Piano Lessons - Cleveland,OH

My daughter will be starting in the fall - she will be 5.5. The piano teacher said that she normally starts them at 6 but will take my daughter in Kindergarten.

A good friend of mine is a Piano teacher. He said to start her NOW, that it's the best age to start.

I don't have a piano (plan to buy one soon) but we have a keyboard and the teacher said that is fine for our needs this year.

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Many people start before the child can recognize letters. I thik that is too early.
My daughter started in 3rd grade and my son started in the middle of 4th. I think 1-3 grade is ideal.
My daughter loves to practice, it is her stress relief. She is now 13. My son doesn't like to sit still too long. But it is a life skill to read music so I will keep him in lessons for a while, he is going into 5th.

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I started when I was 10. I did it on and off through out the years and stopped in college. I LOVE playing my piano, but since having kids, I don't have much time for it anymore. I did have friends who started when they were around 5, but I think that's still a little bit too young. I'd say between 6 and 10 is a good range to start

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I started my daughter at age 6. She likes taking them, and has learned a few songs in a very short period of time. Her instructor agreed that 6 was a good age to start, maybe even age 5 she said but any younger than that, the attention span is usually too short.

My son's teacher usually starts them around mid-2nd grade. However, my son started at 6 - at the beginning of 1st grade. She agreed to try it because he's very bright, and was already reading at almost 4th grade level. She said the time to start is mainly related to attention span and responsibility. Lucky for us, it's all worked out.

As for too late, there's probably not a limit. That said, I didn't start until I was 18 and at university (had to take piano as part of the music ed program). After playing clarinet for 10 years, I had a terrible time get my hands/fingers to cooperate - and we'll not even talk about adding my feet! lol

I suppose I'm lucky and on the very low end in terms of price. I pay $13 per 30 minute weekly lesson, and my son goes year-round. I don't know if summer lesson are standard or not.

We started our daughter at age 8. There may be a "too early", completely depending on your child's interest and attention span, but I don't think there is a "too late". I know adults that are taking beginner piano lessons.

The optimal age for beginning music lessons is 8 years old. I know many start younger, but developmentally, you should wait til 8.

As for too late, I'm sure that anyone can start anytime, but I've read that 12 is when you should start them by.

P.S. My children take lessons from Marta Perez, through Baldwin Wallace Conservatory outreach in Medina. But she also teaches in Cleveland, where she lives. Don't know which side of town you are on, but if you're looking for a great teacher - she's it! $18. for 30 mins.

Both my daughters started at age 5. I think it was a good age. FYI...my youngest had no interest in playing but we started lessons any way and she now at age 8 looks forward to her lessons:)

Glad you asked this, but what is the cost of lessons in your areas? Mine are like $45 per week for 30 minutes! Am I crazy thinking that's high? They are private lessons either at the instructor's studio or in your home. I think my mom paid like $25 per month when I took!

My sisters started around the age of 5/6ish. I officially didn't start playing until I was 7 but I grew up listening to my sister's practice.

I think it depends a lot on the child, their attention span etc. Playing music has helped me out alot growing up, especially after I was diagnosed with ADD and a learning disability. There's just something about playing the piano that helped me to stay focus and be better in school.

I took piano lessons at 5 and started my daughter at 4. A piano teacher that I used to go too started his daughter as an infant by sitting her close to the piano while he played. By 3 she could play a lot of the classics. She is now an accomplished pianoist. I think it's up to you and if you think your child is ready. My daughter takes lessons from a college here. They teach sound and rhythm along with piano. She loves it.

Many teachers won't take them until they are at least about 6 -- so they are old enough to give it some real attention and not let their minds wander, and so they understand what it means to practice. I know at least one private piano teacher who won't take them until they're about 7, for those reasons. Of course some "methods" and teachers take them at any age, but I would question whether that really is teaching that's going to stick or whether the kids will see it as a chore. My daughter started last year at 9 and was totally ready and motivated and understood the commitment.

I wanted to add for the person who asked about costs -- the rate for almost any private lesson, piano or swimming or whatever, around here (and it's the pretty expensive DC metro area) is about a dollar minute -- so a half-hour lesson runs us $30.00. That's usually a minimum. I think $45 for 30 minutes as you cited is pretty steep, but don't expect any kind of private lessons in any subject for $25 for a whole month's weekly lessons like your mom used to pay!

I read a book when my son was an infant that said that piano lessons are the one thing that parents can provide for their children at a very early age - like 3 - that will actually improve brain development. I believe it was "What's going on in there? : how the brain and mind develop in the first five years of life" by Lise Eliot.

I actually started lessons when I was 3. I think you should just do it whenever your child has sufficient interest and motivation to practice. I was into it at 3 and was over it by 7.

My daughter started at 7. 2nd grade. I would have started her at 6, but scheduling didn't work out. I probably wouldn't go younger than that. As it turned out, 7 was a great age for her to start. :)

We just started my son at age 5.5. He enjoys his lessons, and it's a thrill for me to watch him learn, but it is a bit of a struggle sometimes to get him to practice. He gets frustrated easily and says he hates the piano, but he does seem to like his actual lessons.

They must be able to read well so they can understand the theory and reading music. They can't get the mind hand thing until they have the building blocks in place for it. They need to understand it goes from left to right and top to bottom, reading line then line, then line.....

For someone who doesn't read it is frustrating and very hard.

my daughter started in second grade, so that had to be arouond 7...she is going into 8th grade now and still plays, infact her lesson is today :-) Anyway, I really could not have imagined her starting any earlier (once she did start)...it is very hard for kids that young to accept the fact that they must practice almost every day for at least 30 minutes (maybe a little less, maybe a little more). That first year, we had a lot of tears from both her and myself because she just didn't have the discipline (she loved all the glory she got when people raved about her talent but she didn't want to practice!!)...well, after a few years of maturity, she finally "got" it, I still have to occassionally remind her that I haven't heard her in awhile but overall, she's taken on the responsibility of her practices....there were many times over these years that I thought about letting her quit but so many people encouraged me not to because they had taken piano as kids and quit and now as adults, regretted it, so we've stuck it out....and to answer your question about lateness, it is never too late, my daughter's teacher does students of ALL ages, I've even thought about learning myself :-)