Teaching a 3 year old how to play the piano?

Question

Has anyone taught their child how to play a piano at 3 years old? My son shows a tremendous amount of interest in instruments and music. We got him a keyboard for Christmas. Do you think he's too young to learn how to play? Would he understand what note is what? Do you think he'll remember the tune we just taught him? He's very bright. I just want to hear if anyone had any experiences with their child at this young age. Thank you!

Answer 1

You can buy him musical toys and try to develop this ability/interest, but I don't think a 3 year old could learn to play a full size piano and read notes unless he were truly both a mental and physical prodigy. First of all, reading music is like reading another language--it requires both mathematics and verbal ability that usually isn't there until about 1st or 2nd grade at the earliest. I suppose you could color code stuff if he knows his colors and get around some of this.

Second, to get past the most basic piano lessons will require quite a bit of finger dexterity and even finger "reach" to be able to use proper technique. Compensating for his small hand size will most likely require some accommodation of the music, the keyboard, and/or will require him to be retaught the proper technique later when his hands grow larger.

Find him a good preschool music experience class such as "Kindermusic" or other similar class offered in your community. If you are really serious, find a Suzuki method instructor and have him assessed for beginning this method of teaching. I think they do piano as well as violin. Be ready to shell out the bucks; it's not cheap.

Answer 2

It may be age or maturity... hard to know without knowing the child. But, I would certainly say the time is a factor. Right now, I am teaching my four-year-old and my six-year-old to play the piano. For my four-year-old, I only keep her for 15 minutes and only expect 15 minutes/day of practice time. She is able to do this, but she is a pretty mature four-year-old, too. One of the reasons I chose 15 minutes... a professional pianist came to our school when I was teaching one year and talked about how she got her start. When she was four years old, her mother started making her practice the piano 15 minutes a day (her mom was a piano teacher by trade). She did not seem to think that was a terrible thing, and even seemed to place some value in it being the reason for the profession she now excells at! I would talk to the mother about shortening the lesson time. This should be a relief to ALL parties involved. It will go slower in learning new things, but the child will feel more successful, and likely enjoy it more in the long run. Good luck!

Answer 3

No, he's certainly not too young. My three - year - old has been playing drums (yes, REALLY playing a real drum set) for over a year, and started playing guitar a few months ago. Hubby has played both, along with singing and playing piano, for over 20 years. When our son showed an interest, we got him his own child - sized real (NOT toy) instruments. In our case, we let him make the decision. When he wanted to learn something, Dad would show him. He also learned quite a bit just by listening and imitating.
I would suggest contacting a Suzuki music teacher in your area. They usually work with children as young as three. Remember, it needs to be fun or he won't get anything out of it. Forcing or pressuring him to play will have an adverse effect on him. Good luck!

Answer 4

My daughter is almost three and likes to play the piano. I haven't taught her anything yet but since I play piano, I will probably be her teacher until she's a little bit older and then I'll get her lessons.

Answer 5

Can't speak as one who has a child that young, nor one who played any instrument, but can state this.
I learned to play guitar at 5 without much instruction, still can't read music, but play by ear.
Go ahead and let him explore, he may grow up to be a prodigy.
Only one problem with this, you may have to cut off the piano legs for him to reach!!
Good luck and hope he enjoys life as well.

Answer 6

my son developed a major interest in piano when he was 3 and his sister was 5 and taking a class. he would sit at the piano literally for an hour sounding out songs. he also turned out to have perfect pitch. i held off till he was 4 and then enrolled him in a group piano class, which he is still doing now at age 6. (his group lessons were really tailored for young kids, and started slowly, but by his third year they are composing music and learning theory beyond what i ever learned in years of piano lessons). interestingly, learning to read piano music had the added benefit of really helping him learn how to read books. i would just make sure you had a teacher who understood child development as well as they understood piano. also make sure you don't pressure him ... sometimes kids are really interested in things and are very good at them ... but it sometimes happens that though they may stay very good, their interest turns to other things. when you're little, that's a good thing. so just make sure you as parents don't get overly invested in his precocity. but by all means nurture his interest if you can keep it lighthearted and playful and fun.

p.s. i'd just add that i wouldn't have dreamed of enrolling my other kids in a piano class at age 3 or 4. kindergarten is a good age for many kids. i started early with him really only because of his profound interest. but it sounds like maybe you have the same situation.

Answer 7

there is no such thing as too young when it comes to music. i started playing piano at 4, and singing in public at 3. if he's really into music, go right ahead and sign him up for lessons. it can only help him.

Answer 8

most person can play the piano by ear so you don't really need to PAY for a teacher. so just play him the song slowly and let him watch your fingerings and let him experiment with the sounds. thats how i learned how to play.

Answer 9

Have you thought of asking a piano teacher? He's probably a bit young yet, but you never know.

Answer 10

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