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When is a Good Time to Start lessons?
These
guidelines will help you to have a successful, rewarding experience
learning your instrument. These are practical tips that we
have discovered from years of teaching and our experiences
with teaching hundreds of students a year.
How
young is too Young? - Starting at the right age.
Adults can start an instrument at any time. Their success
is based on how willing an adult is to commit to practicing.
We have a number of beginner students that are retired and
many that are working adults. Our teachers are available late
in the evening to accommodate work schedules.
For
children starting at the right age is a key element to the
success of the lessons. Some people will tell you ' the sooner
the better" but this attitude can sometimes backfire
and be a negative experience for the child. If they are put
into lessons too soon then they can feel overwhelmed and frustrated
and dread coming to lessons. The last thing you want to do
is turn a child off to music just because of one unpleasant
experience, which could have been prevented. Sometimes if
a child waits a year to start lessons their progress can be
much faster. Children who are older than the suggested earliest
starting age usually do very well. The following guidelines
we have found to be successful in determining how young a
child should starts taking music lessons.
3-4
Years old
If a preschooler has a keen desire and wants to start music,
a group preschool music class will give them a good foundation
in music basics, which will be helpful in later private lessons.
At this age, private lessons generally do not work as the
child has not yet experienced the formal learning environment
of kindergarten or school and learns effectively through game
oriented preschool environment.
Piano/Keyboard
At our school 5 years is the youngest age that we start children
in private piano lessons. At this age they have begun to develop
longer attention spans and can retain material with ease.
Guitar
- Acoustic, Electric and Bass
7 Years is the earliest we recommend for guitar lessons, although
we have had a few students start earlier. Guitar playing requires
a fair amount of pressure on the fingertips from pressing
on the strings. Children under 7 generally have small hands
and may find playing uncomfortable. Bass lessons generally
start a little older.
Voice
Lessons
Depending on the child we offer voice and performance lessons
to younger children 6-9 that teaches them how to use their
voices properly in a fun and relaxed environment. Ages 9 and
up can usually focus more on voice performance and proper
breathing techniques, development of the vocal chords and
lung capacity.
Drums
The average age of our youngest drum student is 8 years old,
however the ability of the student greatly varies and depends
on the size of the child. They have to be able to reach both
the pedals and the cymbals.
Flute,
Clarinet & Saxophone
Due to lung capacity (and in the case of the saxophone - the
size of the instrument), we recommend that most woodwind beginners
are 9 and older.
Violin
& Viola
We find that age 5 is a good age to start violin. However
we do have a couple of students who are 4 and some schools
will offer lessons as young as 3 years old (we do not have
a program for such a young student) but experience has shown
us the most productive learning occurs when the beginner is
5 or older.
Trumpet
The Trumpet requires physical exertion and lung power A good
age to start the trumpet would be 9 years and older.
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