When is the Right Age to Start Piano?

These days there is a big emphasis on being a genius.

A young genius.

Everything is much more amazing when young kids do it.

A five year old playing piano at Carnegie Hall? (Which, since he’s from Vancouver, lots of people are talking about him here.)

A little girl singing with Niki Minaj?

Before we all get jealous:

It could be a dream or a nightmare.

Their careers have pretty much been decided for them, for better or worse.

Let’s look at deciding on the right age to start piano.

What’s bad about starting young?

When you look at the five year old boy and his dancing fingers, you’ll know he’s put in a fair bit of practice for Carnegie Hall.

Six hours a day? Twelve? If he’s been playing for two years and he puts in ten hours a day, that’s about a fourth of his life in piano.

At age 5, that’s a huge chunk. He doesn’t have the experience in life to be able to play certain pieces properly.

To get that experience, you just have to go out and live. Knowing the right places to pause and slow down in music isn’t enough– it feels empty, like you’re mimicking something that isn’t there.

The kid doesn’t even know how to get nervous (which is kind of cute).

It’s a trade-off. You are always going to be missing out on other things when you do something.

When young kids spend hours at the piano, they are missing out on other types of growing. Like how to talk to people and make friends.

I wouldn’t be surprised if young “prodigies” grow up to be insociable recluses. When all the other kids are getting the facts of life, like how to talk to people and how to make friends and be socially acceptable, the “prodigies” are doing whatever they’re doing by themselves, in the practice room.

When you are that age, you are constantly forming and reforming things in your head. You are thinking, “Is it okay to do this?” “What will happen when I do this?”

You have to decide if it’s a good trade-off: hours of disciplined music, or discovering the world?

Starting young– how young is too young?

You might know that I am good in business and I can figure out people’s problems quickly.

One violin teacher had great credentials and she wanted to improve her business. Her income improved by 97% when she figured out one thing: her clients, the parents, wanted their kids to get into Harvard, with their music lessons. That’s it.

She restructured her marketing so it appealed to mothers who wanted their kids to get into Harvard. Business went up.

That teacher taught elementary school aged kids– whose parents have already decided on Harvard for them.

I am saying this because everyone has different goals and it is important to know what your goals are and what your students’ goals are. You will approach their teaching differently.

There isn’t a “wrong” age to teach, but look at which age group you are most comfortable teaching.

I know a studio that offers piano group classes for kids aged 2 – 3. (Are they even potty trained?) Nevertheless, it caters to a specific group of parents.

When I think of 2 year olds, I think of babies. My teaching style is “serious” as in, if you’re learning piano then you might as well do it properly. In fact, I will make sure that you are doing it as well as you can if you are with me.

I make sure my students have proper technique and it’s important to have fun. I am good at solving people’s problems and helping them play smarter. Like, one student said she learned more with me, in one session, than in the past two years.

So I couldn’t teach 2 year olds because I would be drained. We’d do the same things over and over again (which they need anyways), but I’d have to invent ten different ways of doing the same things to keep it interesting.

I’d be obsessed with making it fun and I’d be asking “Is this fun?” every five seconds because I want them to like piano intrinsically. Then I’d get stressed out because I’m not having fun doing everything ten times and designing new ways to do it.

I can already imagine my voice getting tired; with anyone younger than preschool age, there’s a natural tendency to talk in a higher voice. And they don’t understand if you talk too quickly, so you have to talk slowly and repeat everything. It would drain me. (I did try it when I started teaching.)

Finding the right age

Parents have high hopes for their kids, but forcing people to do things for hours just doesn’t work.

It is okay to start piano young. Just don’t expect hours of practice everyday.

Although I am not a parent, one of my mentors says that “parents just want to know that their kids are okay.” I think it is true.

Kids will be okay if you let them grow.

Sitting their butts down for hours on the bench will not make them into balanced people.

It does not have to be a complete trade-off. Young kids can still start music, just don’t force them to sit down for hours and hours. Play is valuable; don’t give them work so soon.

Let them experiment; like, if you give them a pot, will they start banging on it? There’s no harm in trying.

The world is still new and there’s lots to see.

Now I want to hear from you:

When did you start piano? Is it worth it to try to cultivate “child prodigies”?

Leave a comment below to join the conversation.

And as always, if you know someone who will find this useful, go ahead and send it to them.