When it comes to finding songs to use for ear training, there are a lot of resources out there with old songs. 

However, today’s kids don’t recognize many of these songs.

For instance, I learned that a descending major third is “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” and an ascending major sixth is “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.”

I’m pretty sure none of my current students know these two songs.

So I went on a quest to find both old songs and new that will help students easier learn to identify different intervals.

And yes, many of these songs to use for ear training are Disney songs. (Did you know the interval for the starting pitches of “We Don’t Talk about Bruno” is a perfect 5 and “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” is a descending perfect 4?)

While you can read and use all the song titles here in this blog post, you can also download a 2-page printable of songs to use for ear training to keep handy in your studio for ease of use.

If you have any favorite songs to add to this list, drop them in a comment below!

Ascending Songs to Use for Ear Training

Unison

• Jingle Bells
• Happy Birthday song

Ascending Minor 2

• Cruella De Vil
• Ev’rybody Wants to Be a Cat
• A Whole New World (chorus)
• What Else Can I Do?
• Jaws Theme
• White Christmas
• Once Upon a December
• Pink Panther Theme

Ascending Major 2

• Baby Shark
• Bare Necessities
• Part of Your World
• The Family Madrigal
• When I Survey
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Silent Night
• Happy Birthday to You
• Linus & Lucy

Ascending Minor 3

• Sing, Sweet Nightingale
• Up, Down, Touch the Ground
• Be Our Guest
• Beauty and the Beast
• Greensleeves (What Child is This?)
• Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?
• The Impossible Dream
• Lullaby (Brahms)

Ascending major 3

• Following the Leader
• Oh When the Saints
• What a Wonderful World
• For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow
• Kumbaya
• Marine’s Hymn (From the Halls of Montezuma)
• Today Was a Fairytale

Ascending Perfect 4

• Someday My Prince Will Come
• You’ll Be in My Heart (chorus)
• Amazing Grace
• Here Comes the Bride
• I Love You, Lord
• We Wish You a Merry Christmas
• Love Me Tender
• Oh Christmas Tree
• Auld Lang Syne
• Hedwig’s Theme (Harry Potter)

Tritone 

• The Simpsons
• Cool (Gwen Stefani)
• Maria (from West Side Story)

Ascending Perfect 5

• Go the Distance
• Scarborough Fair
• Can’t Help Falling in Love
• Top Gun Anthem
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star / Alphabet Song
• My Favorite Things (Sound of Music)
• Lavender’s Blue
• Star Wars Theme

Ascending Minor 6

• Last Midnight (Into the Woods)
• Lonely Man

Ascending Major 6

• My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
• Dashing Through the Snow (Jingle Bells)
• It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Ascending Minor 7

• Somewhere

Ascending Major 7

• Superman Theme
• Take On Me A-ha
• Don’t Know Why

Ascending Perfect 8

• When You Wish Upon a Star
• Singin’ in the Rain
• Over the Rainbow
• The Christmas Song
• Let it Snow

Descending Songs to Use for Ear Training

Unison

• Jingle Bells
• Happy Birthday song

Descending Minor 2

• A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes
• God Help the Outcasts (chorus)
• Joy to the World
• Fur Elise
• Fly Me to the Moon

Descending Major 2

• Winnie the Pooh
• A Whole New World
• The First Noel
• Mary Had a Little Lamb
• Yesterday

Descending Minor 3

• (I’m Just a) Little Black Raincloud
• Can You Feel the Love Tonight (chorus)
• Surface Pressure
• You’ll Be in My Heart
• Jesus Loves Me
• The Star-Spangled Banner
• Frosty the Snowman

Descending Major 3

• Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
• Summertime
• Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me

Descending Perfect 4

• How Far I’ll Go
• Do You Want to Build a Snowman?
• O Come, All Ye Faithful
• Hallelujah Chorus

Descending Tritone 

• Even Flow

Descending Perfect 5

• We Don’t Talk about Bruno
• Flintstones Theme
• Schindler’s List
• Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella

Descending Minor 6

• Love Story Theme

Descending Major 6

• Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen
• The Music of the Night

Descending Minor 7

• Watermelon Man
• The Shadow of Your Smile

Descending Major 7

• I Love You (Cole Porter)

Descending Perfect 8

• The Lonely Goatherd (Sound of Music)

How to Use This List of Songs for Ear Training

If you’ve never taught ear training before, it doesn’t have to be hard!

Some teachers prefer using solfege for ear training.

While I definitely see the value there, I also know that many piano teachers never learned solfege.

You don’t have to know solfege in order to teach ear training!

First, start with 2-3 intervals (I recommend the perfect intervals, as they tend to be easier to grasp).

Go through the list of songs to use for ear training with your students and have them tell you what songs they know.

Using those songs as your foundation, play the interval and have your student sing it back to you (that act of singing the interval better engrains the intervals in their minds).

As with anything else in music lessons, ear training will take time. So be prepared for regular review.

Also encourage your students to practice singing the intervals on their own as this will help them internalize the pitches.

Once your students have the first few intervals mastered, add a few more to the mix.

It’s really that easy!

How to Come Up With Your Own Songs to Use for Ear Training

Take any song or piece of music and do simple interval analysis.

For instance… the traditional Mario Theme gives you plenty of intervals to train with.

Mario Theme starts with a perfect unison then descending major third, ascending major third, ascending minor third, and descending perfect octave.

Try it and see. 😉

The goal in finding your own songs to use for ear training is to have something your students know very well and can easily use without having to think about it for too long.

You can ask your students for their favorite songs, listen to it together, and figure out the intervals.

And just because I have fun with this, you can keep the interval analysis activity going beyond the first two notes.

It is so much fun to pause the music, slowly sing back the interval you hear, and identify it.

This is a retroactive way of doing ear training but may be just as effective as spoon-feeding them various songs to use for ear training.

A Game for Ear Training

Rather than just drilling random intervals each week, you can make ear training your students’ most anticipated activity by playing an ear training game.

Listening Lemurs gives you the flexibility to focus on the intervals your students need extra help with while they race to reach “home” first. 

It works well for any ear training method, whether you use songs for interval recognition or teach intervals with solfege.

Here is how I would use Listening Lemurs to help teach students intervals for the first time.

To find out more about Listening Lemurs, read Listening Lemurs Fun Ear Training Game.

Purchase Listening Lemurs for your music studio.

Do You Have a Good List of Songs to Use for Ear Training?

Do you use songs for ear training that aren’t on our list?

Comment and let us know so other teachers can benefit from your knowledge.

And if you want our list in a handy print-out, you can download it here:

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