What is the best age start learning piano?
Category: Methods, Miscellaneous, Practice and Performance
A lot of parents aren’t sure when they should start sending their child to piano lessons. Children who are too young may not have the attention span and may not benefit from piano lessons. Children who are too old – well, there is no such thing as too old. OK, so when is the BEST time to start? To be honest, this depends greatly on the child. If you are thinking of enrolling your child in piano lessons, run through the following questions first.
1. Are YOU committed to it?
Children naturally have a shorter attention span than adults. If your child is to get the most out of piano lessons, the parents must be committed to it 100%. You must set aside time for your child to practice, and be sure that your child adheres to the practice schedule. You must be committed to driving your child to practice every week, and footing all of the costs that result from that.
2. Does my child know their ABCs / Can my child read?
Although this is not a requirement, it makes reading music less of a stretch. They should be able to count and sound out words based on the letters of the alphabet. Again, this is not a requirement, but your child will get the most out of piano lessons if they have this basic foundation of knowledge.
3. Does my child demonstrate some manual dexterity?
Observe your child at play. Notice whether he or she has the capability of fine movement (placing pieces in a puzzle, doing up buttons, etc). If they are starting to write or draw, this would be a good indication that they have the dexterity necessary to play the piano keys.
4. Is my child interested in playing piano?
Talk to your child about piano lessons and gauge their interest. You can make your child to go to piano lessons, but it will not be very rewarding for either of you if no one is having fun. Not to mention, it is very difficult to force your child to learn something they are not interested in. Make sure that learning the piano is something that interests your child.
5. Will my child be able to sit through a half-hour lesson?
30 minutes is a standard duration for a beginner piano lesson. Does your child have the attention span to sit through an entire half hour? Many piano teachers who are used to working with young children will have techniques to keep the child engaged for the entire half hour. This can include fun activities such as marching and clapping, jumping up and down to a beat, or singing. Before you commit to a piano teacher, ask what techniques they use to keep young children interested.
Well, if you made it through all of these questions, you can gauge for yourself whether your child (and your family) is ready for piano lessons. The earliest I would ever recommend someone learning piano is at the age of 4, and that is still quite young. Generally, children around the age of 6-7 are in a good position to make the most of piano lessons. But again, it all depends – look for the signs, and you can’t go wrong.
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Posted on November 6th, 2008 by sharlene
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December 14th, 2008 at 10:35 am
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February 18th, 2009 at 12:44 am
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