What age did your child begin playing a musical instrument?

My daughter is 2.5 and shows a great interest for playing instruments and music. She got a guitar for xmass this year but is still many years away from formal lessons. When my husband was teaching guitar lessons he had students as young as 8. It takes a lot of patience to formally teach young children an instrument. The trick is to make it fun, not just showing chords and scales and boring "standarda" like "Mary had a little lamb". I think your son's piano teacher did not have the patience for teaching children and/or did not really know how.

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My son is much too young for music lessons - he's 2 1/2 - but I read that it is a good idea to find a teacher specializing in teaching young children music and enroll them in music education at four or five years of age. The idea is that reading music triggers something in the brain at this age that improves math skills when children are older. I think it's worth a try. The worst that happens is I take him out of the classes, right?

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The Suzuki method starts teaching piano, along with other instruments at the age of 3. It's designed to help strengthen their concentration, and the teachers can work with small childen usually very well. I started at about 7, on the piano. I continued throughout high school, and enjoyed my time. I intend to start my children on Suzuki lessons at around age 3, since there are studies that say learning an instrument helps students in school.

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My guy is 2 1/2 and has been in a music class that teaches rhythm, notes, and focussed listening skills since he was 9 months old. He will move to a more structured lesson plan and learn an instrument at age 4 if he remains in this progamme (which is our intent). I suppose that it depends upon the child. He has never known anything different and music class is simply a part of his weekly routine. He is totally focussed while in class and practises his skills at home.

I personally learned violin at age 5 and moved to oboe at 12. I played both with the San Diego Youth Symphony, the Civic Youth Orchestra, and my school music programme, and had a long and vibrant musical career. I now spend most of my time playing my bagpipes and enjoying the more "fun" side of music.

For our family, music isn't an option or a "when should we start?" issue. It simply is.

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Too young? There's two factors here: Your child and the teacher. Perhaps he isn't quite ready yet or the teacher is simply more accustomed to teaching older children
As for the age to start, the right age is whenever they're ready and willing. For me, by the time I'd was 13, I'd basically had enough with Piano.
Not everyone will be a master. and those that do probably have a natural talent and passion that drives them to want to take and succeed at lessons at 5 years old. Those that don't might simply learn to read music and play the instrument for as long as they want to and enjoy it.

Just my two bits.

Cheerio!
A

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I started on piano at age 5-6, as have my daughter and son. My daughter (now 14) and I are pretty accomplished amateurs in classical and jazz rep, so there's first hand evidence that it can be done.

My son has a different personality, and his weaker ability to focus diminished his success. While he didn't progress as quickly as my daughter did, he can read and play more basic material. He recently switched to guitar, perhaps to have "his own thing," and his new teacher was impressed by his note reading and ear development compared to all the other guitar beginners. All in all he got something good out of it.

In my past, lots of folks I went to school with didn't pick up instruments until age 12, and more than a few got good enough to perform in local bands. You can't beat the early start, but by no means does the window have to close (unless you close it...) It is harder, though, to devote time to the necessary drill work to get good at that age.

A great story, though, is of bassist Herbie Flowers, who only choose to learn music at age 18 to avoid less pleasant military service. Afterwards, he went on to play for the likes of David Bowie, Elton John and Lou Reed.

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Your child is never to young or old for music or even art.This inculds dance. If they show interest, then you incourge them to their fullest. My daugther has been in to art and music as long as i can remember. She is 6 now and we got her a gutar for christmas, and she got a keyboard last year that she is good at now. Her father and I think it keeps her out of trouble and it is a heathly way to work her mind. So if he in joy the music ,Tell him to keep it up.

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My wife is a professional piano teacher and she started taking lessons at age 4. She has also taught private lessons to students as young 4 years old. She use to teach a group music and movement class for toddlers starting around 2ish.

Of course our home is always filled with music and our 1 year-old boy loves to dance, watch his mommy play piano and he even loves to pull himself up to the piano to hit the keys.

