The answer may seem banal, but it is nonetheless true: there is no age to start playing the piano. Some professional pianists started playing it as adults, even after they had retired. The keys to success are motivation and dedication, whether we started with five or fifty years.
Is there a minimum age to start playing the piano? There is no definitive answer to this. Some children start playing it at 3 and 4 years old. Most of the great music composers started very early. In general, it is estimated that starting before the age of three and a half is not very effective: the child is still too young to embark on learning something as complicated as playing the piano.
Piano lessons for children are very different from those for teenagers and adults. These are introductory classes to music and rhythmic sensations. The most important thing in this learning process is that the children enjoy themselves: the activities carried out in these classes must be playful.
The child will lose all interest if, from the beginning, you force him to learn fragments of songs: he will not pay attention to what you say and will refuse piano lessons. If he sees it as an obligation instead of fun, all you will do is make him hate it and have no motivation to continue. A good place to start is to search online for suitable beginner piano books for kids. This will act as an anchor in your child’s learning and something they can come back to and follow. It will help them improve, and when the child realizes that their playing is getting better, they will likely stick with it and continue.
Dare to take piano courses Like any adult, a child is interested in what motivates him. Without something to stimulate his curiosity, you won’t be able to progress him in any way.
You have to find activities, games and things that they like and understand. Playful is not synonymous with useless, on the contrary! Through fun activities, the child can develop his ear, a great sensitivity towards music and a relationship with the piano that will be very useful in the future.
Progress will be slow at first, but the main thing is to develop in the child a taste for music. A good tip to encourage your children is to present them with the activity as a reward: “If you behave well, I’ll sign you up for piano lessons”. It is necessary for the child to value the opportunity that her parents are offering him, that he thinks he is lucky to be able to learn to play the piano.
Now that we know that learning to play the piano before the age of 6 is perfectly possible, here are some tips that will help you motivate your children:
Encourage them and congratulate them often on their progress, even if it is slow and not great.
Choose a patient tutor who knows how to adapt to the child’s age and who has a good sense of humor. The more playful the classes are, the more willing the child will be to learn the more laborious and complicated aspects of playing the piano.
Choose a method adapted to young children; that is, an easy, playful one, with colors, drawings, little stories and tales, musical games, etc. You can also choose it with your children: give them a choice between several possibilities and accompany them to a musical instrument store.
