What is Ear Training and Why is it Necessary to Become a Better Musician? (E73)

Ear training is the process of learning to recognize musical elements by hearing them—without needing to see them written down . Just like we train our eyes to read written music, we train our ears to understand sound.

Through ear training, musicians learn to:

• Hear and identify intervals (the distance between two notes)
• Recognize rhythms and accurately clap or write them
• Match pitch and sing in tune
• Detect chord types and harmonic progressions
• Sing from sheet music using solfege or scale degrees without hearing it sung or played first
• Write down melodies and rhythms accurately

Ear Training: A New Language

Ear training is like learning a new language—but instead of speaking with words, you’re speaking with music. It helps musicians connect what they hear to what they play, sing, or read. It sharpens listening, builds confidence, and is essential for everything from playing by ear to improvising to composing your own songs.

And the best part? You don’t need to be a musical expert to start. With the right tools and guidance, any student—even beginners—can train their ears and grow into stronger, more intuitive musicians.

Ear Training in Beginning Music Theory for Elementary

Even young students can begin training their ears—and in fact, this is one of the best ages to start! In the Beginning Music Theory for Elementary course, we include light, playful ear training that introduces foundational listening skills in age-appropriate ways.

Here’s some of the ear training included:

High vs. Low

One of the very first ear training concepts we introduce is pitch comparison.
Students learn to recognize and respond to whether a note is high or low, helping them develop pitch awareness.

They might:

• Move their bodies up or down with the music
• Point to animals that match the sound (like a bird for high notes, or a bear for low notes)
• Identify which note is higher or lower in a simple two-note pattern

This early listening skill is essential for understanding melody and pitch later on.

Loud vs. Soft (Dynamics)

Students practice identifying whether music is forte (loud) or piano (soft).

They respond by:

• Moving differently to the volume
• Using flashcards
• Playing classroom instruments (or household items!) louder or softer

It helps build dynamic awareness and trains them to listen for expression in music.

Fast vs. Slow (Tempo)

Young children naturally respond to rhythm and tempo with movement.

In the course, we use:

• Listening and moving games
• Tempo matching exercises
• Activities that help students recognize allegro (fast) vs. largo (slow) tempos

This kind of listening improves coordination and rhythmic intuition.

Rhythm Echoes and Clapping Games

Students hear short rhythms and clap them back or play them on a drum or bucket.

These games build:

• Listening memory
• Internal pulse/steady beat
• Basic rhythm reading and writing/composition skills

Some of these echo patterns are tied to songs or hand-clapping games in the course, making the learning fun and physical.

Simple Pitch Matching

In singing games and solfege activities, students listen to a note or short melody and try to match the pitch with their voice.

We might use:

• Singing up or down with the scale
• Solfege handsigns
• Body scale to “feel” the notes in our bodies

This helps students sing in tune, improve vocal confidence, and prepare for more complex solfege training later.

Ear Training in Beginning Music Theory for Teens

Let’s break down the specific ear training activities your teen will experience in the Beginning Music Theory for Teens course:

Interval Identification

Students start by learning how different intervals sound compared to each other. For example:

• A perfect 4th sounds like the beginning of “Here Comes the Bride.”
• A major 3rd sounds like the first two notes of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

We use well-known songs to help students memorize these sounds. Then they practice identifying them in audio quizzes and flashcard games. It trains the ear to recognize spacing between pitches, which is key for singing, playing by ear, and transcribing melodies.

Rhythm Dictation

Rhythm dictation is all about hearing a pattern of long and short sounds—and being able to write it down.
Students listen to simple rhythmic examples that might include quarter notes, eighth notes, half notes, or rests.
Then, they tap it back, write it down, or match it to a rhythm card.

Melodic Dictation

Melodic dictation means hearing a short tune and writing it out using note names or solfege.
In this course, students begin with:

• Stepwise melodies in C major
• Short phrases of 3–5 notes
• Directional listening (Did the melody go up, down, or stay the same?)

This activity connects a student’s ear with their notation skills and helps them internalize how music is structured.

Ear Training in Advanced Music Theory for Teens

The ear training in the Advanced Music Theory for Teens online course is much more challenging—ideal for students who already have a musical foundation.

Complex Interval Recognition

Here we go beyond the basics and train students to recognize:

• Tritones
• Major, minor, diminished, and augmented intervals

Students compare intervals using familiar songs, but we also practice using software and online tools to increase speed and accuracy.

Chord Quality Identification

Students listen to chords and identify:

• Major chords
• Minor chords
• Diminished chords
• Augmented chords

Why is this important? Chord quality determines a song’s emotional color. Once your student can hear this, they’ll be better at analyzing, improvising, and composing.

Harmonic Dictation

In harmonic dictation, students hear a short chord progression—like I–IV–V–I—and must write or name the chords they hear.

This sharpens:

• Functional hearing (what the chords are doing)
• Root identification/inversions (which note is in the bass)
• Predictive listening (what chord is likely to come next)

This skill is used constantly in college-level music study and real-world songwriting!

Advanced Melodic & Rhythmic Dictation

We take dictation to the next level with:

• Longer, leaping melodies
• Use of different modes or accidentals
• Compound time signatures like 6/8
• Syncopation and ties over bar lines

Students hear, process, and write down exactly what they’re listening to—like a musical detective. It develops precision, memory, and musical fluency.

Sight-Singing with Solfege

This is one of the most empowering skills: seeing notes on a page and being able to sing them out loud correctly—with no instrument needed.

You'll learn:

• Movable Do solfege
• How to sing the chromatic scale
• Familiar tonal patterns
• Practice with stepwise and skipping motion
• Examples in both major and minor keys

This is essential for vocalists, choir students, and any teen planning to audition or study music beyond high school.

A Note for Parents: You Don’t Have to Teach This Yourself!

You might be wondering: Do I need to understand all of this before I can help my teen?
Absolutely not.

Both music theory courses—Beginning and Advanced—walk your student through every lesson with videos, audio exercises, worksheets, and online practice tools.
All you need to do is press play and let them build these amazing skills on their own.

Ear Training in KinderBach with your Preschooler

You can start them on the right ear training path with KinderBach!

Do you have any other questions about homeschool music or ear training?

Please leave a comment below!

Free Download

See the YouTube Video “What is Ear Training and Why is it Fun?”

https://youtu.be/Tlu93ImoCMk

Listen to Podcast Episode 73: Music Theory Tip: What is Ear Training and How Can I Include it in my Homeschool?

Listen here or subscribe and follow The Music in Our Homeschool Podcast through your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

Read the Podcast Transcript here.

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• Bucket Drumming for Beginners: Ideas, Benefits, and How to Get Started in your Homeschool (E53)
• Why KinderBach is the Missing Piece in your Homeschool Puzzle (E33)
• The Ultimate Guide to Beginning Music Theory: How to Ignite a Profound Passion for Music Theory in Your Child and Effectively Teach it in Your Homeschool (E18)