I am often asked by parents of young children what is the best age to begin piano lessons. Well, although I have seen children as young as four start to learn to play piano it is a tall order for most so young to cope with the physical and mental demands.
I have a great deal of experience teaching a music course designed for very young children. It covers keyboard skills as well as singing and general musical awareness. At four or five 'though tiny hands and fingers find it hard to cope. By the age of six, however, most children will progress with leaning keyboard skills faster and enjoy the experience more.
Play Piano Between five and six the difference in children's hand sizes is not great but their ability to concentrate on learning to play the piano moves on considerably. Their ability to take in information and just their knowledge of such things as the letters of the alphabet (A to G) makes a huge diffence.
A lot depends 'though on the course offered and the skill of the teacher. When I teach the very little ones I encourage their parents to sit in on the lessons and help to guide their child. I can then lead from the front of the class whilst parents can help to guide their childs hands in to place on the keyboards whilst I move around the class to check that all is well.
Lessons for the very young need to be flexible and fast moving. Incorporating singing and even dancing helps to introduce musical concepts leading to learning piano without the need for great physical dexterity. Preventing piano or music lessons from becoming too intense helps in teaching adults as much as it does in teaching children. Learn Piano
When learning music you are actually asking the pupil to think in two languages at the same time, for music has a 'language' all of its own. Add to that the need to learn to physical keyboard skills of making your hands work independently and add expression and feeling to the music and you realise what a task learning to play piano is.
I therefore have all praise and admiration whenever I see a six year old, who probably has difficulty reading English, make a success of playing the piano. There are lots of children of this age who cope very well, however. It's wonderful to see a small child learning to sit comfortably at the piano and looking at ease as they play their simple but challenging pieces.
To wrap up then I would say that the age of about seven would be an ideal time to start seriously taking piano lessons. This can be preceeded 'though by a couple of years of learning to 'feel' and understand simple musical ideas such as rhythm and pitch through singing and dancing. Of course, 'though, a keen six year old with supportive parents will be far more successful than a sullen seven year old who is really only their because of parental ambition rather than their own.
Each child and each teacher is different. Don't worry too much if the first attempt of getting your child off to a musical start doesn't seem to work out. They have plenty of time and opportunity ahead of them and if the door is left open they can return to and enjoy the experience of making music when their time is right.