Alfred's Basic Piano Library: Ear Training Book 6: Piano Book

This ear training book sits exactly where it belongs in the Alfred's sequence—reinforcing the listening and aural recognition skills that make the leap from Level 5 to Level 6 feel natural rather than disorienting. The five-minute lesson-time format respects your schedule while building the interval recognition and rhythmic discrimination that students need to move toward independence. Each page hits melodic, rhythmic, and intervallic work with equal weight, so students aren't just training their ears in isolation; they're connecting listening directly to the playing they're doing in the Lesson Book.

Focused and purposeful. Each page asks the student to slow down and really listen, training the ear to recognize patterns, intervals, and rhythms with precision. The work feels manageable and concrete; students get immediate feedback when they identify sounds correctly, building confidence in their aural perception.

Piano students progressing through Level 6 of Alfred's Basic Piano Library who need focused, systematic ear training to match their technical advancement. Teachers seeking a structured way to integrate listening into the lesson without adding preparation time or requiring additional materials.

• Begin each ear training session with the student's eyes closed or looking away from the keyboard. This removes the temptation to play by sight and forces genuine listening.
• Have the student sing or hum intervals and melodic phrases before writing or identifying them. Vocalization anchors the sounds in their body and makes the concept stick faster.
• Pause between repetitions of a rhythmic or melodic pattern. The silence helps students consolidate what they heard rather than relying on continuous sound.
• Work through one page per lesson, but revisit the same concepts on different days. Spacing the repetitions improves retention far more than massing them all at once.

Use one page per weekly lesson as part of the regular Alfred's sequence. The five-minute window fits naturally into a 30 or 45-minute lesson without disrupting your lesson flow or creating make-up work. Students who struggle with sight-reading or tempo often make significant progress when ear training is consistent, so prioritize this book for those learners.

• Identifying intervals by ear within the Level 6 repertoire range
• Recognizing and performing rhythmic patterns in mixed meters
• Melodic dictation of short phrases
• Connecting aural recognition to keyboard and notation
• Sustained focus and careful listening habits