Effects of learning songs by ear on undergraduate level music education students' memorization and sight singing skills

The main purpose of the study was to examine the effects of learning songs by ear in multiple keys on memorization and sight-reading skills of undergraduate music education students andto explore the effects of the instruction on student attitudes. Participants of the study were second and third year undergraduate music education students in 2016-2017 spring semester from Erzincan University, Faculty of Education, Department of Music Education (N = 60) . Participants were placed in one of two instructional groups according to their entrance examinaton scores and assigned to the experimental and control groups equally.. As a mixed type research ,the study used the quasi experimental pre-test post –test design with a control group to obtain the quantitave data and semi-structured interview to take the qualitative approach. Time for instruction was one 30-minute lesson per week for eight weeks. During the treatment, students in the experimental group learned solfeggio pieces by ear in the keys of A major, D major, and C minor and G minor while students in the contact-control group had no other special treatment than the traditional notation based practise in ear training classes. At the end of the study no significant difference was found between the experimental and control group (P=0,05). Results of the study showed that learning songs by ear can be equally as effective as the traditional notation based approach but may not provide an extra benefit in developing their sight reading and memorization skills. Keywords: Ear Training, Learning Songs By Ear, Sight Singing, Audiation, Memorization.