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Can you all tell me what age you start students? I have a potential 4 yr. old student. What do you all think?

My favorite starter age is 7.

At 4, it's not really piano lessons, but there are valuable musical activities that can be done at that age. There's a big article in the current AMT about it.

I would wait until age 5 or 6 depending on the child and the parent.

I start at 4.5 (if they're girls) and 5 (boys), but not privately. Most kids this age don't have the attention span long enough for a traditional lesson.

But the ones that do have that attention span can grow up to be quite fine musicians.

I've taught 4.5 year olds and I would say the big thing is that even the bright ones can't handle more than 20 minutes to begin with.

But you need a completely different approach with this age group, and piano teachers tend to equate learning to play the piano with learning to read music. Separate these two skills and you'll have plenty to do with pre-literate children.

My favorite starting age is first grader. I think boys or girls at this age should be able to start piano lesson with no major problems. Anyone who is in kindergarten or preschool, I interview them to decide if they are ready for piano lesson or not. I design ten tasks for them to complete. Those who score 8/10 and above can take piano lesson with me. Those score lower has to come back and perform the tasks again in 3 months.

Hi Sue,

My opinion is that I think it depends on the child. I've taught 4 and 5 year olds who have excellent attention spans, can sit well and are very immersed in the lessons. I have a couple right now who do well in their half-hour lessons.

During the lesson I do try to mix things up by integrating piano playing, ear-training, games, note-writing activities, etc., so it's not just the child sitting there and playing on the keys and listening to me lecture for half an hour straight. I might also change the order of those things at every lesson so there's an element of newness every week for the child.

On the other hand, I have older students (i.e., 7, 10, yrs old) who have really short attention spans! I have also turned away 4 year olds who couldn't sit still for 5 seconds.

So I think it really depends...maybe you could meet with the potential student in person along with his/her parents, do a trial lesson and see how it goes.

Also, I'd like to add that my 4 or 5 year old students have parents who are very involved in their musical education and monitor their practicing. This contributes to their success as well.

As has been already noted, much depends on the parent(s) so careful evaluation of the parent and attitude is really important in making your decision. Basically, the younger the student, the more engaged the parent will have to be. Are they willing to spend two or more short work sessions at the piano every day? Are they willing to commit to some degree of structure in the child's life? If the answer is no, then pass.

I'm quite interested in the way you choose your younger students. What sort of tasks do you give them to do, and how exactly do you grade them?

Can he read abcdefg and 12345 on the page?
Can he find two black keys on piano after I show him the first one?
Can he track with his finger from left to right on the page?
Can he use scissors?
Can he name the finger numbers after I show him one time?
Can he color fairy well between the lines?
Can he clap according to metronome in slow and in fast?
Will he response to music when I turn on my iPod?
Can he sit still for 20 minutes during interview?
Can he learn at least three songs on the first interview sessions?

I agree with Smallpiano. I am not a teacher but a mother of a child who very successfully started piano lessons at age 4. He was a reader, he was extremely interested in music, he could certainly sit still for more than 20 minutes, and he could quickly learn very simple songs written out (first in the letters of the keys but within weeks written out on the bass and treble clef). I truly appreciated the teacher's willingness to "interview" my son. While she didn't regularly take students as young as he was, she happily accepted him once she recognized his interest. That being said, I am sure you are expecting that he is an accomplished pianist now (at age 14). He is not!!!! He stopped playing the piano at age 10, because he fell in love with the saxophone. You can never know about these things, but I suspect that music will not be his
"profession," but rather simply a source of gratification in life (i.e., a hobby). Regardless, I still appreciate the willingness of his very first piano teacher to accept him as her student. She gave him a gift that he continues to enjoy today.