I often get asked what the best age is to start introducing the piano at home. While I don’t think that there is an ultimate answer to this since it all depends on your child’s level of interest; 3 seems to be a phenomenal age to give it a first try. Now you may think 3 is a very young age, and that it can’t work. Let me tell you from my experience… it does!
In the past 5+ years, I never had to send a student back out of my studio that was under 5. Surprisingly, those students are the most excited ones that come to the lessons, and can’t wait to show me what they remember from previous lessons. Toddlers just love to imitate us adults. They study what we enjoy doing and want to join in on most of our daily activities. Let learning the Piano be one of them!
The great thing about teaching & learning with a toddler is, that they don’t question or overthink things too much. They just soak up information like sponges while us adults tend to overthink, question and doubt ourselves. It’s hard to break bad habits once we learn them, but if you start off learning properly, things will come naturally and overthinking won’t exist.
Now the first few “lessons” at home may only last as long as 5 to 10 minutes, but that will gradually increase with time. You will be surprised when you notice how much they have picked up during their first 10 minutes of learning the piano even if it will take a few days to notice it. The key is keeping it fun and changing activities! Young children learn best with hands-on activities and fun games. This is why I like the Montessori approach in our Key’ndergarten curriculum. I use a lot of Montessori inspired activities that split up table & piano time. Lessons consist of drawing/coloring, counting, reading, memorizing, playing piano etc. The curriculum provides instruction of learning/teaching piano with everyday household items.
It all begins with exposure. Building upon that, they will develop routines, freedom of creativity, favorite songs, and develop a passion for their art and music in general. You can be there every step of their journey, bond with them and have fun together. Just providing a chance to gauge your child’s interest with piano may prove to make all the difference later in life. I mean, who isn’t impressed with someone who can play some tunes on a piano?