5 Ways to Tell if Your Child is Ready for Piano Lessons

For parents that want to start their child’s musical journey early, the question is always “When?” Now, every child is different, so there is no universal answer. A child can be ready for private music lessons as young as three and a half, or as old as eight. The best judge, of course, is the parent, but if you are unsure, here are five ways to tell if your child is ready for piano lessons

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1. They know their right hand from their left

Knowing your right from your left is crucial in piano, so they should be able to hold up the correct hand when asked: “Show me your right/left hand”.

2. They can count to 10 forwards and backwards

This is important because we begin with assigning each finger a different number, so they should have an understanding of numbers. For example, when asked to hold up two fingers they hold up the correct amount of digits. They will need to be able to answer questions such as “What comes after 4?” or “What comes before 3?” It will also be beneficial if they know how to write their Arabic numerals (ex. 1, 2, 3) as well.

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3. They know their alphabet

This is more than just singing the song; they need to be able to answer the question “What comes after C?” even if they sing the song to get to their answer. Each note in music is assigned a letter name from A to G and repeats with A again, so they will need to understand that just like the alphabet, the note B comes after the note A. It is also helpful if they know how to write the alphabet and their name.

4. They can discern between a group two and a group of three

When beginning piano at a young age, they will learn to play on the group of two black keys and the group of three black keys so they will need to be able to discern between the two.​

5. They understand “up” from “down”

In music, the notes move up or down, and the high sounds are “up” the right side of the piano and the low sounds are “down” the left side of the piano.

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​If you are still unsure, you can always have a trial lesson with a teacher experienced with young children and then decide to wait another six months to start regular lessons. It is also helpful to have a piano in the house so they can begin to explore how the keys feel and the sounds they make before they start lessons, and hopefully to spark their interest! Children will take to private lessons better if they have experienced a classroom before, whether it be preschool, group lessons or kindergarten. If you want to immerse your child in music before private lessons, then group music classes for preschool-aged children serve as excellent introductions to music as well.