When to Hold Off on Piano Lessons
What! A post on when not to take piano lessons? If you been following me for a while you know that I think that music education is the best thing ever for people! Especially in piano education. There are hundreds of reasons to take up the piano, it’s awesome! Ninety-eight percent of students start piano and do just fine, however, there are times when I recommend that parents hold off on piano lessons.
I generally love to start piano lessons with kids at age 4. This may seem young, but there are so many advantages to starting the piano as early as possible. There are so very many things that preschoolers can learn about the piano and about music. Most of the time it works out great. Occasionally a child will come into my studio who just isn’t quite ready to begin lessons. I expect my littlest student to be wiggly, shy, talkative, and generally “all over the place”. I can work with that. However, if a child is crying and really unhappy after 2 or 3 lessons I recommend that parents hold off on piano lessons for 6 months or so. During this time I recommend, they do lots of listening to great music and try a music and movement group class. These classes are fun for kids and the music and dancing develop their inner ear and their sense of rhythm.