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The Best Age For Kids To Begin Piano Lessons

Have you been wondering if it’s the right time for your child to start taking piano lessons? Check out this advice from an experienced piano teacher!

Musicnotes

• 5 min read
Kids Piano Lessons

With a new school year on the horizon, as a parent, you might be wondering if this is a good year for your child to start piano lessons.

There’s not one definitive answer for the best age for kids to start piano lessons. A number of factors play into this decision. Here are some things to be thinking about as you assess if now is a good time for your child to start piano.

It’s never too late to start

First, it’s important to know that it’s never too late to begin to learn the piano. This is true for all stages of life. Kids won’t be behind if they start piano lessons a few years later than their peers or as a teenager. And, even into adulthood, anyone can learn to play the piano.

There is no need to feel rushed to start piano right away or to feel guilty if you haven’t started piano lessons yet.

It is possible to start too soon

On the other hand, starting piano lessons too soon isn’t always the best idea. If kids are pushed to learn the piano before they are truly ready, they could develop negative feelings about learning the piano early on. It can be very difficult to reverse this later on and it could result in your child resenting anything pertaining to the piano.

Also, starting the piano too soon can also feel frustrating to kids who aren’t quite developmentally ready to learn the piano.

Elementary years are often a good time to start

Every child and circumstance is different, but somewhere in the early to mid-elementary school years is often a good time for most kids to start piano lessons. You know your child the best, so you are the best judge of your child’s readiness and interest in learning piano.

You’ll also want to visit with several piano teachers to get their perspectives on a good time to start. Some piano teachers are especially skilled at working with younger beginners, while others have a preference for teaching older beginners. Even if your child is ready, learning from a teacher who is inexperienced with young children could sour your child’s experience.

Look for these signs of piano readiness

–Interest in playing the piano: Is your child naturally drawn to the piano? Do you notice them taking interest when other people play the piano? Do they sit down and try to figure things out on the piano on their own? Kids who do these things are almost always ready to learn more formally.

–The ability to sit still and focus for short to medium periods of time: Learning to play the piano requires kids to sit and focus at the piano for increasing lengths of time. A teacher who is great at working with young children will incorporate many ways to learn away from the piano bench and keep your child moving between different music activities. Some more traditional piano teachers might expect a child to sit at the piano for 30 minutes. If your child isn’t one who likes to sit still and focus on a detailed activity, piano might not be a good match.

–Fine motor development: Playing the piano requires a lot of fine motor development. It’s one of the only activities where kids are expected to control each individual finger simultaneously. Kids who haven’t fully developed their fine motor skills often feel stuck when they’re learning to play the piano. Their mind knows what to do and their hands simply aren’t ready.

–Time commitment: Piano lessons require a time commitment from the whole family. Not only do you have to carve out time for weekly lessons, you also have to plan for daily practice. Practicing the piano should become a part of your child’s daily routine and ideally, parents need to be involved in the daily practice. The level of parental involvement will vary depending on your child and their teacher’s preferences. But, parents need to help kids find the structured time to practice, and they may also need to sit down and help their child complete assignments too.

Kid Playing Piano

Let’s take a quick look at what it’s like to start piano at various stages and what challenges you may need to be prepared for.

Ages 0-4 (Preschool): Kids who haven’t started Kindergarten yet usually aren’t quite ready for piano lessons. There are many wonderful music programs geared towards this age group. Look for movement-based preschool music programs in your area and help your child cultivate a love for music.

Ages 5-6 (Kindergarten/First Grade): Kids in this age group can really go either way. Many teachers will say that it’s too early to start piano lessons. But, kids who are really excited to learn or who have observed an older sibling learning piano often do really well.

Possible challenges: If you do start piano at this age, you might notice that your child doesn’t progress quickly or gets stuck on certain concepts. As long as your child is still interested in piano, don’t be discouraged when this happens. Usually, a developmental milestone is about to click into place and progress will pick up quickly soon.

Ages 7-9 (Second-Fourth Grades): These are really great years for starting piano lessons. A lot of kids in this age range pick up piano skills quickly and make fast progress, which is a big confidence boost.

Possible challenges: One thing to be mindful of with that quick progress early on is that things will soon get harder. Make sure you instill good discipline early on so that as things get more difficult, your child has what it takes to stick with it.

Ages 10-13 (Fifth-Eighth Grades): Kids starting piano at this age usually fly through the early stages because there are usually no developmental hindrances to learning. If a child in this age group is really interested in learning piano, they can usually cover a lot of ground very quickly and they are cognitively ready to really understand how piano and music work.

Possible challenges: Kids at this age who are being forced to learn the piano usually make very little progress because the easy stage doesn’t last very long.

Ages 14-18 (High School): High school can be a great time to start piano because at this age, a student is really motivated and has the capability to learn a lot quickly. A lot of times, high schoolers have already taught themselves a little bit of piano and they usually have specific goals and interests at the piano.

Possible challenges: The biggest obstacle that high schoolers face is time management. Kids that started piano at a younger age are already in the habit of carving out practice time, but newer high school learners often find it hard to juggle their other responsibilities with practicing. High schoolers also often get discouraged in the beginning stages because they might expect to move faster or play more complicated music sooner.

If you think your child is ready to start piano lessons, make sure you have a good instrument in your home, you’ve visited with a few piano teachers to find the best match and that you’re ready to take on the time commitment as a family.

This post was written by Megan, piano teacher and author of Pianissimo: A Very Piano Blog. Visit her website for more piano related blogs for teachers, parents, students, and all things piano.