how to train beginner's ear?

[jijiza]

I have been teaching piano for only 1 year. All my students are beginner level. Almost all of them are weak on ear test. Can anyone give me suggestions on how to help my little students? Any opinion are welcome

[amanfang]

A few things I do for early level students:

1.  Play a series of notes - do they move up, down, or repeat?  Move by step or skip?
2.  Have them pick out a familiar melody by ear on the piano.
3.  I play intervals and have them tell me what it is.  I start out with M2, M3, then later add P4, and P5, and so on. 
4.  I play chords and have them identify quality: Major, minor, augmented, diminished.

 

[Bob]

What ear test are you using? 

What's your philosophy?  Just piano, or everything?

I've had some of my student sing the melodies from their pieces.  And then just matching pitch with their voice.  And singing a major scale.  That will definitely get them listening.

[amanfang]

Something else that may be obvious, but are you having them listen to music outside the lesson just for the sake of listening to music?

[alwaystheangel]

amnfang, and Bob, those suggestions are good.  But one thing I have problems with (Im in a similar situation) is how to explain intervals and what they are supposed to listen for, and the quality of major and minor chords.  I've always just Known them, so I haven't a clue how to explain it.

[amanfang]

Intervals - distance between two notes. 

Play a M2.  Melodic and Harmonic.  Say something about them being next to each other.  Them play a M3, melodic and harmonic.  Say something about a skip away.  Then review, 2nd, 3rd.  Then tell them that you're going to play one, and see if they can tell whether it is a 2nd or 3rd.  Do it starting on several different pitches (i mean, don't always start on C and go up).  If they can easily tell the difference, then add a P4.  Maybe only add 1 new interval per week. 

[jijiza]

Thank you guys with all the suggestions. Now I have some clues to start with. But you know what, some of them, they even can't tell what note I am playing if I just play 1 note randomly from the keyboard. And they have been playing piano for almost 1 yr.....sign.....even middle C can be missed. 
Now I'm using 4 Star ear test for grade 1 piano.

[Bob]

And then relate those ideas to the pieces they're working on.

"Is this piece in major or minor?"

Talk about the melody in terms of intervals -- skips/steps, but what is the distance really?.... steps a 2nd, leaps a fifth, etc.


Your students can't tell what note your playing when you play one randomly?  I'm not sure I could do that.  Probably not, not out of the blue if I don't have perfect pitch.  If you set the key up for them, that still takes some skill to get to that level.

[amanfang]

Are you trying to train them to be able to be able to tell what note you are playing at random?  I don't think that is necessarily a sign of a bad ear.  That sounds like absolute pitch.  I have been playing for many years and can't do that.

[danny elfboy]

The best way to develop your ear is in my experience memorizing intervals.
It's a very simple task.

You just write down on a piece of paper one interval (or some mnemonic melody added to it)
Then you sing it to them several time.
Then you ask them to do the same thing everyday at home.
Sing that interval starting from every note and using the sound TA-TA.
They don't need more than 5 minutes of practicing every day.

I would focus on each interval for a week or more.
After 2-4 months they will know the sound of every interval and will recognize the intervals when they ear it. Such subconscious knowledge has an extraordinaty influence ear development.


So let's say you start with a 2nd major or a tone.

The best way is to teach tone and semitone together because when they are sung sequentially it's easy to feel the strong difference in quality between the two:



Let's say you want to teach the 3rd major:

For the 3rd major is better to reach it through singing a scale of tone.
And after having encompassed the interval through the scale singing the interval alone.



It's really an easy work.
Sing it for them. Just one interval at a time.
Tell them to reproduce the aural relationships of the interval starting from other note.

For example play a C and then a D consecutively and many times.
Then play a F and ask "can you sing me a sound that will make the two notes sound similar in sound to the notes I played before". At this point they will sing a G (even if they don't know you played an F and they singing a G)

Then tell them to do this work everyday at their home.
First they sing the interval you're studying and then they must go they piano and sing the interval starting from the same note. They need no more than 5 minutes everyday focusing on just one interval for 1 or 2 weeks. No more than one at a time.

The 4th perfect can be taught as a "conclusive" sound.
It can be memorize in a matter of 1 week by focusing on this "end point" quality of this interval. Like the Ta-Ta of a circus number.

The 5th sound like a question:

C - G?

and can be memorized by focusing on this "sospension" quality of its

Funny that its opposite (G - C!) sounds like the answer to the question 

and so on ...

[jijiza]

Thank you for your valuable suggestion and method!!
Why I'm so frustrated on training their ear becuase they are now preparing for grade 1 piano exam in June. They will have melody playback in the exam. Do you think if they can do it without perfect pitch?

[Bob]

Yes, you can do melodic dictation without perfect pitch.

Sounds likes you're teaching ear training in addition to the piano lessons though.  That's a lot.

[keyofg]

jij,
It's my understanding that perfect pitch is a gift that most musicians have - and you can't teach it.
But you can teach relative pitch
If you tell them you are playing C - and then play the next note - they can learn the intervals that way.

What kind of test do you have your students take?

I ask a student to bring a CD of something they like - and then I teach them how to play by ear - sometimes by explaining the intervals, sometimes not.   A second and a seventh seems to get mixed up easily sometimes.  I ask them how close do the sounds sound.  Have them hum it in degrees - and sometimes that helps.

I love teaching by ear - it is so freeing. 

[danny elfboy]

jij,
It's my understanding that perfect pitch is a gift that most musicians have - and you can't teach it.

No, perfect pitch can be learned and ingrained ... it just takes time if you're natural at it.
Also I believe that perfect pitch is more of an hindrance than a gift.
What one really needs in order to write down the music he/she listens or transpose or modulate is relative pitch not perfect one.
Perfect pitch is especially annoying when you play with an orchestra.

[counterpoint]

What one really needs in order to write down the music he/she listens or transpose or modulate is relative pitch not perfect one.

Yes, here I agree totally.

But even if you don't have either perfect pitch nor relative pitch - you can hear and understand the music anyway. And you can play it even without these abilities.