Ear-training is perpetual guilt thing with teachers:

• "I know I should be doing this."
• "I just can't find lesson time for this."
• "I hated ear-training in college and I hate to inflict it on my students."
• "What should I be teaching?"

Here's what I teach (and in order of presentation).

• Is the second note above or below the first one? (Use large distances such as 2 octaves at first; then narrow it down--this will take several weeks or even months to get to a second. Don't sweat it if it takes a long time. You're not under any deadline, are you?)
• Is the second note far away or close to the first one? (This is sort of corollary to the previous item and one you should teach concurrently as a way to discover the answer to #1.)
• Is this an octave or not an octave? (Start with melodic octaves; then go to harmonic.)
• Is this a dissonance or not? (Knowing this helps them decide whether they've played a wrong note or not.) Which hand has the dissonance? (This helps them pinpoint which hand might be wrong.) Where is the resolution? (Is it the very next note or later? Several dissonances in a row? This also gives you the opportunity to do a little analysis: why would the composer do this?)
• Is this a major or minor triad? (Start with harmonic, then arpeggiated.)
• Is this an empty triad (open fifth) or not?
• Is this pattern a I-V-I? (By this, I mean a melodic pattern. Start with the descending I-V-I pattern because it's heard more often even though ascending makes better immediate sense as to why it's named one-five-one. I often tell the student's that the I-V-I pattern sings "it's the end!")
• Is this pattern a V-I cadence? (Similarly, this pattern sings, "the end!").
• Do other cadences as you see fit. (Most kids get a honk out of V-vi cadence: "the...woops!")

copyright 1996, Martha Beth Lewis, Ph.D.
Contact me for reprint permission.