How Young Is Too Young? (Music Lessons For Kids)

This is a question I hear a lot. "My child is X years old, is that too young to start?"

Or, "S/he doesn't like kids I guess" (because a teacher has refused a student due to age).

Though most teachers (myself included) have some sort of a basic policy about students' ages, that doesn't mean there's any kind of a hard-and-fast rule that everyone agrees on. The fact is that all kids develop differently and at different rates - physically, intellectually, and emotionally.

Here are some of the questions that may go into deciding whether a child is "too young" to start lessons:


PHYSICAL:

How's their hand-eye coordination? Are their fine motor skills adequate for the chosen instrument?

Are their hands big enough? Will their feet reach the pedals on a piano? Can their arm reach all seven positions on a trombone slide?

Do they have the muscle strength needed for a bowed string instrument like violin or cello?

How about the lung capacity for a wind instrument?

And if it's a brass instrument (for which some pressure on the lips is needed to make a proper seal with the mouthpiece), have all of their permanent teeth finished coming in? (And maybe also consider whether they're slated for braces soon - ouch!)


INTELLECTUAL:

What's their attention span like? Can they stay focused one one thing for the full length of a lesson?

Where are their abstract thinking skills at? Some aspects of music require math - for instance, the ability to think about lengths of time, and halves and quarters of lengths of time.

What's their reading level? Can I write down reminders about things we went over, or a practice plan for the week, and know that the student will understand it? Or will instructions have to go through a parent or other adult (who would then need to be present for each lesson in order to understand them)?

How's their memory - short term and long term? Learning an instrument depends on making regular incremental progress from week to week; if every lesson is like starting all over again, learning is stalled right out of the gate.


EMOTIONAL:

How are they at doing quiet things - sitting and working with their hands and mind, like reading or crafts - for any length of time?

How do they deal with the experience of trying and failing? With confusion or embarrassment? With being the focus of the undivided attention of an unrelated adult for 30 minutes straight?

And perhaps most importantly - do they want to learn the instrument? Does it motivate them? (Not all kids who like to twiddle on the piano are actually interested in learning to play "real" songs on it!)


These are just some of the things that go into deciding whether it's the right time to start a child on music lessons. I'm sure other teachers could add more... and I'm sure I'll think of something that I forgot as soon as I hit the "Publish" button. ;) But it's a good start at explaining how this decision process works.

If you're thinking about music lessons for your child, that's great! It can be a wonderful growing experience - and there's research out there that shows many benefits for kids who study music. Let's just make sure it's going to be a good experience rather than a frustrating one for everyone involved - including the child!