Here's a link of our boy in the Blogging Baby Flickr Group playing on a piano.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/newbiemind/283122121/in/pool-bloggingbaby/

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Too old??? Baaahhhhh..... You're never too old. Case in point: When I was a music student in college, I taught flute lessons at the local community center, both for the extra money and for the experience. Most of my students were from the local grade/middle schools, but one student, Ann, was from the community. She had never played the flute before, and had just been diagnosed with asthma. Not one to rely only on drugs, she spoke with her doctor about strengthening her lungs. Exercise was recommended, and when she asked about a musical instrument, he told her that it couldn't hurt. She came to me. At the beginning, she couldn't read music, and couldn't hold more than a quarter note (one beat) at a time. By the time I finished my job at that community center, a little over a year later, Ann was playing Mozert Concerti!!! She was determined and focused, and we clicked, as student and teacher.

Ann was 75 when she began studying with me.

The point here is that it depends most upon the individual - their determination and drive to learn. But it also depends upon the teacher you find for that student. Ann and I hit it off immediately, and I had as much fun teaching her as she did learning to play her flute. So hold out for your son. Don't give up on him, and find him a good teacher. It's a gift that he will thank you for.

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I agree with many of the other commenters that much of when to start depends on the child. I would add, however, that a music program geared for the 0-4 age range can be a wonderful thing. My son's been in a Music Together class (http://www.musictogether.com) for over two years now, and loves it. It focuses on basic musical skills, like rhythm and pitch, as well as conveying the fun of music. There's no teaching of instruments per se, though they play a lot with drums, bells, and other percussive toys. If my son decides to learn an instrument later on, he'll have already started to develop a musical ear. If not, he'll still have picked up some social and listening skills.

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If you're talking about music for his own enjoyment, of course he's not too old. There is no such thing. And who knows where it might lead?

I was playing the piano when I was five but was a few years older when I started formal lessons. I could almost always read music.

People go back to college in their 60's and 70's or finally learn to dance at 40. Age should never be a deterrent.

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What a shame that the teacher would discourage music lessons at that age. I started piano at 7 years old, but I know others who have started younger. Kids that age learn so fast that it's great to have something to focus their attention on, like learning a musical instrument.

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We got ds drums when he was 18 months. He hasn't had formal lessons yet but may start when he is 4. He loves his drums and bangs on them daily . He is getting better and is starting to keep a beat. Although the only song he sings is wheels on the bus no matter what the beat is. That's ok, makes up for the 10 years of piano lessons from the neighbors! hahahaha revenge is sweet.

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Each child has his own "right time to start" formal lessons. However, I think it's important to have some sturdy instrument (like a piano) that he can experiment with from a very early age (birth if possible). Music should be introduced as a fun hobby well before formal lessons are attempted. Then music will be an integral part of life and its enjoyment won't depend on the right time / method of beginning lessons. As you watch your child's musicality grow naturally, you will be able to gauge whether your child is ready for / interested in formal instruction.

In my childhood home, we always had an old piano, which my dad tinkered with just for fun. All of us kids used to play on it (it was not easy to get a turn!) well before anyone had a lesson. We would play jingles from the TV, etc. My oldest brother took piano lessons around age 10 and quickly became proficient. Meanwhile, several of us borrowed his books and taught ourselves. (We later took up other instruments as well.) My youngest brother unexpectedly began picking out tunes at the age of 2, and by age seven he could play classical music by ear. He also learned by watching and memorizing as others played complicated songs. Although we introduced him to notation, he did not learn it easily, so we never pushed it since we did not want to dilute the pure joy of making music. He found school frustrating, but his musical ability boosted his quality of life by giving him entertainment, accomplishment, and a great social door-opener. When my youngest sister was four, a friend gave us an old "kindergarten piano book." Unlike her older brother, my sister was intensely interested in decoding those funny marks on the pages, and soon learned to play basic songs. Though she never became a virtuoso piano player, she has remained interested in music and developed a lovely voice.

If you want to start teaching your child to read notes at a relatively early age, it isn't necessary to hire a teacher. There are many books available that are so self-explanatory, you can both learn and teach, at least initially, without a teacher. Just be careful to keep it fun, and don't ever push it. So many people I know did piano lessons because they "had to" and lost their love for music.

On the other hand, as long as you foster a love for music and a chance to experiment with it, it will never be too "late" to start with the formal stuff.

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