MODERN APPROACHES TO TEACHING SIGHT SINGING AND EAR TRAINING

Abstract

Sight singing and ear training are difficult subjects to teach. Over the past decade, however, many new technological tools were developed that support educational endeavors. Several of those tools, SmartMusic, SingSnap, EarTrainer (MusicDictation.app), and YouTube, were used at the beginning college-level aural skills courses to enhance sight singing and ear training instruction, especially in the context of enhancing audiation skills. This article summarizes their use within aural skills courses and present experimental and anecdotal evidence of increased sight singing and ear training skills. More specifically, experimental (test) data as well as anecdotal (essay) evidence showed that (1) students were much higher motivated to complete exercises compared to ‘traditional’ aural skills exercises, (2) in a shorter period of time, students performed much better than in ‘traditional’ exercises of at least the same difficulty, (3) the students’ audiation abilities increased much more as a result of the exercises, compared to ‘traditional’ exercises, and (4) students showed a greater increase in solfege proficiency, compared to ‘traditional’ exercises. The teaching approaches we have discussed also led to a greater independence from in-person instruction.