Music lessons - what instrument and what age did you begin? - Page 2

[Alison's Mom]

I started private piano lessons at almost 5 because my older brother was taking lessons and desparately wanted to. Because I was the type of kid who could sit still and listen to directions, my parents were OK with it.

It was fun at first, but while I had a great memory, I wasn't keen on practising, so would commit songs to memory while still playing them 'wrong', with wrong fingering, a couple of wrong notes, etc. I did pretty well all things considered, but the lack of interest in practising caught up to me, and quit at age 14 (rebellious years), restarted at age 17 to finish my grade 10 (Royal Conservatory of Music at U of Toronto) and then quit again.

All that said, DD's school has a great after school piano lesson program, with inexpensive private lessons, and she was eager to learn, so we put her in last Oct at almost 5, and then bought a second hand piano for Christmas. It's gone pretty well and she has learned quickly.

Some instruments are harder to learn, but some of the more basic instruments are good for preschoolers provided they are interested. The personality of the child also has a lot to do with whether they can sit still and pay attention. Also, the teacher has a huge impact. Some teachers are used to teaching really small kids, and make it really fun. Other teachers are very serious and better suited to teaching older children or adults (I had one like that, and quite disliked my lessons).

[Surfacing]

[sunnmama]

Dd started guitar lessons this year, at age 9. She wanted a guitar last year (age 8), and we talked about committing to lessons and practice...and she decided to wait a year This year, she was truly ready.

She's been taking lessons for about 6 months, and has "come into" the instrument on her own. She practices because she likes to mess around with her guitar, goes beyond the lessons and creates her own "songs", and even uses her guitar to calm herself when she's stressed. It's been a great experience for her. I'm not sure it would have been such a great experience for her at a younger age.

[Mama Shifra]

My middle daughter started school in kindergarten and found out that many of her classmates were taking instrument lessons. One girl was taking both piano and guitar, and for some reason, my daughter latched onto the guitar! After a year of asking for lessons, she started playing guitar in the middle of first grade. She has played it ever since (she just started fourth). Ironically, the girl who inspired her to learn guitar no longer plays it!

We could not afford private lessons at the time so we found group lessons from a woman who was using the Childbloom Guitar Program. If you have an instructor in your area using it, they have group lessons from the age of 5.

However, I do understand that many young children cannot handle cords at this age; Childbloom is a classical guitar program that works on playing one note at a time, with learning to read notes delayed until the children get the technique of playing the guitar down pat (somewhat like Suzuki).

As for which guitar she uses, we have been very happy with her 3/4 size Yamaha JR-1. Whatever you do, get a name brand guitar! But with a very young child, you may need a 1/4 size or 1/2 size guitar.

[SubliminalDarkness]

I find all of this very interesting!

We're waiting to put DS1 in lessons. He is very VERY much like I was. I didn't start piano until I was 12, primarily because before that my family couldn't afford it. And for me, it worked out really well. I caught on really, really fast and caught up with most of my peers within about two years.

With DS1, we're shooting for around 10. I think he would be easily frustrated if he wanted to master something and wasn't yet at a point to be able to do it.

[JayGee]

DS started violin at 8. DD will start piano this week and she is 6. I started piano at 6 and switched to flute when I was about 12.

[minkajane]

DS is 5.5 and I definitely don't think he'd be ready, especially in a group situation. We tried right after he turned 5 to put him in a Tae Kwon Do class, but it was a total disaster. He didn't want to practice punches or do pushups, he wanted to fight like a ninja or dance with the other kids.

If we can afford it, we may try guitar classes after he turns 6. Definitely one-on-one, at least at first, because he'd goof off in a group situation and get bored. He loves music so I think he'd enjoy it, but I also think he'd hate boring practicing like scales, so who knows. I really want him to be in band like I was when he gets older, so I'm thinking about when to start him on something like trumpet (what I played) or clarinet (what his dad played) so he could get help outside his lessons. Maybe 8 or 9? That's about the age I learned to read music.

[DaughterOfKali]

We started with violin and that did not go well. It was ds's idea. He wanted to learn violin for years but it was just too hard (he started at 5).

Now he takes piano. Ds doesn't like traditional sing songy kids music so we use either pop, classical, or folk songs. His lessons are taught by a Music Therapist so she incorporates some of that when working with my son.

[sleepingbeauty]

Started singing at 5 but I found my true love at 8 when I started playing the violin.

[A&A]

He's a little young for guitar. My ds started at 7 (almost 8.) That is the age most of the teachers around here recommend. (And he has been obsessed with guitar forever, too. I just bought him a "play" guitar at a younger age.)