While Carl Orff is a very seminal composer of the 20th century, his greatest success and influence has been in the field of Music Education. Born on July 10th in Munich, Germany in 1895, Orff refused to speak about his past almost as if he were ashamed of it. What we do know, however, is that Orff came from a Bavarian family who was very active in the German military. His father"s regiment band would often play through some of the young Orff"s first attempts at composing. Although Orff was adamant about the secrecy of his past, Moser"s Musik Lexicon...
hearing handicaps can hit just about anywhere on an Orff instrument set up to use a pentatonic scale so he can feel like he is being included.

In conclusion, the Carl Orff has been a very influential person in the field of Music Education. He has demonstrated to us that the way to teach music to children is to let then go back to the basics, or elements, of speech, movement, and singing. He has reminded us how much we really expect children to learn music differently in the traditional method than it is natural for them to learn.