What is the Best Age to Start Music or Voice Lessons?

Out of all the questions that people ask us, the most frequent is this:   “what is the best age to start music or voice lessons?”  If you’ve got a younger child who is eager to start their musical journey, and have this same question, we’re happy to help you!

As a general rule, most children are ready to start formal music lessons by the age of five; however, children can benefit from informal ‘general music education’ lessons which can begin as young as three. A more specific breakdown is below.

Be advised that the most important element is not the age of the student, but their excitement and enjoyment regarding music and their lessons; children that enjoy playing learn quickly and grow their musical skills.

• Piano – Piano is a great instrument to start a younger child on because many of the physical requirements dictated by guitar/ukulele and even voice are non existent (press a key, and a sound is made!). The keyboard is also laid out in a way that facilitates teaching basic music theory. We generally see positive results with students as young as 5 years old, as their hands are large enough to play chords, and their attention span is developed enough for formal half hour lessons.

• Ukulele – The ukulele is all rage now, and there’s good reason: it’s relatively easy to play, it’s inexpensive, and highly portable! For younger students, it’s also a great stepping stone to the guitar. We see great success with ukulele students as young as 5 or 6 years old; again, it’s somewhat dependent on the maturity level of the student (i.e. are they able to concentrate through a half hour lesson?). Young ukulele students learn the basics of chords and strumming, which later on migrate well to guitar. They also participate in our recitals, building their performing experience and gaining confidence in their playing ability at a young age.

• Guitar – We generally recommend starting guitar at age seven or eight. By that age, students have usually
  

  Formal piano lessons can start as young as 5 years old!

  developed the physical requirements that’s required of playing the guitar. We see more successes with younger students starting on ukulele, then moving to guitar when they are ready.

• Voice – Formal voice lessons usually begin at age 10 and older. At that age, the student’s voice has begun to change and take on it’s adult form. This doesn’t mean that younger students cannot sing in their music lessons; we encourage it!! But lessons that focus specifically on vocal training should wait until the student is physically ready for them. For younger students that want to take singing lessons, we generally recommend piano lessons, along with informal voice lessons.

• General Music Education – the above being said, 3 or 4 years old is not too early to start general music education ‘lessons’! These informal lessons can include: musical games, learning the basics of rhythm, sing-along’s, identifying different instruments, etc. The goal of these lessons is to simply expose and engage the child  to a musical environment.

If you are interested in signing up for a lesson, please click HERE.

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