I think this has been covered before on here but worth asking anyway. I just had a call from someone local asking about piano lessons, and when I asked how old the child was they said 'just turned 4'. As I have next to no clue how children this young are taught, I turned this down on the spot, but it left me thinking how young most teachers are prepared to start people. Apart from teaching in school, teaching no younger than the second term in primary 5 (age 8-9), I have only had four pupils - a lovely lady probably in her 30s, two 12 year old girls, and my mum in her 50s. As a general rule I would only take kids around 8 or 9 for piano, and same for woodwind if they are tall enough.

What do others consider the earliest they are happy to teach piano?

It used to be 8 for me, but at school I've had to take pupils as young as 6, which I'm now pretty happy with....(that's primary 3) but I wouldn't take any lower. There are teachers who teach much younger pupils and who are probably extremely good but I don't personally cope with teaching them at that age and the few I have taught younger than 6 were all bad experiences which I really didn't enjoy......

I have taken recorder pupils at three, almost four and they are fine, although a lot of the lessons are spent on games and fun stuff. Piano pupils need to be strong enough and big enough to actually manage to play the instrument and I find that not many can before the age of five and a half. If they begin using keyboards with three-quarter sized keys though they can begin at four. I have two that do this at the moment. We do snging and other music games too but they are doing well. If children can begin on smaller sized instruments it makes things so much easier. Why are there not more three quarter sized pianos around?

I prefer 8, though I have taken the odd keen 7 year old. I like them to be able to pick up the basics fairly quickly rather than having to faff about with games and stuff and drip feed it to them. I know starting younger can be effective but it just isn't the way I like to do it.

The youngest I have ever taught is 4 on the piano. Both kids were original from my preschool music classes, they are now 6 and have sat grade 1 piano with distinction but I wouldn't recommend it unless you know they can really cope!! I regularly take 6 year olds and the old 5 year old depending on individual circumstances.......

I'm currently teaching a child at school who is in reception, he's quite bright and is coming on nicely, it really depends what the parents expectations are for them at that age too!

I'm quite comfortable teaching infants but I know alot of people who aren't.

My piano teacher teaches pupils when they can read. I think this is incredibly sensible! Her policy is that if they can read books, they can read music, and she'll teach them.

Of course, it has the secondary benefit that if they are three and reading, they're bright enough to learn piano; whereas if they're eight and not reading, they might be hard to teach. But in general it seems a sensibly policy.

I find that seven is a good age. I've had them younger, but they take a lot longer to learn. It's certainly much better if they can read when they start.

Personally I find younger kids end up at the same level when they hit 10 or 11 anyway...but that's probably because I am not a specialist at teaching piano to kids that small.

I would have thought most kids younger than that would lack the concentration skills?

The association I work for enrols children for our nursery class from the age of four and we do the usual pre-school musical activities. It gives me a chance to pick up those who might like to learn the piano later – and later often means the next year. It all depends on the numbers enrolled and the timetable.
As an initially infant school trained teacher I don’t mind the tinies. I find the beginnings of learning fascinating. This year my nursery class consists of four little girls aged from four to five. Having seen the “big piano” two of them started turning up with small “toy” keyboards. Using these, they can now recognise the pattern of black keys and know the names of and can find the 7 white keys. They are learning a simple song on xylophones and play this at home on their toy pianos. Two are showing interest in learning to play the piano.

Last year I had four boys in the nursery class, two of whom asked to do piano this year. I took them on in a 30 minute shared lesson. I have often found that 5 to 6 year olds work well in pairs. The two boys are now five and a half and six and have progressed quite nicely through Edna Mae Burnham’s “Ministeps to Music " book 1, which they will probably finish by the end of the school year.

One of our problems here is that often if you don’t take them young you don’t get them at all. It can be a long haul and I know that it sometimes seems silly to spend a lot of time with young children getting to where an older child will get in a relatively short time. I think it’s very individual – and it would probably be counterproductive for teachers who don’t like this age group to do it. Actually I feel much the same about teaching adults as carol*piano feels about the under eights.

