Best age to start and what instrument

clint_silver

Ive a 5 and a 4 yr old and want them to start an instrument. thoughts on what instrument? piano and viola seem to be the main suggestions from speaking with friends but am open to others.

what format, should a tutor know how to teach kids that young? The whole attention span thingy is a worry. the 5 yr old might sit through 30 minutes max but not a hope of getting that far with the 4 yr old so it would have to be fun.

Doshea3

I'm a piano teacher and I generally avoid taking on students younger than 6 or 7 years old. However, with the right support from parents and the right teacher there's no reason why a child cannot begin at 4 or 5, though I would advise perhaps introducing music through something like a pre-instrumental course (though your children may be already too old to begin these courses).

Piano works well for most children and even if they don't take to the instrument well at this stage a good teacher will be able to teach them singing and aural skills alongside some piano. This should sort the attention span problem. Also, some teachers will prefer to initially give 20-minute lessons which involve no actual instrumental tuition but instead focus on ear training and rudiments of notation. Ask the teacher a few questions about their approach to teaching children of this age—you'll get a good idea of whether they're suitable or not from how knowledgeable they sound on the subject. (Though don't be turned off by a seemingly knowledgeable teacher who has no experience of teaching this age group.)

Violin is a good instrument to start kids of 4-5 on as they can usually negotiate a miniature violin much easier than a piano keyboard. I wouldn't advise viola as teachers are few and far between and most of the skills for the viola need to be learned on violin first and transferred (it would be a bit like having a child learn the organ before even starting piano).

There's always the recorder, which is a great instrument when taught well, and can also lead into learning woodwind instruments like flute/clarinet/saxophone.

clint_silver

thank you so much for your reply. much appreciated.

renjosh2

IF you want to start them on violin, you can't really go far wrong with the suzuki method which is specifically tailored to starting kids young, keeping them engaged and developing their ear.

tootyflutty

I began playing piano at the age of 4, and I'm glad I didn't take up anything else instead of it. It gives such a great basis for learning all music and will allow them to take up another instrument earier in time.
Beacuse of the years I spent playing piano, I was able to take up the flute and complete all grades in 4 years aswell as recently taking up the cello without any major problems, and all of the basics and theory behind me.