Many parents notice it after a year or two of lessons: the child plays nicely, but only pieces they have heard. Put a new page in front of them and they freeze. If your child plays by ear but can't read music, the good news is that the hardest part, musicality, is already there.
First, a word to parents
Playing is a gift for life, and we do not want our children to stop. So when we insist that a child must read, it often comes less from understanding than from worry. We are half right. Most musicians in the world today, including many you see reading from music on stage, rely a great deal on their ear. They can read, at one level or another, and that background matters, but much of what they play lives in the ear.
So if a child does not want to play from the page, it is rarely laziness. Most likely the music is hard to read, the child is more successful by ear, and reading only shows failure after failure. Nobody enjoys that.
Why it happens
For a child with a good ear, listening is much faster than reading. Every time a teacher plays the piece first, the child learns it by ear and the reading muscle never works. It is a smart shortcut, not laziness.
Read music they have not heard
Reading only grows when the ear cannot help. Give your child very easy pieces they have never heard, a level or two below their playing, and let them read one or two a day without hearing them first.
Make reading fast enough to compete with the ear
Ear players give up on reading when it is much slower than listening. The slowest part for most children is working out sharps and flats. In iCanPiano Style that step is gone: the note shows the black key, so reading becomes quick enough to be worth it.
- F sharp: right half black. Play the black key to the right of F.
- B flat: left half black. Play the black key to the left of B.
- B natural: no natural sign. A note that is all black or all white is played on a white key.
Keep the ear as a friend
After a piece is read, let your child listen to it and compare. The ear then confirms the reading instead of replacing it.
Frequently asked questions
Is it bad that my child plays by ear?
No. Playing by ear is a valuable musical skill. The aim is to add reading, not to replace the ear.
How can I get my child to read music?
Give them easy pieces they have not heard, a little every day, and make reading quicker by removing the sharps and flats puzzle.