Private Piano Lessons for 2-3 y/olds (and/or Reality Check)

[Anonymous]

Hi all, at the risk of sounding obnoxious, our 2.75 year old seems fairly musically inclined. We see him concentrating and mimicking/playing melodies on his mini piano, drum, flute, etc. We take him to group "music" classes, which he enjoys, but it feels like he is ready for something more engaging/serious. I played piano myself for many years and it was something that I really enjoyed doing- I could see him enjoying it too (plus something potentially fun for both of us to enjoy together in the future).

In short: 1) is anyone aware of and/or would recommend piano lessons for 2-3 year olds?; 2) do I need to calm down and just wait till he's 4 (I see a lot of lessons offered at this age)?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[Anonymous]

We have a very serious piano teacher and he only accepts students starting at age 6.


Let him play around until then.

[Anonymous]

Our youngest started at 3.5, but could’ve gone earlier. It’s really about attention span. The teacher started her with 15 minute lessons and graduated to 30 minutes quickly once she realized she could handle it. It’s really kid by kid. The 5 year old before her struggled with the 15 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our youngest started at 3.5, but could’ve gone earlier. It’s really about attention span. The teacher started her with 15 minute lessons and graduated to 30 minutes quickly once she realized she could handle it. It’s really kid by kid. The 5 year old before her struggled with the 15 minutes.

Do you mind sharing how you found a piano teacher that took on toddlers? Just ask regular piano teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our youngest started at 3.5, but could’ve gone earlier. It’s really about attention span. The teacher started her with 15 minute lessons and graduated to 30 minutes quickly once she realized she could handle it. It’s really kid by kid. The 5 year old before her struggled with the 15 minutes.

Do you mind sharing how you found a piano teacher that took on toddlers? Just ask regular piano teachers?

NP but look for Suzuki method piano instructors. Suzuki kids start very young (age 3ish). I attempted to have my 6.5 year old start Suzuki and was told he was too old- we needed to find a traditional teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our youngest started at 3.5, but could’ve gone earlier. It’s really about attention span. The teacher started her with 15 minute lessons and graduated to 30 minutes quickly once she realized she could handle it. It’s really kid by kid. The 5 year old before her struggled with the 15 minutes.

Similar experience. Though, I think it's more than focus. Being able to follow instructions and having a good memory helps.

[Anonymous]

For classes, try Music Together classes to introduce rhythm and tone in a fun and age appropriate way.

If you play at home, just play for your toddler and let them sit on your lap. Encourage them to try making up their own songs. Ask them to play songs with various themes, likey happy, sad, angry or sleepy.

At 4 yo you can try playing a little song and encourage them to play it back, e.g., "Baa baa black sheep" then add "have you" then add "any wool," etc. Keep having them make up their own songs too. Practice clapping rhythms too or clapping and stomping to songs they like.

Introduce formal piano at 5-7 yo.

[Anonymous]

Is he potty trained yet?

[Anonymous]

So our piano teacher essentially said she takes kids that can read - because they get the idea of each note representing one sound, similar to letters. We started at 5.75 yo. Suzuki is a totally different method from traditional site reading so def look into that!

[Anonymous]

*sight reading

[Anonymous]

Teach yourself the basics, like finger position on piano key and even short kids melody like twinkle, also listening to classical music at home ( different type as well, DC2 transferred from classical to jazz piano afterwards). DC1 started Suzuki piano and violin lessons at 5 while DC2 started at 4. Both DCs had good attention span, and had been through music together lessons when they were younger, but starting before age 4 could be just wasting more money/time to fix hand position & posture etc. Suzuki method doesn’t teach sight read first so I also tried to self teach at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all, at the risk of sounding obnoxious, our 2.75 year old seems fairly musically inclined. We see him concentrating and mimicking/playing melodies on his mini piano, drum, flute, etc. We take him to group "music" classes, which he enjoys, but it feels like he is ready for something more engaging/serious. I played piano myself for many years and it was something that I really enjoyed doing- I could see him enjoying it too (plus something potentially fun for both of us to enjoy together in the future).

In short: 1) is anyone aware of and/or would recommend piano lessons for 2-3 year olds?; 2) do I need to calm down and just wait till he's 4 (I see a lot of lessons offered at this age)?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

I have an acquaintance who studied classical piano at Juilliard and we got on this topic years before I had kids and she advised that 4 was the youngest age for learning piano. The ability to sit for a period of time and focus, and posture in particular, hand size, etc were all part of her reasoning.

If your child likes music sign up for a music class with them. I’m a parent of three and now that my oldest is almost 7 I look back at what she was like at 2.5/3 and you have some sense of talents and capabilities, but you’re also really flying blind - especially with your oldest child (no basis for comparison). I really would not push.

[Anonymous]

You do need to calm down and wait. Maybe til quite a bit past four.

God, this is heartbreaking.

[Anonymous]

DD started at 5. Her teacher said your hands have to be big enough

[Anonymous]

Yeah pushing a lot of piano on tiny hands isn't great.

I developed bad technique as a kid that led to some wrist injuries, exacerbated by a bad teacher who had me over practice. You do have to be careful in who you pick as a teacher and pushing too much too young.