Melodic Dictation of Familiar Tunes Theory ThingsWilliam Wieland
Without producing a sound, transcribe a familiar melody onto staff paper. When finished, play it on your instrument or a piano to check your work. This is an excellent exercise in inner hearing which can be incorporated into your practice schedule. The following tunes are roughly ordered from easy to difficult. Everyone knows hundreds of more melodies. For additional practice and more challenging material, transcribe some of those as well.
Stepwise motion and leaps among 1, 3 and/or 5
Hot Cross Buns - only 3 pitches
Mary Had a Little Lamb - only 4 pitches
Kum Ba Yah
Frere Jacques
Old MacDonald - only 5 pitches
Farmer in the Dell
Row, Row, Row Your Boat - the fast notes
 are repeated pitches
O When the Saints
Three Blind Mice - trickier fast section
The First Noel - mostly conjunct (stepwise)

Stepwise motion and leaps among 1, 3 and/or 5
as well as leaps to and from 2

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - all leaps are
 to the same pitch
Ode to Joy Theme - entirely stepwise at first
Love Me Tender (Elvis)
Pop Goes the Weasel
This Old Man
London Bridge
Jingle Bells Refrain
Westminster Quarters - only 4 pitches

Only notes of a pentatonic scale
Jolly Old Saint Nicholas - only 5 pitches
Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater
Camptown Races
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Amazing Grace
Auld Lang Syne
Jesus Loves Me
Ring Around the Rosie
Only notes of a major scale
London Bridge
America (My country 'tis of thee)
 a.k.a. God Save The Queen
Joy to the World - the rhythm is trickier
 than the pitches
Brahms Lullaby
Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me
Oh, Susannah
For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
Jingle Bells (entire carol)
Happy Birthday
Hey Jude
Home on the Range
Silent Night
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
O Come All Ye Faithful
O Christmas Tree
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Flintstones
Yankee Doodle
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

Notes of a major scale and
1 or more chromatic pitches

I've Been Working on the Railroad
The Hokey Pokey
Do-Re-Mi (Doe, a deer)
Star Spangled Banner
O, Canada
Ding, Dong the Witch is Dead
Rubber Ducky
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Maria
The Simpsons
More Ideas for Lifelong Ear Training:
  • When practicing and performing, always strive for excellent intonation.
  • When singing hymns or Christmas carols, sing a different part on each verse.


Ask the instructor about Allegri's Miserere, Brubeck's Blue Rondo a la Turk and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.