Is My Child Ready for Piano Lessons

You may have wondered when to start piano lessons for your child.  This is a question I have been asked as a piano teacher several times.  It is completely normal to wonder if your child is ready to begin piano lessons.  There are several factors that go into this decision, and all the advice I have given to other parents throughout the years, I want to share with you too in this blog post and podcast episode. 

 

1. Age

There are several teachers who teach preschool piano and even Mozart started playing the piano at an early age.  There are several fantastic preschool music classes out there, but in my personal opinion, children should start piano lessons when they begin learning to read.  Just like when reading a book, when kids read music, they will be reading from top to bottom and left to right.  Somewhere between the ages of 5-8 is the perfect time frame to start. But of course, it is never too late to begin piano.  You can always learn to play piano as an adult.

 

2. Attention Span

If you’ve seen 5 year old children, you know they all have different personalities.  Some young kids can pay attention better than others and have longer attention spans.  Just because your next door neighbors child (who is the same age as your son or daughter) is in piano lessons, doesn’t necessarily mean your child is ready to start. Waiting a couple of years could make a world of difference.

 

3. Desire to Learn

As a parent, you obviously know your child better than anyone.  During the preschool years, your child may have been in Musikgarten or Kindermusik and just has a love for music.  Or, you constantly find them tinkering at the piano or singing the melody to their favorite song.  All of these are clues that your child might be ready to start piano lessons.  There are also those kids that will just ask to start learning and get so excited when you tell them they get to start learning the piano.

 

4. Size of Hands

In beginning piano lessons, students will learn a lot of songs using all 5 fingers on the piano keys.  If your child has small hands, the span from the thumb to the pinky will be a hard stretch for them.  Kids grow like weeds and one year can cause such growth in a child physically.

 

5. Finger Strength

When beginning piano, kids are asked to curve their fingers (read 3 fun ways piano students can practice curving their fingers).  This does not always come easy to kids.  A lot of times kids won’t be able to hold their hands or fingers the way that is needed to play the piano keys.  Having some practice with writing help strengthen fingers and get them piano ready.  So right along with when kids begin learning to read, when they begin hand writing is a good guiding point in when they’re ready to start piano lessons.

 

If you are wanting an idea of a great keyboard to start on (I have the same one in my home), then I recommend the this one that comes with the keyboard, headphones, music stand, pedal and bench.  I recommend some other keyboards you can check out here. If you are wanting a piano, you can find really great ones at your local music stores or even on Craigslist.  Whether you go the digital piano route, or are wanting an upright piano, the choice is really yours.

 

 

Does this help you determine if your child is ready to begin piano lessons?  Have you considered online piano lessons or my online piano courses?  Students can learn at their own pace and on their own time from the comfort of their home. 

If you’ve been noticing your child is ready to start learning to play piano, then I would love for you to check out my online piano lessons.