Piano lessons at 5

[Oakvales]

I've booked for my 5 yo to start piano lessons (30 mins) with a teacher that comes to the house, I have bought him a decent digital piano /keyboard to learn on/play with.

The teacher is used to teaching young children and children with parents , but afrer reading a few old threads on here, I'm wondering if he's a bit young ?

I'm not bothered about exams etc , I just want him to enjoy it and learn some basics , the teacher can do other instruments as well. His Dad and I are not musicial in the slightest, so I want go give him the opportunity to be, but mainly i want him to enjoy it , the teacher knows this and maybe he'll take to it straight away or maybe they will start taking it more serious in a year or so both fine.

His school do music lessons after school but the groups are huge. Me and his Dad both work in quite high pressured jobs and have a one year old , so someone coming to us works well. In this case do you think its still to young? As I say I have no expectations other than him being with someone who can give him more than we can with instruments.

I started recorder lessons at 4, piano at 5. I loved playing the piano, however music exams and estidffods from 6 ish, has fucked me up for life. I fall apart in interviews even now in my 40s and have flash backs to being alone in old Georgian school rooms in Bath, and in churches being examined by a complete stranger.

Make sure you are firm with the no exam stance, some music teachers will push and push for them, don't back down.

Thank you, this is good to know. And I'm so sorry it affected you this way. That's another thing that put me off about the school they push for exams and have to do a show twice a year for the school and parents which I know at least right now he would hate., and would ruin it for him.

I spoke to the teacher and said I wouldn't want to put him to exam until 8, I purely want him to.enjoy an instrument. I will make sure I'm clear when I see him.

Some people say that the hands are too small to play the piano when the child is 7 years old or younger.
But if you have a piano teacher that is used to teaching young children, I am sure it will be fine.
Good luck, and I hope your child will enjoy playing the piano!

I started with piano lessons when I was 8 years old, and continued until I was 17. Very happy now as an adult to be able to play the piano. Such a great instrument, and a lot of fun!

My DD started piano at 6 and was too young for it, but the teacher was not great with very small children and it might have worked out better with a different teacher. She ended up quitting after a year. Who knows, maybe starting older might have seen her stick at it.

Thanks both he's 6 in 2 months , the teacher has reviews from parents saying he's adaptable etc , and he has worked with younger children before.

I think as i have no pressure I will see how it goes , and if needed change teacher or just have him playing on it himself for a year or so if it doesn't work out (i have read you can get apps etc) and start again in a year . The last thing I want to do is the opposite of what I'm trying to achieve !

It genuinely wouldn't bother me if he never took an exam in it. I find it hard as noone in my family is musical in the slightest, so I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing ! But I would love my children to have the opportunity to enjoy playing

My daughter started lessons in year 1 when she was 5 and they went really well. People on Mumsnet love to talk about how important it is not to push kids while furiously pushing their own and suggesting that they spontaneously developed county-level sporting skills/ grade 8 viola/etc. I'd ignore it, frankly.

It's not necessarily the case that progress is really slow when they start young - DD is currently 8 and prepping for her grade 4, so she has made pretty good progress to my mind.

I started piano at 5 and violin at 7, it was fine. Exams were scary but then they're always scary. And I always got a cream cake from the fancy Austrian patisserie afterwards with my mum, so worth it!

It's never too early if a child enjoys learning an instrument and music in general, and many children do. My DD has been at a kindergarten programme and then a junior department of a conservatoire from an early age, they did lots of singing, dancing and trying out different instruments before the conservatoire let the children decide which instrument they want to take up. Any musical activity is beneficial for brain development so it will stay with your DS for life even if he doesn't proceed learning music to a higher level.

Your DS reach on the keyboard will depend on how big his hand is but beginners tunes do not need a wide stretch of the fingers. The most important thing at this stage regarding the hand is setting it up correctly from the start, in a relaxed "arched" manner - ask your DS to hold a tennis ball then keep the shape of curved fingers and you'll get the idea of the shape.

Try it and see - you can always stop and come back to it.

My DD did a year of guitar, bit of uke and a year of piano at Primary. Feedback was that she was potentially very talented at all of them, but nothing was clicking and she wasn't keen to continue.

At 7 we swapped to singing lessons, and dropped everything else and that was a huge success.

Have since added composition and added back in piano, guitar and uke. Once she was in the right place she made incredibly rapid progress on all of them. Piano and guitar teachers both wish she'd make them first study... DD has zero interest in that, but practices both and loves both.

She's now at a specialist music college and heading for an adult career in music.

Did 2 piano grades - distinction in both, and refused to ever do another music exam as the rep was boring and limiting. The most important thing has been finding the right teachers who will work with her the way she wants things, but also cover the essentials that she needs to know.

So play it by ear, be flexible, make sure it's fun and you can always stop and come back, or switch instruments.

