Music lessons for 5 year old?

[Sipperskipper]

My very nearly 5 year old DD (reception) has mentioned wanting to learn the violin. Is she too young to start lessons? She has a decent concentration span and will happily focus on one thing for a while, but I've read mixed things online about lessons this young.

I play piano (not particularly well) and have had the odd go at teaching her a little bit, but as its with me she quickly changes her mind and wants to do something else - not sure if this is an indication she's not ready yet or just that I am not a particularly inspiring teacher!

I've known children start this young. Two of mine play the violin. They started at ages 6 and 7. Perhaps you should have a chat with some violin teachers and organise a trial lesson?

My daughter's school starts them as young as 3.

Due to mixed reviews, I was going to leave any music lessons for my daughter until she was older but she asked repeatedly for piano lessons so we decided that to strike whilst the iron is hot and see what happens would be a reasonable course of action. She's about to turn 5. She's enjoying them. Any teacher worth their salt will differentiate their teaching and tailor it to the age of the pupil.

Give it a go, the worst that can happen is she decides it's not for her.

its definitely possible at that age. lessons will probably be fairly short. warning is that it is likely to sound awful for several years to come (I say that as a violin player myself. I started around 6 and my sister around 4)

Look around for a teacher who has experience with younger children. I would strongly recommend looking on the BSMA (British Suzuki Music Association) website and seeing if they list any teachers in your area. There are some other teaching methods that commonly start young, so if you can't find a Suzuki teacher ask around. A teacher who mostly teaches children from 6-7 or older may not always have strategies at their fingertips for working effectively with younger ones.

Oh, and expect to be heavily involved in both lessons and practice at home. With rare exceptions, not much success will be had otherwise under age 7-8 I think.

Big COI - I'm a Suzuki violin teacher; and learned that way myself. :)

Thanks so much for all your input, I'm going to give it a go. Now does anyone have any advice on how to find a decent teacher? Any particular websites?

Hmm, I can't find the website I started with any more, but what I did was talk to local teachers and ask who they would recommend to teach a young student. Many teachers aren't interested when they're very little, like pythonesque says it needs different strategies, but they will know who in the local area does.

Suzuki, colorstrings and stringbabies are groups/methods I've come across that are particularly aimed at younger ones. If you have any of those in your area that would be a great starting point.

(Pythonesque, hi from a fellow former suzuki kid! DD doesn't do suzuki itself but has learned a lot of the pieces, they're a lovely selection.)

DD started with a Suzuki teacher at 5. Was the best possible start - her technique, quality of sound and intonation was amazing right from the start. Expect to be very involved at that age - they do need adult support to make good progress.

DD followed Suzuki method for about 2 years before moving to non-Suzuki teacher.
She ended up at a London Junior Department and is now at a specialist music school. At every step of the way, her set up has been complimented and attributed to her strong start with Suzuki method.

Thanks for all your help. DD had her first lesson this Sunday and loved it. The teacher was lovely and it was very relaxed. Luckily I can read music etc so can do bits with her in between lessons.

Thanks again everyone.

3 years later, how did this go? I am hoping to get my daughter started. She will be 5 this month

Hi! She did violin lessons for a few months, then switched to trumpet, now back to violin! She passed her grade 1 violin in the summer, and is happily playing some solo pieces in our local music festivals through the autumn. She’s enjoying it and I think the discipline required for regular practice is great for her.