What is the best age to learn to play piano?

As the king of the instruments, the piano is often used as the first step in developing a child’s musical talent. Many families now have a piano at home and parents usually become the first piano teacher of their kids. As an experienced piano teacher in Melbourne, I often get the question from parents, “What exactly is the best age to learn piano?”
To answer this question, we need to know how humans’ brain develops.

When Is the Most Important Period for Children’s Brain Growth?

According to authoritative research, 90% of Brain Growth Happens Before Kindergarten, which means between the age of 1 to 4. When a baby comes into the world, his or her brain is only a quarter of the size of the average adult brain. Normally, during the first year, a baby’s brain can grow to half of the adult brain. Until the age of 5, the brain will approximately grow to nearly a full human size.
A newborn baby has all the brain cells they will need to use for the rest of their life, but he also needs to activate the brain by the connection in between cells. It is a crucial task for toddlers to making these connections before kindergarten, and the only way to build this kind of connection is to make positive interactions with the world. You may ask, how to build a positive interaction with the world then?

Music is a Good Way to Help Children to Build a Connection with the World.

According to the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, there are mainly 7 benefits of music for children when their brains growing.
1. It helps to improve their brainpower
2. It helps them develop social skills
3. It helps them build their confidence
4. It inspires creativity
5. It teaches them patience
6. It is a great form of expression
7. It teaches them discipline
In a word, adding music activity when kids growing up can have many positive effects for them.

There is No Consensus on the Age at Which Children Learn to Play the Piano

Because every kid grows at a different speed, there is generally no certain age at when to learn piano. For example, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart started to play the piano at the age of 3, Ludwig van Beethoven started to play the keyboard at age 5, Richard Clayderman started to play at 6-year-old. It is always a good thing to let the children begin to explore the piano under 5-years-old because playing the piano not only can cultivate children’s musical literacy, but also is a good way to develop their brain (like we said before). If your child has musical talent, age 4 is a critical age to develop their musical sense. Music training in this period will help them excel amongst their peers, build confidence in themselves, establish interests other than watching TV and playing iPads, increase opportunities to communicate with others and have a different view of the world.

Is there a special method for teaching children under the age of 4?

The traditional way of teaching children to play the piano is more like putting children in the middle of the ocean to teach them to swim, this teaching method only working for musically gifted students, meanwhile, it is very dangerous for kids as the old manner of teaching may diminish kids’ enthusiasm for the piano.
When teaching a 4-year-old kid piano, compared to teaching a teenager, it needs more patients and thought. It is worth noting that when teaching children piano, they usually do not have too many requirements on piano skills and music theory, but focus on the cultivation of music sense, development of interest, so that children have a positive cognition of music and Musical Instruments, and gradually carry out methods and skills teaching.

Have the First Piano Lesson Free at Bumblebee

Bumblebee is a vibrant music and art tuition centre with locations in McKinnon and Mt Waverley. Due to covid-19, we are also offering fun and engaging online classes via Zoom. Our online piano lessons encourage children’s creativity and boost self-esteem. With piano teachers from a vast array of backgrounds, selected based on their professional skills and passion for piano, in addition to their musical training, they have also undertaken early childhood education and psychology studies.
You are most welcome to contact us if you have any questions about arts and music lessons for your children. Bumblebee also offer a first free lesson for you to introduce your kid to the fun and fabulous music world!