Not too young if the teacher is used to teaching that age. Keeping it fun and practice session short but regular will help. Eg 10 mins a day at first is probably plenty. My daughter started at 4 with 15 mins lessons (the teacher was coming round to teach my elder child) and then did 30 mins from year 1.

main thing is that they find it fun and want to do it, if not just leave it, can always try again later.

It really depends on the child. Elder wasn't interested till 7. Younger piano at 5 was her second instrument, she adored it (still does 8 years in) and rocketed through early stages.

I started my daughter early but she became bored very quickly. There’s so much repetition in learning (the same as most things I suppose). I wish I’d started her later and think she would have been more committed/enjoyed it more had I waited. Every child is different though - appreciate lots learn young and stick with it!

Completely depends on the child. My husband and I are highly musical and sing and play the violin to a high standard.

Our son is 6.5 but his maturity level and attention span means he’s not ready for instrumental lessons yet. He’s having singing lessons from the school music teacher.

My view is that voice is the first instrument - when he’s ready, I’ll start him on piano and/or another orchestral instrument.

You will know if they are enjoying. My daughter taught some young children and some of them needed the time broken up so some time at the piano, some time sitting on the floor doing clapping or singing or matching games, then back to the piano. Lots of stickers! It's never wasted. Children now rarely have to focus so this is a good thing to learn. They can go on to do other instruments too. Enjoy - you might want to learn alongside!

My son started piano around his 5th birthday. He enjoyed very much and can very soon play tunes learned in the school. Although later piano became his second Instrument, he practice everyday before university. Even now he played most of the days during university holiday break at home. It is the way he releases himself from pressure. We just like him to enjoy the music and didn't enter him to any competition even his teacher suggested many times. He had the 20 minutes lesson each week during the term time for at least two years before changed to 30 minutes. Someone said that learning early could help to develop the perfect pitch. My son has the perfect pitch which helps him to learn violin later. I don't know if it is true.

My dc all started learning the piano just after their 6th birthdays. Dc1 wanted to go for exams so he did and got his grade 8 when he was 17. Ds2 didn't want to do exams but when ds3 wanted to do one, ds2 decided he did as well. So ds3 got his grade 2 aged 11 and ds2 got his grade 3 aged 14.

My DD started piano lessons at 5 and loved it. She had long fingers which helped with reach. She could read music by 6.

You either have perfect pitch or you don't - it's not something that can be taught or trained. It's not a common thing to have and can be a disadvantage especially playing with others.

Most good musicians have relative pitch - which training does improve.

I started at 4. I can’t remember not being able to read music. I’m musical but not in any way gifted. I got to grade 8 piano and also belonged to a very good choir (as an adult).

I think it depends on the teacher. Mine was brilliant, she had a lot of young pupils and she paired up her pupils as duet partners, and put us in for exams and competitions (solo and duet) but we were never expected to get certain results. I think she thought if you got a distinction in an exam you could have passed the next level up. I did lots of competitions with no pressure I can remember. I won a couple of duet competitions with different partners - we were all used to playing with a partner - such a great skill to have and my sister and I still enjoy playing duets together. I loved my teacher and she was the only adult I could trust and talk to during a particularly horrible time when my parents split up. So if the teacher is right, I think it’s a wonderful thing for a child.

My DDs started when one was six and one was eight. The eight year old continued until the end of sixth form and gained grade 8. The six year old stopped quite soon after starting and, when she was older, told me she didn’t understand exactly what the piano teacher wanted her to do but was too shy to tell him!
It will depend on your child and the teacher!

Five is a great age, particularly if they already show an interest. My 3 daughters started at 4 or 5. One attends a specialist music school and is passionate about piano. Middle is only 8, and about to take her grade 5, but her obsession is gymnastics, she just happens to enjoy playing an instrument too. Youngest is 5 and mostly taught by her siblings right now, she can play grade 1 pieces, and likes to 'compose' her own but probably won't be doing grades for a while, unless she wants to. Music learning looks different for all children, follow their lead.

This is just my opinion but until they can read words and understand that written signs mean something, learning the piano is an uphill struggle. Better to do singing together, fun music and counting games and enjoy fooling around on the keyboard.

Mine both started at 6 with a lovely but traditional teacher. They also had music (solfeggio) theory once a week in a group.
One went up to Conservatoire level, the other stopped at 13. They both still play for fun.

It's absolute nonsense that the hands are too small before age 7/8. I've got a child with very small hands for their age who started at 4.5 years with no issues at all. The first year or two they only do simple pieces with notes close together anyway. Mine had passed grade 1 by age 7.

Many piano teachers like a dc to be able to read before starting formal lessons. DS started at 6.5 (was a fluent reader) was Grade 1 by 7.5, Grade 5 by 11 and Grade 8 by 15. Initial progress was pretty quick which helped retain his interest. He is musical but not particularly gifted (though did get a Distinction in every exam!)

My daughter wanted lessons from 5 and started them just as she turned 6. She’s doing well so far after a couple of years but we have a piano, I play (and have helped with practise) and she has elder siblings who practice their instruments regularly too.ive always done it as “something for fun”.