How wonderful to see your toddler gravitating to the piano! They seem so intent on playing and making… noise :). As a parent, it can be tough to know what age to start your child in piano lessons. Below are a few tips to get you started off right.

Are they Interested in the Piano?

Do your child’s eyes light up when they hear the piano? Children will generally have an interest in one instrument or another, so it’s important to let your child show their interest in the piano as opposed to pushing them into lessons. Learning the piano requires time and discipline and a child who loves the instrument will have a life-long passion that they can pursue. However, if a child is forced to take lessons and practice, this can have a very negative effect. Children who are made to play the piano may grow up resenting music and strongly dislike the experience.

What Sounds Do You Hear? A fun and interactive activity to see if your child is interested in music.

What I recommend is listening to a variety of music with your child and seeing which instrument they are most interested in. Spotify and YouTube have such an abundance of music – listen with your child today! One fun way to see if what type of music your child is drawn to the most, is to play a game called, What Sounds Do You Hear? Click here to download this free activity. This game is simple, find music for piano, violin, etc. on YouTube, Spotify, or other audio services. I have created free playlists on Spotify, An Introduction to Classical Music, and An Introduction to Classical Piano - both include excellent music for this activity! While listening to a recording ask your child what sounds they hear 1) soft or loud 2) slow or fast 3) high or low and have them hold up the corresponding image(s). They can hold up signs for both if they hear high and low sounds, etc. At the end of each recording, ask them, “do you like it?” A smile or thumbs up is all you need to know! You may see a tendency towards an instrument… or multiple instruments!

Every Child is Different

Starting ages differ from child to child. Some children can start as early as age four, while some may need to wait until they are older, 7 or 8 years old. Some students have found the piano at later ages and do very well such as teens and adults. The correct age to start can vary even from sibling to sibling. Keeping that in mind, it’s important to know what to look for so you can better understand if your child is ready to start lessons.

Ability to Focus

Learning the piano requires a student to focus and maintain an attention span during lessons. Children need to be able to sit and take direction from a teacher as well as practice at home. So it’s important to think about your child’s ability to sit and concentrate on a single activity.

A good teacher can engage the very young, as young as three or four years old! With young students, lessons may be centered around musical activities and simple pieces on the piano. Generally, music is taught “off-staff” until the child is starting to read. Children will learn a lot from movement and playing musical games at this age.

Another consideration is that young children will need help to practice the piano. This is a wonderful opportunity to explore the piano together!

Basic Reading & Counting Skills

While reading is not a prerequisite to start lessons, having a basic understanding of the alphabet and the ability to count to five will really help a child progress with piano lessons. Most piano method books start children “off staff” or by ear and a good teacher will incorporate several activities that engage a child and train them to read music over time. While reading isn’t mandatory, some basic skills can really help a student when they move to reading music on the grand staff, which is based on the musical alphabet: A B C D E F G and divided into measures with beats aka rhythm.

Hand Size

Another consideration is the size of your child’s hand. Are they able to stretch comfortably across five keys on the piano? This is important for even the simplest of pieces. Also, are their fingers strong enough to press individual keys? You can check this at the piano by having your child place all fingers over the keyboard with a slight curve and ask them to press an individual key (note: the ring finger (4th finger) and pinky (5th finger) will probably be weaker than the others… and that’s ok!). It’s important that they have all fingers over the keyboard and don’t point with one finger to press the keys for this “test."

So When Do We Start?

As you can see from above, every child is different and the age they start lessons can vary. The most important thing is to see if they have a natural desire to learn. Lastly… remember that it’s also never too late to start lessons, even as an adult!

Have questions? Contact me anytime at pianostudioonthego@gmail.com.

-Lani

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