Is my child too young for piano lessons?
/Many people contact us asking if their child too young for piano lessons. The truth is, children can start to learn music from a very young age, as long as the classes are adapted to their level.
Research has shown that very young children recognise and respond to music. When pre-speech children listen to music they have been observed to smile and move in time to it. When the children went out of time they stopped smiling. This shows an intriguing understanding and enjoyment of rhythm and timing.
Even from pre-birth we are aware of our mother's heartbeat and footsteps. People generally find 3/4 rhythms (like a waltz) more difficult to pick up because of this. People tend to put in a phantom fourth beat to represent the other “foot”, so to speak.
Teaching a very young child is about keeping it fun and accessible at their level. There is no point in trying to get a 1-year-old to read music straight away. You need to break up the core elements of music and teach them separately.
Core Elements
Rhythm, pitch and emotional expression
Every child develops at a different speed but in a very young child, there are certain skills needed for music-making that are yet to develop. We would develop these using fun activities and games, which would encourage a fast uptake of music. The lesson would be split up into maybe 6 different activities, all aiming to work on these elements. The majority of it would be non-instrumental.
The activities would enhance areas such as:
Pattern recognition
Note recognition (on the piano)
Pitch awareness
Rhythm awareness
Musical expression
Kevin Matthews