Too young to learn a musical instrument?

[SuperScribbler]

DS has recently started in Reception and has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument for half an hour a week (1:1) during school hours. I am not at all musical and my parents didn't have the finances to pay for lessons when I was young, so I'm feeling a little out of my comfort zone. I would love DS to have the chance to play and he is keen too, but as he is not quite 5 yet I'm wondering if he's too young. There is a long list of instrument lessons available and, when asked, DS indicated his first choice would be the piano. FWIW one of his friends has already started piano lessons and we have recently inherited a piano (in good condition I'm told).

When did you/your DCs start to learn to play an instrument (particularly the piano, or DS' second choice - the violin)? What is the best age to start lessons?

[HauntyMython]

Hmm. Well I was given a keyboard at 2 and it started a lifelong love of the piano. But I didn't have proper lessons until quite late as my mum taught me the basics and I was quite precocious so did a lot myself.

I taught at a music school and we didn't usually take them that young. Do you have a decent keyboard or piano? That'd be a better use for your money right now, maybe wait another year or two for lessons.

[ZZZenAgain]

several piano teachers have told me that around 7 is the usual time they like them to start. I suppose it will depend a lot on the individual dc. For other instruments, such as the violin, you can get tiny instruments which make it possible for them to handle so some dc do start violin quite young but I would be very careful with a dc who is not yet 5, if posture problems set in, they will be hard to correct. How good is your ds at physical manipulations with his hands? for the violin, one hand will need to guide the bow, it is not a natural hold and takes some getting used to, the other presses down the strings, so bit by bit you have to be able to raise and lower the individual fingers. It gets easier with actual practice but you could try him and see how he is atm. Put palm down on the table and raise the 4 fingers (index - little finger) one by one without raising the others. It is not that easy to do all this - as well as train yourself to hear whether you are getting it right and to read music. Is he a fluent reader already?

For piano of course you have the problem that there is no smaller instrument, you need to use the full-size keys. How big is he for his age and how is his handspan? Realistically if he has small hands and fingers, how much could he manage? For the piano there is the added difficulty that they have to eventually read two lines at once, the right hand on the upper line and at the same time, the left hand on the line below it. That's quite a bit for a young dc.

I would see if it is possible to get a teacher to spend a bit of time with him and see if he is ready. If that isn't possible, it is important that the teacher is someone who is able to gear lessons well to such young learners. Presumably if the lessons are regularly offered to reception at your school, this is also the case. I would be a little wary of starting too early, him finding it too difficult and giving up on something that would have come to him much more easily a little later on.

Good luck either way.

[spiderpig8]

My DD2 has been learning the violin since she turned 4.

[xing]

I think it helps if he can read and the teacher must be patient with young child.

Maybe buy a starter keyboard, £25 from ASDA to see if he is interested?

I know some child starts piano at 3. Some are not ready until 7.

[Usuwi]

My DC started violin at 3, Suzuki method which is designed for under-5s - some start playing as young as 30 months. An important aspect of the Suzuki method is raising the interest of the child in music. Many Suzuki teachers will ask the parent to bring the child to watch lessons - sometimes for up to a year. By the time the child has their first lesson, they are already familiar with the rules of behaviour as well as the tunes. They also have to listen to the tunes every day, as well as seeing and hearing people playing other music. My daughter was singing the first tune (Twinkle) while "playing" a "violin" that she made out of any two sticks she could find, and then we felt she was ready for her own real violin.

At first DD could not separately place her left-hand fingers. No worries. She played rhythms on the open strings for nearly a year, and did exercises to develop the left-hand (such as plucking the strings with the left fingers). Now she is 4 she can play several tunes nicely.

If I were offered lessons at school I would go along to meet the teacher and find out as much as possible. Also talk to pupils and their parents who have been through the scheme.

However if you decide that it's not going to work for you and your DC now, just provide him with lots of chance to watch musicians playing as well as hear lots of good music, and do singing and dancing. It's never too late to take up an instrument and after about age 7 it's possible to progress very fast indeed. The main benefit of starting them very young is that it helps to develop lots of skills such as those fine motor and also concentration, as well as musical ability, and that they can play quite well by age 7 already.

HTH

[mrsravelstein]

i started violin lessons at 4, loved it... then did clarinet at 7 and bassoon at 11. definitely not too young to start, if the interest is there.

[stickylittlefingers]

I would find out to what extent they really start learning to play the piano - i.e. is it more having fun, musical appreciation and so on? I agree, 7 is plenty young enough to start, and learning to read music seems to be a lot easier once the child has a handle on reading in general.

FWIW, I tried to start DD1 on piano aged 5, but although she enjoyed it, she didn't really make progress (which doesn't matter if you're doing it yourself and not spending any money, but I guess it might be different if you paid). Once she was a confident reader, suddenly it all seemed to come together and she started picking it up much more quickly. So with DD2 I won't start til she's at least yr1.

Is it possible to have a taster session (or six!)? I wouldn't want a child put off playing for having gone too early.

[singinggirl]

I am a piano and violin teacher, and I no longer start piano students before Year 2. I have started younger children in the past, and some of them have stuck with it and played successfully. However, the dropout rate is much higher, I would estimate about three in four will drop it in the first two years, as opposed to around one in four aged seven or more. A failed attempt at starting an instrument can lead them to label themselves as unmusical, thereby putting them off learning other instruments later, when the only issue was their age. Of course, there are always exceptions, but since it is hard to judge where these will be, I now have a blanket rule. I willl start violin students from Year 1, since this involves only reading one line of music, and you can get an appropriately sized instrument.

Reception is too young IMO, children are tired after school, and regular practice is essential if children are to make progress. They also need to be old enough to understand the need for regular practice. As you have a piano, I would encourage him to play about on it, not teaching him to play tunes or to look at music, but to find notes to play 'dinosaur music', 'bird music', 'a storm' etc. He will gain a sense of pitch and tempo if you encourage this, and will be far more ready when he starts proper lessons. (Use prompts like 'elephants are very heavy and slow' to encourage him to use the low notes slowly, or 'is a mouse running up and down the piano' to encourage him to play faster notes).

On a final note, when you do start him with lessons, ask if there is an option for twenty minute lessons when he first starts. Twenty minutes is a long time to concentrate in a one-to-one situation, especially for young children. Then move to thirty minutes when he is ready - sometimes a too-long lesson is enough to put children off playing the piano on its' own.

[PushyDad]

My kids started violin at 5. My wife asked about piano lessons at the time but was told that age 8 was the earliest DS should start because otherwise his fingers span wouldnt be developed enough.