When to start music tuition

[Snuppeline]

Hello all, I might come across as a very pushy mom but don't be put off by my question. I've got a 16 month old daughter who like most children her age loves music/dancing etc. My DH and I are both music lovers but neither of us play an instrument. I really wanted to learn to play the piano, flute and violin when I was young but my parents couldn't afford to let me learn either. I have therefore no idea of what age I should aim to let my daughter be introduced to either of those instruments. What ages are feasible for each instrument?

Promise to all of you who might cringe of the pushy implications of my question, I will let her decide if she wants to carry on playing - and also what instrument she might want to play!

Thanks for any advise.

Hi,

I was a very keen violinist / piano player in my youth (!) and I started the piano at 5 or 6 years old. Started the violin when I was 7. I know that some people start teaching their little ones far earlier - especially using certain techniques which doesn't involve teaching the kids how to read music initially (I think the Suzuki method is one), but I think anything under 4 - 5 years old is a little too young.

It's probably worth taking your little one to a few general music classes over the next year or so and see how much she continues to enjoy music.

Hope that helps!

the general advice from music teachers is to wait until the child can read well so that they can start to read music. My dd started the piano at 7 whcih is often cited as a good age to start.

I'd say, flute you need to be 9 or 10 ish to be big enough to hold one (small flutes are not easy to come by), you can learn recorder before hand - many of the skills are transferable (even the note fingerings are pretty much the same).

Piano is best left until 7 or 8 (the music reading skills are hardest for piano - so although it's the easiest instrument to make a note sound on, it gets harder very quickly & grade 1 piano is generally thought to be a lot more difficult to acheive than flute or violin).

Violin can be started as young as 3 but doesn't have to be. You can buy tiny violins to fit just about any size of child - just upgrade them as they grow. There is a school of thought that says if you start later you progress faster & catch up with those who started younger though - so 8 or 9 is still not to late to start imo.

Suzuki is worth looking at if you really want to go for violin lessons young (but be warned it is very parent intensive). They do lots of work with posture and bow hold - sometimes not even using a real violin, but a cardboard one instead, for a long time. Then it is all learned by ear to begin with - part of the training involves listening to the pieces on CD. They have a nice philosophy I think, which is that anybody can learn - you don't need any special talent

There are plenty of critiscisms of suzuki: that children who learn that way don't learn expression and that they struggle with sight reading later on spring to mind, but I don't think that is always true.

Just on the subject of instrument choice though - don't automatically assume that your dd will want to learn the same instruments that you wanted to. It might be worth reading the book "The Right Instrument for your Child" which sets a lot of importance in choosing an instrument that is well matched to your child's temperament and physical characteristics. It also has opinions on what age is best to start.