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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

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Original poster

To start piano lessons or wait for better timing/ price/ setting

15 replies

headacheday · 21/12/2023 19:54

Hi 👋

My ds is 6 (seven soon). His school will start offering keyboard/ piano music tuition one-2-one at about £16.50 per half an hour, once a week.
I need to pay for 11 weeks from the get go, so nearly £200.

They will be doing the tuition in school hours. I'll have to hope he doesn't miss important lessons...

My ds says he wants to give it a go. However, I'm not sure if he is may be too young (he is one of the smallest in his class) to start playing the piano?

Also, would a group lesson be better for a complete beginner? He can't read music etc and I'm not sure he'll keep interest.

The money is also a lot for me. Not sure it would be sustainable to pay every term. Does it sound like it's good value and good idea to spend without having tried any music lessons before?

Any advice is welcome. Thanks for reading.

OP posts:

Smartiepants79 · 21/12/2023 20:15

Do you have a piano or keyboard at home? He will need to practice at home or it’s a waste of money in my opinion. Especially at his age.
How is his concentration span and listening? Half an hour is a long time 1-1 at 6.
personally I’d wait till he’s a bit older and you can afford to be consistent and he can practice at home.
£16 for half an hour is a reasonable price.

northerngoldilocks · 21/12/2023 20:28

He's not too young - he's in year 2 so would expect him to be able to concentrate 1:1, but if you can't afford to keep paying it might not be a great idea to start. Is there any help available through school?

northerngoldilocks · 21/12/2023 20:29

Should also add it sounds pretty cheap for 1:1. We pay a lot more than that £25-30 for 30 mins is the norm for outside school.

DarkAcademia · 21/12/2023 20:34

He is a little young, and if you can I would 100% teach him myself at that age, even if it means you learning a week ahead of him, if you don't already play.

My DC was that age when she started, was super keen etc etc but it was an expensive nightmare. She hated it and was not ready. We did it again when she was in year 6, and it was a triumph and she's flying now.

There are lots of "baby" books you can get on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Get-Set-Piano-Ready-Tutor/dp/0008353239 - if he doesn't want to be taught by you at first, he doesn't really want to learn.

gotomomo · 21/12/2023 20:42

He's certainly not too young, kids learn from 3 or 4 often. But you need a keyboard at home and to have time for him to practice at least as long as the lesson length each weekday to get out of the lessons a worthwhile amount.

My DD's both played from young, it's expensive!

OrchidFlakes · 21/12/2023 20:43

The price seems fair. My eldest DS started playing at 4 and took to it like a duck to water. My youngest DS also started at 4 and played until he was 7. I wish I’d started him later as although he appears to be musical he didn’t have the attention span (his lessons were only 15 minutes after his brother’s 45 min lesson) but it was just too much for him that young.
I’d let him try if you can afford it or get a keyboard for him and try some YouTube video tutorials?

olympicsrock · 21/12/2023 20:54

My son started music lessons ( violin ) at 6 . He was too young in retrospect

Violinist64 · 21/12/2023 20:55

As a a piano teacher myself, I would say that the best thing you can do is to go with your gut instinct and that is that he is not ready yet. To be honest, most children are not ready in year two. Year three is much better because they are that much more mature. With forty years’ experience, I think around the eighth birthday is the best time to start - for girls the term before and for boys the term after. It is not necessarily to do with a child’s size at all, rather it is to do with maturity. Also, £16.50 for a lesson at school is a lot of money and, as has been said, you need an instrument at home so that he can practise. I would wait another year and see if he is s interested then you can decide how you want to proceed. I would suggest looking at private teachers too.

Original poster

headacheday · 21/12/2023 21:08

We've got a small keyboard at home. I've put colour stickers on it and I got him a book on his tablet which has colour dots under each note and appears easy to follow.

He hasn't done a song yet. Part of me was thinking, I don't want him to self-teach or for me to teach him (following a YouTube video etc) as it might be all wrong and create bad playing habits.

He just does his own thing on the keyboard occasionally.

OP posts:

Eigen · 21/12/2023 21:12

northerngoldilocks · 21/12/2023 20:28

Haha yeah no way is he too young. The East Asian kids can play a full sonata by that age!

saturnspinkhoop · 21/12/2023 21:13

You may want to give Simply Piano a go to see if your dc likes it. It’s a great app. I appreciate your very valid concerns about bad habits, but it could be a relatively inexpensive way to see if your dc likes it.

Eigen · 21/12/2023 21:13

headacheday · 21/12/2023 21:08

We've got a small keyboard at home. I've put colour stickers on it and I got him a book on his tablet which has colour dots under each note and appears easy to follow.

He hasn't done a song yet. Part of me was thinking, I don't want him to self-teach or for me to teach him (following a YouTube video etc) as it might be all wrong and create bad playing habits.

He just does his own thing on the keyboard occasionally.

Agree, you don’t want to self teach because you can end up with injuries and bad habits.

horseymum · 21/12/2023 21:19

That's a normal price for lessons, musicians union rate is actually £17.50 for 30 minutes I think. However they are often subsidised in school ( totally free in Scottish state schools) so that does seem a lot. You might be better getting private ones so you can have a trial lesson first before committing. You will still usually have to commit to a block and pay if you miss though. Mine started around 7-8 years old and I felt that was better.

HarryOHayandBettyOBarley · 21/12/2023 21:21

IMO his age is fine.

But more importantly if you can’t commit to lessons or they stretch you too much financially, then don’t start him.
Maybe try another instrument where he can take part in a group lesson instead?

Bunnycat101 · 21/12/2023 22:38

. My 7yo started in y1 and has taken to it but first term was probably not great because we didn’t really have a practice routine. Once we started doing 5-10 minutes a day she made really quick progress. Piano is pretty demanding though and at 6 your commitment will matter just as much as the child’s. I’ve got lots of friends whose children did it through school in year 2, never got them to practice at home and then gave up within the year because it wasn’t going anywhere.

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