Wondering if your child is ready for music lessons? It’s one of the most common questions I hear—and the good news is, there are a few clear signs to look for.
Lets start with the simplest and most important question:
Do they love listening to music?
This is probably the first and most important question. Having an interest in music is where it all starts. Its where someone’s relationship begins. A lot of musicians I know can relate a particular moment to what sparked their love of music and saying to themselves, “I want to do that!” For me it is when I saw Green Day play a concert in Florida when I was 12, that’s when I said those words.
Do they tap, clap, sing, or dance along? If they have an instrument at home, are they interested in it?
If they interact with the music or explore an instrument like piano, guitar, or whatever their family has access to, it might be time to explore music lessons. When someone starts interacting with music, they already know the joy of music to some extent and would probably like to make some themselves.
How do I know its not just a passing interest?
Frankly, there isn’t a real way to know until they try (which is why I offer a free half hour trial lesson or 50% off an hour lesson). However, if they ask about music or if they say they like their music classes at school, or there are particular songs they love and sing along to or play air guitar or drums, it would be worth having a talk with them about whether they would like to learn to play.
Sometimes young students don’t know what they like yet. They might be hesitant to try something new, like my son. What I say to him is that we try new things and decide whether or not we like something new. There’s nothing wrong with taking lessons for a time and then if don’t like it stopping. Then, at least, they tried it and now know they don’t like lessons.
Part of my job as a music teacher is to foster interest and, hopefully, love for music. Making sure the lessons are fun and engaging is the keystone of success in that. While making sure the student learns something new or refines something they’ve been working on each lesson is important, doing so in a way that is fun, engaging, and matched to the student’s needs, puts the student into peak learning and engagement mode.
Committing to Practice (Without Pressure)
This will sound obvious but practice is what builds the relationship with a musical instrument. The question then becomes, how does practice not become work?
Play, Don’t Just Practice
One of my favorite ways is to play with songs. It doesn’t require music reading, but it does require a bit of knowledge. On guitar, bass, or piano, you have to know enough to figure out the song. Voice requires knowing the words, listening to the music and being able to match whats going on in it. Drums requires sticks, something to hit, and knowing how to hit with the song.
Needless to say, voice is the easiest to practice with since it doesn’t really take any equipment except something to listen to music on. The next easiest is drums since you can tap to the beat, practice a rudiment, or a drum beat. Guitar and piano are harder because although its not as hard to pick out a melody (the part of a song you whistle, hum, or sing), trying to play chords requires a bit of knowledge.
How Much Practice Is Enough?
But once you decide on what instrument you want to learn to play, how do you keep practice from becoming work? Like I was saying above, play to songs you love. You don’t have play what’s on the record, necessarily. Working on exercises using the music as the beat keeps things more playful and less serious. I suggest at least 15 minutes per day for practice, but depending on the student’s goals, practicing at all is better than nothing. That being said, the quick and easy answer is “the more time, the merrier.” If you spend time focused on getting better at a thing, you’ll get better at it, even if just a little bit.
Little bits add up. Not to get mathy, but if you get 1% better every day, you’ll be way more than 365% better after a year. Any time spent trying to improve is time well spent, so don’t worry about perfection, just keep it playful.
The point is that while practice is highly encouraged, if practicing is a deal-breaker when it comes to loving making music, I believe its better to make music and spend the time in the lesson as the chance for the student to try to get a bit better, than the student give up on music making.
What if My Child Isn’t Ready for Music Lessons?
It isn’t necessarily about age. I’ve taught 4 year olds and 88 year olds who had great experiences. Its really about the goals of the student and/or parent(s). If the goal is to have fun and be exposed to music, there isn’t much of an age limit. If the goal is to learn specific things, like a song or a solo, it depends on if the student can take direction from the teacher.
Taking structured lessons with the goal of playing out of a book (music reading) or learning songs (less reading), requires the student to be a bit more mature, but even students as young as 4 can do it. That being said, it needs to be done in a way that plays to the child’s strengths and most of those strengths are play and exploration. The trick is to sneak in valuable skills and knowledge while they have fun.
PBS has an interesting article essentially saying the same thing: What’s the Right Age to Begin Music Lessons
My Child is Ready for Music Lessons, Yes or No?
If your child is curious about music. If they sing in the car, drum on the table, or light up when a favorite song plays. They’re probably more ready than you think.
You don’t need them to be focused or disciplined or “serious” yet. They just need to be interested, open, and willing to try.
And if they try and decide it’s not for them? That’s okay too.
We try things. We learn. And sometimes we circle back to it later.
That’s why I offer a free 30-minute trial lesson or 50% off a 1-hour session—so your child can try music in a fun and low-pressure environment.
No pressure. Just the start of something potentially amazing.
Curious about which instruments we teach?
Curious about how to sign up for lessons?
Curious if this is the right time? Let’s find out together.
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