How to Teach Children to Play Piano by Ear
Many talented musicians claim that they first learned to play piano by ear. "By ear" means that they listened to music and copied it on the piano without using sheet music. It certainly is beneficial to learn to read notes, but playing by ear also is a useful skill that allows learners to be a more versatile musician. You can teach children to begin playing the piano by ear by using a few key techniques.
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Things You'll Need
- Piano
- Knowledge of the piano and ability to play
- Recorded music (optional)
Instructions
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Teaching a Child to Play by Ear
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1
Play a single note on the piano while the child closes his eyes. Instruct the child to hum the note back to you. This is the beginning of learning to match pitch.
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2
Play the note again while the child's eyes are closed, and have the child try to match the pitch on the piano. This may take a series of tries, and you can play the note again or hum it if necessary.
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3
Play a series of two consecutive notes once the child has successfully played a few different single notes.
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4
Ask the child if the two notes were the same, moving downward or moving upward. Demonstrate on the piano--with the child looking--how pitches can rise, fall or stay the same.
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5
Have the child close her eyes, and play two more consecutive notes. This time, ask the child to match the two pitches on the piano. You might want to simplify these guessing games at first by narrowing the notes you choose to one octave.
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6
Choose a melody that is familiar to the child and play it. "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," is a good example of a familiar children's song that has a simple melody. Break the song down into phrases and have the child try to pick the notes out on the piano. Remind him to listen for upward movement, downward movement or repeated notes. This also is a good time to introduce movement by step versus movement by leaps.
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Instruct the child to practice these skills. Depending on the child's innate musical talent, she may require quite a few lessons and weeks of practice at home to begin making progress toward the basics of matching pitch. Be patient and encourage your student to do the same!
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