#Aural training in oractice musicroom how to#

Next I ask them to find DO-MI-SOL in the scale they’ve been playing and we sing Apple, Apple again, whilst they play with one hand and do the hand signs with the other. They always find this very funny at first as they try to play and do the hand signs at the same time, but it’s also amazing because after a few attempts they master it. They choose one of the few they know and then I tell them to play the scale with one hand, perform the hand signs with the other hand and sing the scale at the same time! I use Scale Cards away from the piano to spell the C Major scale, We use little tokens on the keyboard to recognise the pattern. I first teach the C major scale by rote, hands together, one octave - with no singing.

This is why it is acceptable for a piano student to first learn scales technically by rote and then learn Solfa after. I passionately follow this approach in my own teaching with the understanding that on the piano pitch is tempered and Relative Pitch will always have an element of Absolutism. In my experience, this “moveable DO “ approach to ear training is by far one of the best pedagogical practices and creates some of the finest musicians. In the Hungarian tradition of aural training, students develop strong Relative Pitch. Learning scales is a bit of a turning point in a student’s piano journey, They have to be physically able to handle the technique of performing a scale as well as being able to quickly recognise how a scale should sound. THE EARLY INTERMEDIATE STUDENT : focusing on Scales and Solfa Most time in lessons and in practice will be spent trying to physically execute the demands of the piano, so this basic aural work needs to be allowed to develop over time, I don’t rush it. This phase is important and should not be rushed. If the student is a beginner when they are 10 years old, it might only last a few weeks or months. If a child starts lessons when they are 5 years old, this phase can last up to 2-3 years. a beginning teenager), if a student really doesn’t get on with singing, I use this stage to get them used to my own singing - because over the years they are going to hear a lot of it!Īs long as necessary. We sing the words to all the method book pieces and make up words for pieces that don’t have them. I also use this early stage of learning to develop the confidence to sing in lessons.

I have a set of boomwhackers and various auxiliary percussion instruments that are make wonderful variety of sound. This is a perfect stage to bring out different instruments to experiment with different sounds. “A frog in a swimming pool, what does that sound like?” “What does wind sound like when it’s very, very gentle?” “Can you make a sound like slamming the door?” Children are masters of this and bring with them as well an active imagination and curiosity.

#Aural training in oractice musicroom how to#

Afterall, they have just spent a few short years learning language and how to communicate fluently, and in many cases prolifically! It’s only in later years that we often neglect the art of listening. TEACHING THE BEGINNER - Focusing on Sound The challenge as a teacher is how to include effective aural training in lessons when all of these other physical elements take up so much learning time. This is a brief overview of my method. It’s the way we read music - simultaneously reading horizontally and linearly, it’s fundamental to the way we memorise repertoire, and quite plainly, it’s how we coordinate our hands to play lots of notes at once! This is good! This patterned, spatial way of understanding music is important for the survival of the piano player. Maybe they don’t read the grand stave immediately, but from the beginning a piano student will naturally approach the instrument logically and visually. This is the case for even the youngest student. However, unlike other instruments where learning can begin mostly (and in some cases exclusively) with aural training, in order to progress on the piano, students need to immediately understand the geography of the keyboard. A pianist needs to develop an excellent ear - this is absolute.