Basic rhythmic movement takes the form of walking, running, skipping, and taking long steps to music and is often based on the work of Dalcroze. The teacher can improvise music for this type of movement, taken from traditional songs and chants or recorded music. Dalcroze felt that rhythmic movement was the best way to awaken the love and appreciation of music in young children. He wrote that children should be trained to respond to music physically as early as the first year of life. For children under three years of age, the teacher can improvise music for basic movements by playing quarter notes for walking, half notes for long steps, and eighth notes for running steps (Lineburgh, 1994). Once the children learn the skills of perceiving and responding to music physically and controlling and coordinating their movements, they will be able to perform more challenging tasks.

© ChetYeng Loong