playing by ear Archives

by Tim Topham

Playing by ear is an area of piano that can intimidate some teachers. If you’ve never done it yourself, it can be hard to know where to start when it comes to teaching students these skills. On the other hand, teaching songs to students by ear is often the quickest route to getting them sounding ... CPTP141: Playing by Ear with Ruth Power

by Ruth Power

Yep, you can make playing by ear fun. Here's how.

by Tim Topham

Lucinda was trained in a traditional classical system, but when she realised that she couldn’t even play Happy Birthday at a party (without sheet music) she felt a little cheated. Why couldn’t she do something so simple after all these years of study? She wished that someone who had these playing by ear skills would write ... CPTP110: Why Every Student Should Know Happy Birthday with Lucinda Mackworth-Young

by Tim Topham

Ear training can be dull. But it definitely doesn’t have to be. Kirstin Jensen is here to tell us about some super fun and effective aural activities you can do with your students in just a few minutes of lesson time. These ideas will even get your youngest most wiggly students excited to work ... CPTP108: Ear Training That’s Actually Fun with Kristin Jensen

by Tim Topham

Forrest Kinney and I have a lot in common. We both believe that modern classical music eduction is missing a step when it comes to teaching the creative arts. Somewhere along the way improvising, composing and arranging got cut out of the equation – and we’re fighting to get them back into piano studios around ... CPTP104: Forrest Kinney on the 4 Arts of Music