This time of year I often get asked, “At what age should I start my child in music lessons?” The answer is not an easy one as each child develops at their own pace. For children, starting music at the right age is a key element to the success of their lessons. Some people will tell you, “the sooner, the better”, but if children are put into lessons too soon they may feel overwhelmed and want to stop music altogether.
The last thing you want to do is turn off a child to music due to an unpleasant first experience. Sometimes, if the child waits a year to start lessons their progress will be much faster. The following are guidelines that we have found to be successful in determining at what age each instrument is appropriate to start on. Keep in mind that these are just “guidelines” and by no means a definitive resource as to what the right age is – ultimately that is up to each individual child:
Piano/Keyboard – We recommend most kids start piano no earlier than the age of five. We do have a few students under that age, but at this age they have begun to develop longer attention spans and can retain material with ease. At five years of age they also possess the hand size required for the keyboard.
Guitar – The earliest age we recommend for guitar is seven. Guitar playing requires a fair amount of pressure on the fingertips from pressing on the strings. Children under seven generally have small hands and may find playing uncomfortable. For students under the age of seven we often recommend starting on Ukulele as it’s smaller and easier to play for kids of that age
Voice/Singing – Voice lessons are unusual in that they are the only instrument that requires no outside equipment – just the ability to sing! Because of this we generally recommend students start no earlier than seven as younger students may not have developed the vocal chords and lung capacity yet.
Drums – In general we start kids on drums at the age of six and above. This varies greatly depending on the size of the child as they have to be able to reach both the pedals and the cymbals.
Violin – We accept violin students as young as the age of four as there are specific methods and instruments that will accommodate children of this size and age.
Woodwinds (Flute, Saxophone) – Due to lung capacity we recommend most woodwind beginners are eight or older.
If these guidelines are followed your child should have a much more rewarding and enjoyable experience studying music for years to come.
West Coast Music Academy is located next to Bicycle John’s and across from Fun ‘n Fit Gymnastics. For more information or to schedule a lesson, please call 661-253-9262.