When you’re juggling rhythm, note reading, finger numbers, and more, it’s hard to remember to teach music listening skills to your students!
I know, because I’m there right now.
We get so busy trying to incorporate everything that we forget to incorporate listening into our lessons.
Today, I’m diving into how to teach music listening skills to your students, but before I do, I have to give a shout-out to Christina Whitlock at Beyond Measure Podcast.
Back in April 2023, Christina and I did an Instagram live and had such a fun discussion about the lost art of listening.
Many of the ideas in this blog post come directly from our chat, so I definitely want to credit Christina for her ideas.
You can catch our Instagram live on the lost art of listening here.
Our responsibility to teach music listening skills to students
During our talk, Christina brought up the excellent point that there is so much good music out there (more than any single person can listen to in a lifetime!).
If we don’t show it to our students, who will?
If we don’t introduce our students to famous pianists, who will?
It is our responsibility as teachers to expand our students’ knowledge of genres and repertoire.
I am a living testament of that.
Because of one college professor, I discovered Glenn Gould (performer).
Because of another college professor, I learned of Amy Beach (composer).
Would I have stumbled on these names at some time during my piano career? Probably.
But they stand out to me so much more because of the videos my teachers shared with me.
I know that you can be that teacher for your students also.
But if you need some ideas, here are 5 ways you can teach music listening skills to your students.
1) Assign students to listen to music
This is such an easy assignment.
I know, students notoriously don’t fulfill their assignments, but I have more on this later.
Each month, try to find a new pianist to introduce your students.
According to Pianist Magazine, up-and-coming performers you should keep an eye on are Yunchan Lim, Alim Beisembayev, Alexandra Segal, Illia Ovcharenko, Kenji Miura, and Dmytro Choni.
Meanwhile, Ledgernote lists some of the best piano players as Martha Argerich, Leif Ove Andsnes, Alfred Brendel, Arthur Rubinstein, Murray Perahia, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Claudio Arrau, Dame, and Myra Hess.
Thanks to YouTube, you have an extensive library of professional recordings to show your students at no extra cost to you.
And if you only can manage one new pianist a month, that is twelve new pianists your students will hear in a year.
If your students take lessons for 3 years, they will be introduced to 36 new pianists.
In 5 years, that’s 60 new pianists.
Small introductions will add up and help shape your piano students.
If you don’t want the pressure of assigning listening to your students, one very simple thing you can do to teach music listening skills to your students is play for them yourself, as a teacher.
I think we forget how impressive our piano skills are in our students’ eyes.
Playing for our students is never a waste of time.
It will help them hear music from a different perspective than when they play it and it will also encourage them to continue practicing and improving.
2) Discuss what you are listening to with your students
This is how you can get your students to listen more attentively to music.
Don’t just assign them to listen to music… give them a list of observations to make.
- How does the performer treat the tempo?
- What unique interpretations do they present?
- How does this performance contrast another performer’s?
- What opinions does the student have on the performances?
This, of course, is more suited for older students, but you can create a list of questions for the younger students as well.
- Did the music sound sad or happy?
- Was it soft or loud?
- How did it make you feel?
- What part did you like?
Analyzing music is the easiest way for some to train their aural skills.
Don’t just listen… but listen with purpose.
Talk through what you liked or didn’t like.
The first few times you do this with your students, they will probably be timid about their answers.
But the more they learn to listen with purpose, the more they will learn how to talk about what they’re hearing.
3) Have students listen to themselves
I’ll bring the music listening down to a very personal level: our students don’t even listen to themselves.
I am convinced that one of the most beneficial things to me as a music student is to record myself and listen.
I like to tell my students that their brain is so busy working through everything, it doesn’t actually hear what they’re doing.
This is evidenced by many times when I ask a student, “Did you realize you paused a lot while playing?”
Many times, their answer is “No.”
So while listening to other pianists is a very beneficial activity, our students will also learn a lot if they learn to listen to themselves and “become their own teacher.”
Listening to their playing also helps students realize the “time warp” that occurs in playing piano.
This has happened to me many times.
I feel like I’m not playing fast enough, but when I listen to a recording, I realize I’m playing it plenty fast enough!
An added benefit of having our students recording themselves while practicing is that recording yourself is the closest you can come to performance nerves.
I will add one caveat: emphasize the importance of students listening to their recordings.
I taught one student who confidently answered “Yes!” when I asked if she recorded herself.
Then, when I asked her what she learned from listening to herself play, she said, “Oh, I didn’t listen to it.”
Encourage your student to do BOTH recording and listening!
4) Remind the student to listen to the overarching sound
Continuing along the veins of helping students listen to their own playing, remind students to listen to their overarching sound.
Like many pianists, I struggle with perfectionism.
I like my runs to be note-perfect.
However, I had to learn that the overall sound of the run was more important than hitting every note accurately yet without feeling.
I have to remind my students (and myself) that simply playing all the correct notes isn’t what moves the listeners to tears or touches their heart.
5) Have fun while you teach music listening skills to your students
There are so many ways to work on music listening skills in your studio!
Help your students figure out piano riffs and trending TikTok tunes.
Encourage students to try what they hear (I bet they’ll pay more attention to melodies after they’ve tried this once!)
Have the students play their piece on a keyboard with a different sound.
If the student is learning a piano reduction, have them hear the original piece (I find this especially fun if they are learning a reduction of an orchestrated piece).
Don’t forget to keep in mind what helps your students as functional, everyday musicians.
Take music listening skills to a practical level as you teach.
What are your thoughts on teaching music listening skills to your students?
What has worked for you with strengthening your students’ aural skills?
Who would you add to our list of good pianists to listen to?
What fun ideas do you have for ear training and listening skills?
Want even more on music listening skills?
Check out our blog post, 105 Songs to Use for Ear Training (free download) and Listening Lemurs Fun Ear Training Game.
About Christina Whitlock
Christina Whitlock, M.M., N.C.T.M. currently operates a bustling independent studio in Muncie, Indiana, offering individual and group instruction for students of all ages. Christina began teaching in the private setting when she was only fourteen, and has maintained a full studio roster ever since. She is proud to be celebrating her 28th year of piano teaching this coming summer.
As host and producer of the weekly Beyond Measure Podcast, Christina enjoys connecting with studio music teachers from all over the world on a regular basis. She is a sought-after speaker, collaborator, and teacher of teachers.
Podcast: christinawhitlock.com/podcast
Facebook: @Beyond Measure Podcast
Instagram: @BeyondMeasurePodcast
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