How old for piano lessons?

[Pennylane]

My dd is 6 and has shown some interest in taking them. Is this too early? I know that the school would say it's not, but I wanted some other opinions!

Thanks,

Ann

[hellokitty]

I started private piano lessons when I was 5 and did fine. I think much of it depends on your child. If your child is 6 and requesting lessons, I think that she sounds very interested and would probably do very well.

[lmintzer]

My older son, Jack, started a 6. He's been playing 6 months and is doing so much more than I ever would have imagined. He's a very musical kid (and my husband and I played and sang too).

Certainly, the quality of the teacher and his/her ability to relate to kids this age is important. Also, I've heard that to really be able to understand and read music, the child should be reading. So, if your child is starting to read or is reading already, then you're on the right track. At this age, an adult is typically pretty involved with lessons and practice sessions. He practices about 15-20 minutes/day.

My 4 year-old comes to lessons as well and is getting an informal 5 minute lesson at the end of his big brother's lesson. He's getting a lot of out it, too. I think younger kids can learn, too, just not traditionally with reading music and the like.

Hope that's helpful!

[Pennylane]

Lisa, You mentioned that he practiced every day. Is it a requirement that I have a piano at home?

Ann

[MontrealMum]

I also started formal piano lessons when I was five. My mother had been giving me lessons on her own, I was already in choir, and had music in school from age 3. I grew up in a very musical environment so I was always around it and was very excited to join in. I think it depends on each child, their interest and temperament. The key here is that your child seems interested. I certainly wouldn't force it on a young child if they were not.

Oops. two new post while I was writing...

I don't see how you can really learn an instrument effectively if you can't practice at home. It's like having homework, then not doing it, and showing up at school and trying to understand a lesson.

Regarding reading ability, I don't know the consensus amongst music teachers on this, but I was reading at age 3, so I think it certainly helps. Of course many people play by ear too, especially if they have perfect pitch.

[o_mom]

Regarding reading ability, I don't know the consensus amongst music teachers on this, but I was reading at age 3, so I think it certainly helps. Of course many people play by ear too, especially if they have perfect pitch.

For Suzuki method, the child does not need to be reading. My niece and nephew started around age 4 - 4.5 with Suzuki piano. Once they were reading well, the teacher added parts of the lesson where they learn theory and music reading, but they did not need it to start.

[maestramommy]

Not at all! I think it's a great age to start. Their attention span is long enough for a 30 minute lesson, as long as you get a teacher who knows how to teach that age. They know their letters, so learning notes will be possible, and their fine motor skills are also advanced enough to learn to play 2 hands together. My mom started teaching me when I was 4, and I got my first outside teacher around 5. As pp said you can also use Suzuki method, which starts out playing by ear. Pretty cool, because many kids learn to play quite advanced music by relying on their ear, imitation, and repetition.

There are many kids that start much earlier, but that's a different mentality I think. I say if your kid really wants to, go for it! You do have to have a piano at home though. There's no way the kid can make any progress with a weekly lesson without regular practice.

[ThreeofUs]

He's fine - and it's a great time to start, especially if he's voicing an interest.

In my family, we started "playing" with piano and guitar in toddlerhood, with the various instruments around the house, and graduated to teachers when we started school.

As PP have said, there must be a way for the child to practice regularly - in my case, daily. But, you know, this doesn't mean you need a concert grand! I often see signs and posts for free pianos.

Hope your DC really enjoys it! Good luck!

[lmintzer]

I forgot to add--we're doing a 30 minute lesson which is totally fine. She breaks it up and does different little ear training activities as well.

We don't actually have a piano -- yet. We're planning on buying this spring. He practices on a keyboard. A keyboard works for a beginner, but only if the keys are touch sensitive. Weighted keys are even better, but they are not 100% necessary.

[shishamo]

My son started at exactly 6 (he also asked for it), and it was a perfect time to start for us. He just turned 8 last month.
We did start with a keyboard, but when we got a piano, his interest for piano really took off.
I don't think reading skill was a requirement but I am a bit fuzzy about this. DS was reading at that time, and it did help, though.
My daughter is 5, and I do think we will start at 6 also for her.

[lmintzer]

Maybe I wasn't clear in my initial post--reading skills are not necessary to learn piano but are to really learn to read music. They can be taught using other methods (Suzuki, etc.).

My son reads, but he would prefer to play by ear--he has perfect pitch and a good memory for tunes, etc., so it's much easier. The reading of a new song is the hardest part for him. Once he learns how a song goes, he perfects it by ear. Our teacher doesn't think this is a problem but does work with him on reading the notes during lessons.

I love our teacher--she's fabulous. I think we were really lucky to find her. Not cheap, though. I don't know what others are paying, but a half-hour lesson is $31 for us. It's at a little music school, so there is overhead (doesn't all just go to the teacher).

[tylersmama]

I definitely don't think 6 is too young. I started piano lessons at 3 (but I was also reading that early and started school early as well, so YMMV). As much as I hated practicing when I was growing up, I always enjoyed playing. I miss it a ton, since I haven't had a piano since I left for college. :( Maybe someday...

[teddy]

My DD started in September. She turned 5 in November. We take a Suzuki method class, which is a 30 minute individual lesson once a week and a group lesson (with 4 or 5 other kids her age-ish) once a month. She plays every day, several times a day. When the baby is not napping, she'll sit and play 1-2 pieces, about 5-7 minutes. She'll just walk by the piano and try a piece she's working on. I figure that's good if I don't/can't find about 15 minutes to work with her.

Regarding reading, she sight reads and sounds out some words. More so than reading, my daughter needed to be able to write letters for a workbook that introduced the music alphabet. She is able to do that. I read to her the other instructions in the workbook ("Color all the A keys red"). She also needed to be able to draw circles so she could practice drawing music notes. Her notes are sometimes really big, or not so even and round, but she's still learning how to write.

She started piano because she did say she wanted to learn how to play. We had talked about taking lessons in general, being responsible to practice even when she didn't feel like it, needing to try even when it seemed hard, etc... She had an idea of what she was getting into. So far, she LOVES it.

FWIW, in her group class, most of the kids started around age 4. One kid started at age 3 but he's definitely a prodigy ;)

[August Mom]

I started when I was 5 and had no problems. If your 6-year-old is interested, I'd go for it.