Enrolling Your Child in Music Lessons

When I was at the tender of age of four, I can remember my dad sitting me down and telling me that I was ready to start music lessons. I was thrilled! He told me I could choose any instrument I wanted. This excited me even further. I can't remember if he listed some options, like clarinet, trumpet, vocals, flute, violin....etc. However, I clearly remember being absolutely certain of what instrument I wanted to learn. I chose piano. I began lessons, and continued for about 13 years. I still play today, and I have also picked up guitar, violin, and vocals along the way. I am so thankful that I was introduced to music at such a young age.

Now, I suppose I was at somewhat of an advantage, as far as having a parent so enthusiastic and willing to start me off. My dad has been a guitar teacher and lover of all kinds of music for my entire life. Some may think that the age of four is a little young to start music lessons. In some cases, this may be true. It really depends on the child.

Here are a couple things to look for when determining if your child is ready to start music lessons.

Attention Span
How long can your child sit still and focus on one thing? Will your child be able to listen to some instructions from a teacher and follow them? If your child can sit down and do a craft, such as cutting out a shape, coloring it, and gluing pieces of felt to it, he/she probably has enough focus for a lesson.

Interest in Music
If your child enjoys dancing when he/she hears music, that is a really good sign! Also, if your child enjoys singing songs with you, or even doing actions with songs (such as for "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"), your child may be well on their way to becoming a musician.

If your child fits these two descriptions, then I say give some lessons a try. There are so many benefits to starting lessons early, and sticking with them. Let me name a few.

Young brains are sponges! Never is anyone so able to learn than when they are young children. It's amazing how quickly a child can pick up something new, whether it's a language, learning to read, or memorizing the Star Spangled Banner. Allowing your child to start lessons young is giving music the opportunity to become a part of who they are. With music there in their formative years, it will never leave them.

Consistency. If a child is asked to practice their lesson each day (or even just a few days each week) this will help them to develop a sense of structure and habit. I'm not talking about practicing for hours on end. Even 5 minutes a day can be enough.

Confidence. With a good teacher, children will start out slow in their lessons, and see some basic accomplishments right away. They will have something to be proud of, and will become more and more confident in their abilities as the continue.

Appreciation. Music will become part of their everyday lives. It will be like a second nature. They will appreciate music and most likely other art forms as they become adults.

Self-discipline. This is an essential skill for anyone to learn. The earlier a child is able to exercise self-discipline, the better. As a child takes music lessons, the will quickly learn that if they don't practice consistently, they won't be able to perform as well as they would like. Hopefully, this will motivate them to discipline themselves to practice.

It's fun! Let's not forget that music is incredibly enjoyable. It is such a gift to be able to create your own entertainment whenever you want. With the right teacher, the lessons can be very fun too. I definitely have some wonderful memories of my piano lessons.

I am now teaching piano to a few young students myself. My youngest student started lessons when she was five years old, and has been taking lessons for about a year now. She is doing wonderfully and really enjoying her lessons and new abilities in playing her piano. She feels confident about herself and proud of what she can do. She even insisted on playing a song at her kindergarten graduation!