Written by a team of five highly skilled elementary general music educators, Conversational Solfege with Orff Schulwerk offers a dynamic and practical resource for integrating two of the most powerful approaches in music education: Orff Schulwerk and John M. Feierabend’s Conversational Solfege.

As Dr. Feierabend shares in the foreword, “Whether a teacher has little or no background in one of these methods or holds certification in both, this book will enrich their lessons with child-centered tuneful, beatful, and artful experiences, leading from simple singing and movement experiences to competent improvising and composing.”

The authors provide dozens of classroom-ready activities aligned with all 12 steps of the Conversational Solfege method, complemented by purposeful Orff extensions that deepen understanding through singing, saying, dancing, and playing. The detailed lesson sequences and adaptable strategies expertly connect music literacy with active music-making while also emphasizing student choice and creativity.

Whether you are an Orff teacher seeking to strengthen music literacy or a Conversational Solfege practitioner looking to expand your creative applications, this book provides a clear and inspiring path forward.

Joani Brandon is Professor of Music Emeritus at Anderson University, and currently serves as a K–5 music educator at Red Rocks Elementary and Leawood Elementary in the metro-Denver area. Betsy Greene is an elementary music educator with over forty years of experience in Burlington, Vermont. Andrew M. Himelick has served as an elementary music educator in Carmel, Indiana, for thirty-two years and as an assistant choir director with the Indianapolis Children’s Choir for twenty-six years. Craig Knapp has been teaching classroom music and chorus, Grades 3–5, in the Rocky Point School District since 1998, and he directs the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra’s Children’s Treble Choirs. Christopher Tranberg is the superintendent of Branford Public Schools in Branford, Connecticut, and over the last two decades has served as a music educator, department leader, assistant principal, principal, and assistant superintendent.