Tuesday, May 8, 2018 by Dawn Riggett | General

You’re never too old, and rarely too young…..

Most students are ready to start traditional piano lessons around age 5-7. Part of the reason for that typical age range has to do with muscle tone and fine motor skill development in the hands/fingers, and part of it has to do with interest and attention span.

However, some students are ready earlier than others, so here are a few questions that can help determine if a child might be ready for piano lessons.

• Has your child shown interest in the piano? If so, what does do they at a piano – is it mostly banging on the keys, or trying out 1-2 notes at a time in a controlled manner?
• How is their attention span – are they able to focus on a "fine motor skills" task (a craft, Lego, drawing, etc) for at least 10 minutes at a time?
• How is their hand strength - can he press piano keys with at least 3 different fingers on both hands?
• Does your child know the ABC, numbers up to at least 10 and understand basic maths? The basic maths helps with note values, I really do mean basic we are not a maths class!
• How do they deal with frustration? Can they calmly repeat exercises when they don’t succeed the first time or is it meltdown?

High level of parental involvement is essential for 7 and under, even if you have no musical experience. You can help your child to be successful by providing a home instrument, adding regular time at the piano and sitting with your child to assist with practise and homework.

If you have any questions on the suitably of piano lessons for your young one please get in touch with Music and me on musicandmehitchin@gmail.com.