The importance of Emil Jaques-Dalcroze’s solfeggio to the development of musicality and creative skills in the 1st-3rd-graders of an elementary music school in the light of the authors’ research

Abstract

The authors of the article present findings of their own pilot study regarding the use of Emil Jaques-Dalcroze’s solfeggio in the development of musicality and creative skills in the 1st-3rd-graders of an elementary music school. The experiment was carried out in the elementary music school in Sucha Beskidzka, based on an original school curriculum encompassing the subjects of “eurhythmics” and “aural training” taught integrally. The aim of the study was to determine efficiency of aural training taught in line with Dalcroze’s method. The research procedure involved the authors’ original test of musical skills, checking the level of tonal sense development, intonation, sense of timing, as well as musical memory, aural-motor coordination, movement expression and creative skills. It aimed to answer the question regarding the extent to which Dalcroze’s exercises, integrating aural, vocal and motor activities, can develop a pupil’s acuity of noticing musical phenomena and improve their musical competences.