My view is that there are certain skills you need before you can learn to play the piano. Put simply, a child should not be learning the piano until that child has those skills: Concentration, a certain amount of hand-brain-eye co-ordination, control of their fingers and some basic communication skills would do for starters. While you're waiting for the mental equimpment to arrive you can probably accelerate its development by doing non keyboard related music skills - clap in time to the music, sing along with you, alone, in harmony etc. I wouldn't put an age on it: Mozart was giving concerts by the time he was 6. On the one hand, poor little hot-housed sod! On the other hand, it proves a 6 year old can.

I love teaching young ones! I've had students who started at 4 ( but were nearly 5) and a few of them have done really well. I think it must depend on the individual child. Some 4 and 5 year olds are able to concentrate and take in what they're being taught and others just can't. When I'm approached by parents of very young children, I always suggest trying a few lessons to see what happens - it usually becomes fairly obvious if they're going to manage. But of course the lessons for such young children have to be carefully planned and need to include lots of fun ways of working!

My criteria are this: can they bridge 5 notes comfortably?
Can they sit in a lesson fo 30 minutes
Do they have the aptitude to practice for 5 mins a day.

If the answer to all three of those questions is yes, then I'm prepared to take them on whether they are 4 or 104!

Its not a question of age, but a question of aptiude and attitude, some kids are ready earlier than others.

It also depends on parental involvement. A four, five, or six year old can't be expected to remember everything, and probably can't read the instructions in their notebook. A week is a long time in a child's life.

If the parent is involved, takes on board what is being taught, and at least supervises the practice, then there is no reason why an able young child shouldn't make progress.

However, it is true that by starting later they can often progress faster, and I point this out to parents - they may be spending a lot of money for very slow progress.

That's true, but I started a 10 year old beginner and a 6 year old beginner at the same time and the six year old is far further ahead. 10 year old frustrates me with lack of progress at times.

Yes, you're absolutely right. I was thinking generally, there will always be individual children who won't fit the general pattern.

If you really know what you're doing you can start them at 2 or 3. Suzuki-trained teachers take their pupils from the youngest possible ages but the mother learns alongside them and it's a very carefully controlled process.

The advantage of learning from a very young age is that with the right aptitude and nurturing you can end up an extremely adept player at a very young age. If you examine the careers of most of the high-flying musicians you'll find they often started at 3 or 4 so there's obviously a connection.

This is why my three criteria apply. Incidentely with my kids, because the piano has always been an object they can touch, at least they want to learn. Matti ( my elder one does not have the aptitude to regularly practice unless I crack the whip, Alexander my little one now wants to learn. Right I need another copy of me and my piano and lets get on with it. He's got the right sort of attitude, he's rather determined and tends not to be defeatest.

Incidentely, I deliberately get siblings to use different books so they can't brag about how quickly it took them to get to page 7 when the other one is struggling.

I often think people write-off young children. There is a lot that can be done with them to nurture their abilities. Just remember learning come from play, so make it fun.

I was put off teaching very young children several years ago by a 6 year old boy whose concentration was not good. This prompted me to have an age limit of about 7 upwards. Since then however, I've taught lots of 5 to 6 year olds at the school I work at and have found it depends on the individual child. All my current lot are great and I love teaching them. They only have twenty minutes each though as their concentration wanders if its longer.

I have a 7 year old and an 8 year old student and find them really responsive, however, I have others that age who are definately a challenge. They clearly do not practice enough.
I agree with the earlier comment that the parents have to be supportive though, and this is often reflected in the students progress. I have older students who quite frankly drive me up the wall with their lack of practice and indifference (i have inherited these pupils from their former teacher) and have a lot of work to do with working up their enthusiasm.
I would be reluctant to formerly teach younger than this but only because of my own inexperience in this area.
Having said that, my son has been interested in the piano since he was 4 which I have encouraged this by buying a kiddies book. I have just gone with it when he is in the mood and he can now identify the notes on the keyboard quite easily now ( ) He has just started showing interest in the trumpet which I again encourage when He is in the mood. He will have quick go on it and within 1 week can play (although not good tone) 3 notes which he knows the name of. Im sure a good teacher they would be able to nuture this and get the most out of him, but I am reluctant to push him. - he is only 5 now!

I've had 8 and 9 year olds who struggled, and 5 year olds who surprise me with their progress.

