MINDY PETERSON, NCTM

Photo by Vitolda Klein on Unsplash

The question I’ve been asked the most in 30 years of teaching piano lessons is, “When is the best age to begin lessons?” In answering this question today, we’ll discuss the five Signs of Readiness to gauge in young children, as well as some guidelines for older beginners.

Notes

I discuss:

• What I’ll be considering “piano lessons:” traditional, private piano lessons. This is the most common form of piano lessons, it’s what I’ve taught most, and it’s most commonly what people are referring to when they ask this question. Traditional piano lessons are one-on-one with the instructor and student, in person, with the student learning to read and play music. What we’re NOT talking about are group lessons or specialized methods like Suzuki. We ARE talking specifically about PIANO lessons because that is my area of expertise; however, for the most part, this information will translate to other instruments as well.
• There are five signs of readiness that I look for in determining if a young child is ready for lessons:
  1. The first one: Is the student interested in learning to play the piano?
  2. Does the child have a long-enough attention span to sit and focus and pay attention for a 30-minute lesson every week, plus practice at home each day for around 15 minutes?
  3. Is the student familiar with numbers (esp. 1-5) and letters (esp. A-G/the musical alphabet)?
  4. How developed is the child’s small-muscle coordination (are they able to write letters, numbers, write their name, use a scissors, etc?)?
  5. Is a parent willing to be involved in the process? A young child will need a parent (or grandparent or other adult) to sit with them for most or all of their at-home practice time (at least 15 min/day, 5 days/week) until they are old enough to read and follow written instructions. The adult will need monitor practice time in terms of making sure it happens, is a positive experience, and that assignments are completed.  Is a parent available and willing to do this?

• The short answer to this question: I find the sweet spot for most kids to be 1^st -2^nd At this age, they are young enough that learning the “language” of music can be very intuitive for them (and they get to reap the benefits of music training from a young age!), yet old enough to have the attention span and small-muscle control to enjoy the process without too much frustration.
• Research shows that making music in childhood benefits the brain for decades, even if you do not continue to play music.
• Ideas for kiddos who aren’t quite ready for private lessons.
• What about the middle school and high years?
• What if you are older, or really and truly “old”(!), and you have never taken part in any music making?

Connect/Other Resources

• Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World (Listen to Ep. 112 by October 28, 2021, for a chance to win a free copy of this brand new book.)
• I mention:
  • Ep. 112: How are the sounds of my life shaping my brain, and what does music have to do with it? With Dr. Nina Kraus
  • Ep. 45: Laurie Berkner describes music’s stabilizing effect for children during uncertain times, and serenades her graduating childhood fans
• Other episodes you may enjoy:
  • Ep. 104: Outsmarting Alzheimer’s – What to do now to increase your odds of successful aging and quality of life, with Kenneth Kosik, MD
  • Ep. 86: The latest research on music interventions in dementia, and two ways to get personally involved; with NIA’s Dr. Coryse St. Hillaire-Clarke
  • Ep. 60: How does music training affect children’s Social-Emotional Learning, and how is SEL affected by a pandemic? With Dr. Assal Habibi
  • Ep. 108: How is music boosting skills and learning in students in special education? With Natalie Hawkins, MT-BC
  • Ep. 106: How to Talk… when kids don’t want to practice, with authors Joanna Faber & Julie King
  • Ep. 76: What are the benefits of being an adult (even “old”!) beginner? With New York Times bestselling author Tom Vanderbilt
  • Ep. 60: How does music training affect children’s Social-Emotional Learning, and how is SEL affected by a pandemic? With Dr. Assal Habibi
  • Ep. 59: How does MUSIC learning impact OTHER learning? With Dr. Anita Collins
  • Ep. 31: “Good Music, Brighter Children: Simple and Practical Ideas to Help Transform Your Child’s Life Through the Power of Music,” with author Sharlene Habermeyer
  • Ep. 28: My CHILD is taking music lessons; what’s MY role? with Suzanne Greer
  • Ep. 6: How to Get Your Child to Practice…Without Resorting to Violence! (Author Cynthia Richards)

Closing Words

I hope this answers some questions about the best time to start music lessons. If you know of someone who may benefit from this episode, please share it with them! Just hit the Share option in your podcast app. If you don’t see it right away, tap the 3-dots icon, and that will probably make it appear.

Shoutout to the listener with the username HistoryDetective who left the 5-star Podchaser rating and review recently. Thank you so much for taking the time to do that – I really appreciate it! That is a huge support and really makes a difference in helping others find the show.

As always, all links from today’s show – and a transcript of this episode – can be found in the show notes at mpetersonmusic.com/podcast; this is Ep. 113. While you’re there, I’d love to hear from you! You can reach me on email (mindy@mpetersonmusic.com), Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn. All links are on that webpage, as well as in the episode details right in your podcast app. Thanks so much for joining me today. Until next time, may your life be enhanced with music.

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