Piano lessons

[stilletoe]

Would you say a 3.5 year old is too young to learn to play the piano?

What age is a good age to start?

I would imagine a 3.5 year old might struggle to reach between the keys (you need a reasonable sized hand). As for best age to start, I'm sure others have better ideas, but I've opted not to start my DC learning an instrument till they are 7/8 and mature enough to be disciplined about e.g. regular practice. If you are musical family (we're not) starting earlier might be a better bet.

When they're old enough to want to would be good.
Maybe they want to at 3.5 and won't leave the piano alone. Or maybe they're older, but see practice as a chore.
I guess it depends on the child.

When they want to. And when they are old enough to have an idea of what it is they are saying they want. So I would say not 3.5!

There's nothing wrong with giving a child access to a piano at such a young age but I would say that it is unrealistic in the majority of cases to expect a 3.5yo to 'learn' productively, mainly due to attention span and the basic anatomical problem of having small hands and spanning the keys.

I would agree with redsky that 7/8 is a good time to start 'seriously' with an instrument.

I started learning when I was about four, and I had a joint lesson with a little boy from over the road. i enjoyed it for about 18mths - 2yrs when he started having lessons on his own (he turned out to be a child-genius) Then it became obvious that I wasn't practising and I stopped lessons.

So I think it would need to be fun - you would need to choose the tutor very carefully.

Is your DC keen to learn and the type who might practice? Obviouly my little friend was. He got grade 8 by the time he was 10

Thanks for your messages. My lo has been going on about playing the piano for a while now. We don't have one at home and I take your points about small hand size etc.

Not to sure what to do, as I don't want to discourage an interest in the piano, but now that you have all commented, I can see what the difficulties would be if my lo had lessons at ths age.

I started lessons when I was 6, which was about right as I genuinely wanted to learn and did practise every day.

We have a piano at home, and my DTDs, who are 4, love picking out tunes on it. BUT if I sit with them and show them how to play, say, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", they quickly lose interest, as they want to do it their way, IYSWIM.

I think 3.5 is too young - for a child to stick with a musical instrument, IMO, they have to have decided themselves that they want to learn, and be mature enough to handle the practising every day element.

Don't bother with lessons, but get a small cheap keyboard and that'll keep your lo amused for hours. In a few years you can look into getting a full size piano, a battered second-hand one from an auction maybe? That's how I started and I'm a pro player now :)

If anyone does fancy lessons, I'm very reasonable

Hi there.
I've taught piano to young children.
As a guide line I would say 6 (or older) is an ideal age to start.
I taught quite a lot of 5 year olds (Year 1), but generally if they learnt for a year in Year 1 then the ones who started in Year 2 would catch up with them within a term of starting.
Best thing for little ones is lots and lots of singing and fun music-making. There are all sorts of weekly groups on offer so try those, Dalcroze starts at 3 or 4 as well as Jo jingles, and Perform and lots of others.
Nothing wrong with messing about on instruments but formal lessons, no.

Starlight - at ds' school they say Year 1 at the very earliest for learning violin and they would prefer Year 2 - so 6/7.

Before that they do a lot of things to teach pitch and interest in music generally - and lots of singing.

Suziki violin springs to mind if you (and he) are dead keen. They are experts in teaching littleys. Personally I wouldn't do it though...

My son is almost 4 too (October) and seems to be very musical. Learning an instrument is a real disciplined thing and at this age they are so open and creative and why should they have to "do things right" as you generally do when you learn to play an instrument.

I would definitely encourage it though and make sure he gets opportunities, the better quality the better (iykwim). My son did Jo jingles until starting nursery this September. I'm dying to get him into something else regularly each week. Thinking of trying Perform once he's 4, or a Dalcroze if I can find one near us.

Snoozathon,the cheap keyboard is a great idea, I think this is the way forward for now and watch to see what develops (if anything). Argos here I come!

there is a danger to starting too young in that children can get frustrated and bored and go off the instrument and the practice required. Music teachers I know recommend starting not before 7. Ds is 6 and I think he is ready now but will give it a few more months.

Hi again. Starlight, suzuki at some stage might be up his street, it's a lot of repetition. They learn mostly by ear.
Me and my son often make up different words to tunes we know, mostly a load of nonsense though, not other nursery rhymes, that's tricky!
Ah yes, and we are thinking of getting a keyboard too for DS/DD as then they can wreck it/play to their hearts content and little fingers can do the keys more easily than big chunky piano.