Can a Child Learn Both Piano and Guitar at Same Time?

Updated on February 28, 2011
K.B. asks from Dulles, VA
11 answers

I am not musical. She is motivated and plays piano 2-6 times per day. She now wants to take guitar lessons too. I am not musical and can't help her much. Anyone KNOW the answer?

The piano teacher says she is always prepared, always practiced,and totally focused.

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R.M.

answers from Cumberland on

Ask her piano instructor. I would say yes-and a million parents are sobbing right now thinking what it would be like to have a child motivated enough to practice the piano-let alone wanting to take lessons on another instrument.

1 mom found this helpful

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T.F.

answers from San Francisco on

Yes, I remember doing just this as a child.

2 moms found this helpful
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L.M.

answers from New York on

Yes. My daughter's friend (age 16) is very musical. He plays clarinet, piano, guitar, and is currently learning oboe and flute.

If you can aford it, go for it!

1 mom found this helpful
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P.W.

answers from San Francisco on

Yes, she can, if she is motivated. If you can afford it, go for it. How cool!

1 mom found this helpful

L.B.

answers from Biloxi on

My son plays trumpet, and for his birthday this summer he wanted guitar lessons. They didn't conflict. Music for piano, guitar, trumpet, is based on the same scale but read a little differently sometimes from instrument to instrument.

But a musically inclined child seems to pick these things up fairly quickly.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.S.

answers from Boca Raton on

My 16-yr old son studies both guitar and piano - and voice!

If she's motivated she can do it . . .

1 mom found this helpful
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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

I take piano and guitar simultaneously. Let her try. If it's too much for her, she can always drop one.

1 mom found this helpful
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R.D.

answers from Kansas City on

My brother started with the sax, then drums, then guitar, and now can play about any instrument you put in his hands - even if he has never played one - within an hour or so. It astounds me! I once saw him pick up a ukulele for the first time and play it, then play songs within minutes of figuring out where the notes were.

I have heard once you learn piano, other instruments come easier. Someone told me a guitar is like playing a piano sideways. I don't see it, but then again I play neither!

1 mom found this helpful
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K.C.

answers from Philadelphia on

Absolutely. If this is her thing and she's motivated, there's no reason she can't learn both instruments.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.V.

answers from Dallas on

If she's so musical, then she'll probably do very well. I learned to play bari saxophone and alto clarinet along with my regular clarinet. Guitar works, in some ways, like piano, so it'd probably be less difficult than other instruments if she has a piano background. That being said, since piano encompasses both treble and bass clefs, she's good for just about any instrument. =)

Btw, motivation is (more than) half the battle. I bet she'd be great!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.R.

answers from Columbus on

Ask her piano teacher. You may be hearing her play, but trust me, if she is not doing what she has been told to do on the piano, she won't do any better with guitar. I tought flute lessons for years, some kids just stay at the same place and never challege themselves, or keep up with bad habits that are hard to break, but keep them from progressing, and want to move on to a new instrument thinking that they will not have the same issues. This usually does not help. Not that your daughter might not be one of those people who can play multiple instruments well, just that I have seen the former far, far more often than the latter. Ask the teacher if she can handle it before you make an investment.

M.

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