Ages to Start a Musical Instrument With a Child

Here's a bonding idea for you: learn to play a musical instrument along with your child.

I'm not saying it's a good idea, but it might work in your house. In our case, I put off beginning piano lessons until my daughter turned five, now a year ago. Apparently, five is the age when kids should start piano, unless they have exhibited Mozart-like tendencies to play Schubert by ear on the local baby grand. In a recent unofficial poll, 47% of people who play musical instruments started playing between the ages of four and ten.

The BBCsite has a good guide on ages to start playing different instruments based on the size of the instrument, and the lung or body strength required, in brief:

• Recorder - often recommended as a starter instrument, can be played as soon as child can get fingers over the holes
• Violin - could start at 4, but 6 is more realistic
• Wind and brass - not before second set of teeth are in
• Guitar - comes in smaller sizes and can be played as of age eight, depending on size and stretch of hands
• Singing - formal lessons not advised until teens, after voices are more developed

Ideally, in all of these cases, the child should be able to recognize numbers and know letters through G, for obvious reasons.

I found a teacher who bought into my idea of learning along with my daughter, or who at least humored me in my plan. At our first lesson, she met my daughter and me, let us plunk around on the keys, and ordered us beginner books. I did not get the one with zoo animals playing in a band, I got the more austere-looking AdultPiano Adventures. (Note: I'd recommend this book for beginners or older students getting back to the piano. It's not a 'piano for dummies' style primer, but it does teach the basics with arrangements of the type of classical and pop songs you'll likely recognize and enjoy playing).

On our second lesson, it was clear there was something wrong with my plan. My daughter banished me to the waiting area and conducted her part of the lesson in private. I was allowed five minutes at the end to show what I learned. This continued on for weeks on end, until we finally broke up our "lesson." I went on to take 45-minute bi-weekly lessons and she changed teachers for a more convenient, and private, at-school lesson. Which leads me to several things I found out about kids and learning music:

1. Wait until they are ready to learn. Unless your child appears to be a prodigy, and you're likely to see this right away, wait until at least age five to begin lessons. Some even recommend six or seven depending on the facility reading and counting.

2. At the beginning, remove any pressure to play and practice. You'll have plenty of time to spoil the love of music later when you force her or him to play four hours a day. For now, let your child play when he or she wants to. As time progresses, start with putting the child at the piano for five minutes per day and advancing from that as lessons start to take hold. Try to make music as fun as possible, and that means stopping your playing to let them in. If they want to play, let them at it.

3. Make sure your child really likes the teacher. If not, run, don't walk, to another instructor.

4. Create occasions for your child to play in front of people, with the proper warning. Our child, while not usually a performer, was relaxed playing for family when she knew and bought into the concert idea several months in advance.

5. Don't expect you'll be able to play with your child or help teach them, or you may be disappointed. I always let my daughter join me if she wants to play while I'm practicing, but I've failed miserably several times to show her how to play "her" music.

6. If possible, find easy one finger arrangements of songs your child likes. While a certain amount of instruction in the building blocks is key, there is nothing as motivating in music, to both adults and children, as playing a song that they know and love.

Introduce Your Toddler To Music

Make them dance.
Make them swing.
Make them feel they can do anything.

Yes! Music is fun for your kids and a great way for you to connect with your toddlers. Many parents observe that it's never too early for children to start learning music. Some can go in for basic formal training at age 3.

Here are some of the great things that music can do for your children:

• Experts recognize music as a positive developmental stimulus for growing children.
• Music gives children movements that lend confidence and stride to developing children.
• Music can be a learning tool too as children are more susceptible to learn their words and pictures when they are set to the rhythm of music.
• Music lessons for older toddlers are known to increase their brainpower.

Follow these few tips to help your toddler get started on music:

• Play classical music in the morning and keep it on for longer hours.
• Avoid grunge and hard metal music.
• Be spontaneous and break out into song and dance once a while.
• Start your kids off with the piano, as there is no special fingering that they need to master.
• Toddlers love reggae music and songs with a bit of narrative. Buy lots of that stuff for their listening pleasure.
• Keep music as an integral part of your child's life.

Remember also that you have a choice over what kind of music your child listens to. If you don't want to hear Barney or Raffi, don't buy their music or put on their TV shows. There is plenty of other great music, some old and some new, that your child will love.