Younger Children Ear Training

Younger Children Ear Training

Q: I am just starting out teaching guitar. I have a student that is only 7 years old, and I would like to eventually teach him your Contextual Ear Training. The trick is keeping him interested and motivated. Do you have any suggestions on how to go about doing this? I know that there are ear training/video game programs geared towards kids, but I suspect that they drill using the interval method. So do you have or know of any good ear training software/game for kids? If not, how should I go about teaching him?

A: At this time we don’t have a video game for kids. It’s a great idea and we will look into it for the future. You are probably right that any commercially available ear training video program would probably use interval training. I think the best thing to do is at least do the Ear Training One Note Complete exercises in your lessons. Maybe over time you can get the children to start listening to the CD. But that seems like a long shot in the beginning anyway. If you could get the parents to help out at home with a piano that would be the best. Give the child some incentive by giving them 10 cents for every note they get right. So you might need to educate the parents a little. If they are made to understand the difference this can make in their child’s musical development they might take some time each day to help out.

It is also recommended that you read Bruce Arnold’s Blog at his artist site. It contains more discussion of the musical topics found in these FAQs as well as other subjects of interest. You will also find the “Music Education Genealogy Chart” located here which shows you the historic significance of the music education products found on the Muse Eek Publishing Company Website.