In other words - there is no ideal age. I used to reckon 6-7 was plenty young enough, but I've taken on quite a few 5s and nearly 6-es in the past year, and in general they are doing fine. It's important to feel comfortable with the age you are teaching, and to understand something of child development and what is appropriate - also to have a range of books and approaches that you can adapt if necessary as you go along.

I start with a kind of informal foundation course, not using a book straight away, and on the understanding that if the child doesn't seem ready for one-to-one lessons we then agree to leave it for a term or so and re-start later. Interestingly, the parent and I usually find we are in agreement over this after a few weeks. It's vital to make it clear from the outset that this is the basis the child starts on, but if you adopt this approach, you can be flexible regarding precise age and see how each child gets on.

In the past few months I have had one 4 year old and one 5 year old who tried and are postponing lessons for a while: on the other hand I've started 6 other children of 5 and 6 who are all doing well.

Usually is 6, but I also take in 4 years old if they are able to read and count and able to sit for 30mins. Actually there're many things we can do for age 4-6 although their concentration span is short. Besides playing the piano, we can do clapping the rhythm, singing the solfege, train their hearing, intervals etc....and 30mins passed very fast!

Their hearing is very good at the age before 6, so it's really a good time train them so that they have no problems when it comes to aural test in practical exam.

My piano teacher usually has 7 as her minimum age, but I got to have lessons with her when I was 5 because I was (and still am) tall for my age, so had big enough hands to play. She also said I had good concentration...

I often start 5 year olds in a couple of my schools & most cope well. I don't usually find concentration is a problem, although some struggle with right & left quite a lot. Some 5 year olds do very well, but some take quite a while to get anywhere & get on much faster in their 2nd year.

It depends so much on the child, but I would find 4 a bit young in most cases. It depends on the methods you use, of course - Suzuki teachers are good with very young children. I use the Music Tree books with young children, which usually work very well.

[quote name='salrec' date='Apr 30 2007, 11:44 AM' post='504912']
Yes, you're absolutely right. I was thinking generally, there will always be individual children who won't fit the general pattern.
(/quote)

I think my 5-year-old daughter is a child that doesn’t fit into the general pattern.
She started her piano lesson a year ago, she has just turned 4 at the time and from day one her teacher taught her the same way as the older children. The only difference was her lessons were shorter.

I tried to get her into a routine where she would practice 10 minutes in the morning before she goes to school and 20 minutes in the evening. In the weekends she can play whatever she wants on the piano.
The routine seems to work well and she really enjoys her music.
To cut a long story short, my daughter has just passed her G1 with a distinction, scoring 18/18 for aural and distinction pass for all three pieces. Her teacher isn’t interested in producing exam machines, but she really felt my daughter was more than ready and we both agreed we shouldn’t hold her back just because of her age.
I think by being a non-musical mum has actually helped because I set no expectation or limitation for my daughter and we are very lucky to have found a teacher with the same attitude. I think if a young child really wants to learn, it might be worthwhile to give them a trial lesson to see how they cope

Wow!
Many congratulations - you must be so proud!
I've never put anyone so young in for an exam - I tend to think that 7 is quite young for Grade 1.
I'd be interested to see a breakdown of her marks.

Many congratulations - you must be so proud!
I've never put anyone so young in for an exam - I tend to think that 7 is quite young for Grade 1.
I'd be interested to see a breakdown of her marks.
[/quote]

Thanks Jenny, I am very proud of her, what I’m most proud of is her love for music.
She adores musicals especially the Phantom of the Opera, Cats and her latest favourite is High School Musical. We always try to take her to see a show in the West End during half term and she just adores the theatre. She has even started to compose her own music and said one day she wants to be as good as Andrew Lloyd Webber:)

As for her G1 exam, she got 27,27,28 for the three pieces, 19 for scales, 18 for aural and 16 for sight reading.

Her sight reading is usually very good, she can play a piece of G1 music from sight reading without practice, so I am not sure why she was scored so low, there wasn’t anything negative in the examiner’s comment. Anyway I guess the marks all balance out in the end because she did better in her aural than we expected.

That's just so impressive. I'd love to hear how she does in the future.
My own daughter (now 23) was also a huge musicals fan, and decided at 10 she was going to be a singer! We were delighted at the thought of having a singer in the family! We're both musicians and have two older children (both boys) who had also decided on musical careers. Our daughter is now in her final term at Dartington.
All the very best to you both.