VOLUME 1 : pulsation & locomotion
This volume includes ten musical pieces mostly focused on the theme of locomotion. Through walking, running, skipping, slow walking, dance steps etc., the pulsation, which is the basis of music, is incarnated in the body. The pulsation (beat), in the body, results in steps. From pulsation to measure, and then to phrasing, VOLUME I brings together these musical notions intimately linked to each other, which give life and meaning to the musical discourse.
VOLUME 2 : beat, subdivision and multiple
Volume 2 is based on the notion of pulsation and develops the concept of division and multiplication of the basic pulsation. This naturally leads us to different speeds, in precise relation to each other. These relationships necessarily imply relations between the notions of time, space and energy, central subject of the Dalcroze pedagogy.
VOLUME 3 : basic rhythms
Volume 3 presents simple rhythms, created from the different note values introduced in the previous two volumes. These include mainly short-short-long and long-short-short combinations. The purpose of these musical tracks is to introduce a variety of activities that allow students to assimilate musical rhythms while developing their motor skills and coordination.
VOLUME 4 : contrasts
The subject of contrasts is one way in which young children can begin to put words on what they hear. It is an excellent didactic tool for making conscious what is often intuitive listening. While some of the contrasts in this volume are suitable for the youngest listeners, others are aimed at more experienced children and even adults.
VOLUME 5 : natural movements
This volume addresses natural movements in the most simple of ways : the music offered invites you to move freely, without any particular reflection process. The concept of complicity between the music and the student’s movement is the base of Dalcroze Eurhythmics. This means that what the body is doing is exactly coherent with the music the student hears. This complicity actually nourishes both the movement and the musical sense.
VOLUME 6 : phrasing
Phrasing is the art of conducting a musical discourse. Like the phrasing of spoken language which conveys thought, musical phrasing has an inflection, a movement, an articulation, a breath, a dynamic and a direction that expresses an intention.
Body movement and the use of space allow us to feel the phrasing, to become aware of it and to express it clearly and globally. The experience of phrasing, once inscribed in the body, leads to an intimate understanding of the music.
VOLUME 7: simple meter
This volume presents simple time measures with 2, 3 and 4 beats. Their common point is the division of the beats, but they are very different from each other. Through a variety of exercises involving the whole body, one discovers the back-and-forth sensation of the two-beat meter, the circular movement of the three-beat meter, the duration and therefore the greater use of space induced by the four-beat meter.
VOLUME 8: compound meter
Volume 8 is dedicated to compound division. Like volume 7, it deals with the different meters, this time from 2 to 5 beats, and in increasing order. It focuses on the feeling of the overall duration of the meter and the beats, as well as their division into three. One becomes familiar with the rhythmic cells of both ternary trochee and iamb (long-short, short-long), one plays with rhythms and creates them.
VOLUME 9: unequal beats
After the simple and compound meters which deal with the division of a regular pulse by two or three, here are the unequal beat meters. Now, instead of dividing a pulsation, regular note values are added into groups of 2, 3 or 4. In this volume the note values are eighth notes.
Music in unequal beats reveals the richness of many cultures and gives you an irresistible desire to dance!
VOLUME 10: “one more step”
The last volume of the collection gathers various learning elements intended for a more advanced level.
Some tracks address topics covered in previous volumes (change of meters, canon, unequal measures, rhythmic and melodic dictation), at a more complex level; others introduce the notion of polymeter, that is, the superposition of two different metric values within the same time frame, for example two beats of ternary value (6/8) with three beats of binary value (3/4). The proposed polymeters are 2><3, 3><4, 5><2, 5><3.
“This is a truly wonderful collection! The beautiful music of Françoise Lombard is perfect for the suggested activity and still she invites the teacher, or the students, to invent other activities and movements. The selections are short so that no one gets tired. There is always something to listen for!
It can also be used as a study of improvisation – how to play a simple introduction, develop an idea, modulate, what makes a good contrast, etcetera.
I recommend it to any classroom music teacher who wants to explore movement as a way to learn to listen.”
“Listening to Françoise’s improvisation in this audio library has been inspiring. Often I find myself standing up and I begin to move while listening. I listen as a Dalcrozian, recognizing its rich pedagogical potential. I also listen just for enjoyment as I immerse in the imaginative music. For Dalcroze students in training, it may serve as examples when they learn to improvise in the teaching context. For classroom music teachers, the recording becomes an indispensable aid for nourishing the students’ ears and their movement experience. Thank you, Françoise, for sharing your creation with us.”
“Your work touches me deeply, your tone, your use of words – words of explanation in your teaching and your writing are clear, and provide so much information, very simply – your easy organization, and of course, the music. There is a calm : it is like the calm of your speech, and your person, that emerges through the music. For example, your tempi are on the slow side, and there is no rushing. The tempi are so real, and human. They are absolutely a reflection of, a model of being with the movement, being it, becoming it, resonating with it . . . all of these things.
Your music provides rich examples for teachers who are immersing themselves in Dalcroze eurhythmics classes with you, and would like to learn how to apply the work in their classrooms. One can hear and feel the movement you are playing for, while listening to your improvised music at the piano. The Audio Library provides a unique way for teachers and students of eurhythmics to learn through active listening, moving to the music, then reading your explanation and analysis.”
“The musical pieces that a music teacher uses in his or her lessons attract the attention, listening and interest of the student. They are the raw material of the music class and are at the heart of the musical experience for both the child and the adult. In her Audio Library, Françoise Lombard offers us magnificent musical improvisations constructed in such a way as to emphasize a specific element of the musical language. Each piece is accompanied by a description of activities that can be performed in class. Based on the Jaques-Dalcroze Eurhythmics, the proposed exercises use body movement, which contributes to a deep understanding of music and promotes the overall development of the individual. This Library is remarkable and a source of inspiration – both musical and pedagogical – for anyone interested in music education. I highly recommend it!”
“… I feel like the Dalcroze spirit of creativity and discovery is shining through your project …”
“… how relevant, precise, beautiful, light, joyful … Thank you also for sharing your melodies to improvise.
It will be useful to all those who know that music is already lived and expressed through and in the body, whether you are an instrumentalist or a singer.”
“I can now offer curated and pedagogical aesthetic experiences to my music students through Françoise’s quality interpretations!”