (Rhyme Template)
5. Transfer your ostinatos to unpitched instruments of choice.
6. Make a simple form and perform for the class.
7.
Suggestions:
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An ostinato should be repeated at least 2 times, (or it isn’t an ostinato)
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An ostinato should be horizontal, should have good structure, should be of more than one
measure (sometimes shorter ones are OK and even desirable, but not generally.), and there
should be a sense of tension and relaxation in the phrasing.
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Always try for complementary rhythms when creating ostinatos. (The ostinato and the words
should not have unison rhythms). It won’t be perfect but their can’t be too many unisons.
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Ostinatos may be derived from the source directly or may be related. (McRae ‘80)
Group 1:
Moses supposes his toeses are roses,
But Moses supposes erroneously
For nobody’s toeses we knowses are roses,
As Moses supposes his toeses to be.
Group 2:
Mary had a little lamb.
It was a greedy glutton.
She fed it ice cream all day long
And now it’s frozen mutton.
Group 3:
Barber, barber, shave a pig!
How many hairs to make a wig
Four and twenty, that’s enough!
Give the barber a pinch of snuff.
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