Is Your Child Ready for Music Lessons?

Is my child too young for music lessons?

There’s truly no right or wrong answer! I’ve met adults who weren’t ready for music lessons, and I’ve worked with many young children who were beyond their years. Deciding the best or most appropriate age to start learning music has been debated for years. 

Some people believe that children should start as early as possible, while others believe that it is better to wait until they’re a bit older. If you’re looking into rigorous, structured lessons with a set curriculum, waiting until your child is older is best. If you’re open to more creative, flexible and child-led lessons with a teacher well versed in working with little ones, they can start at almost any age!

One of the benefits of learning music at an early age, is that it can help to develop and improve cognitive and problem-solving skills. It can also help to boost your child’s creativity and self-expression. Blue Balloon’s tailored approach to early childhood music education (for kids 2-4) is centered upon instrument exposure, creativity, singalongs and fun! We have found this approach to be the most effective for young children.

For very young children, and even toddlers, it’s important to temper expectations! Not all music lessons look the same at varying ages. We’ve all heard stories (or perhaps lived them!) where children as young as 2 or 3 are in strict lessons, rigorously going over their scales and modes for hours on end. While that has worked for some musicians, research shows that there are gentler, more creative and engaging ways that are also efficient – and more importantly… FUN! How many people have a memory of their childhood piano lessons that they were forced into – and how many of those people still want to play the piano as adults? Very few. It’s important that music lessons encourage a child’s inner curiosity and musical interest rather than be something that can turn them off to music forever.

It’s important to find a teacher who has experience teaching young children. Blue Balloon has a wonderful network of teachers experienced in teaching both children and adults. Our goal is to provide a warm and engaging experience, so that your child is excited to learn music. Even if they don’t end up wanting to practice daily or being a virtuoso, we want them to love learning.

While finding the right teacher for your child’s music education is one of the first major steps you can make, it is just as important to provide your child with the necessary support at home. Parents and guardians often don’t have the musical vocabulary to help their children, but there are a few simple steps you can take to help! 

Words of affirmation are a great and simple way to make your child feel supported and excited to continue. 

If the child is a bit older and they’re starting to work on basic technique, helping them build out practice time (even 5 minutes a day!) will do wonders! 

If you weren’t home during the lesson, asking questions is a wonderful way to have them re-live their lesson for you. Allow them the time to talk about how it went, and maybe let them teach you what they learned for the day! 

And most importantly, patience. Learning new skills can be frustrating at all ages, and being patient and instilling patience is hugely important. We all learn at different paces, and it’s okay that it might take a bit more time for some skills to land! 

If you have even the smallest inkling that your child may be interested in learning music, we are totally happy to help build a pathway toward your kids’ music education. We typically start at 3 years old but work with kids as young as 1 or 2!

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!