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

24/1/2018

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

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.

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.

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Rachel Explores!

11/10/2017

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Photo credit: Laura Shiffer

Hi! My name is Rachel and I recently graduated at the top of my class from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Music. I am now living in London and have started my music lesson studio Rachel Loerts Music. I am a classically trained mezzo-soprano as well as a pop, rock, and jazz vocalist.
In addition to, and because of my love for music, I have a love for languages. I received a minor in Italian language studies while at university, and since then decided to continue studying languages. As a classical vocalist I have to sing in not only English, but French, Italian, and German. While these are the most common languages, they are only a few of many!

This summer I had the fantastic opportunity to travel to the University of Moncton in New Brunswick for the Explore program. This program is funded by the Government of Canada and enables you to study French for five weeks in a Canadian province in a Francophone environment--no matter what your level of French knowledge is. We stayed in a residence hall at the University of Moncton and after taking a placement test, were placed in five different levels of intensive French classes. There was a strict “French only” rule enforced by our teachers and the bilingual program leaders. We had 18.75 hours of class and 5.25 hours of workshops each week, not including all the social activities they planned for us and not to mention studying! It was a busy five weeks, but I improved my limited knowledge of French more than I could ever have imagined. I was placed in Niveau (Level) 2 to my surprise, and while it was challenging, the hard work certainly paid off.

In addition to copious amounts of studying, we got to explore New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada with day trips. We got to walk on the ocean floor at Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy where the highest tide in the world is, eat lobster aboard a boat on the Bay of Fundy, climb through trees at Tree-Go, and see the Confederation Museum in Charlottetown, visit the Anne of Green Gables house, and visit the beach on Prince Edward Island. Other activities included the many different cultural events happening in Moncton every week including the Canada 150 celebration on July 1st! I had a great time in Moncton and made a lifelong best friend, but it was very nice to come home to my boyfriend Rob, my cat BMO, and my own bed!
Next summer I’m planning on continuing my language studies with courses on German, and after that I want to learn Spanish! One is never finished learning with languages--and music.

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

1. They know their right hand from their left

2. They can count to 10 forwards and backwards

3. They know their alphabet

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

5. They understand “up” from “down”

More information

Rachel Explores!

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