Beginner Piano Player
What age do you start?

Beginner Piano Player - So what is the right age to start playing the Piano? Actually there is no right age. You can start whenever you feel like learning. Of course, as a child, you should be old enough to have some developed motor skills but as an adult you can start anytime you feel like.

Piano for kids
Children who have some musical background can start taking beginner piano lessons when they are above 4 years of age. A musical background means, somebody in the child’s family can play a musical instrument, in which case, there is a good probability that the child has some basic knowledge of melody and rhythm. There is even a good probability that the child may have developed a good ear for music and is exposed to different styles of music depending on the kind of music that is played at home.

Children without any musical background can start when they are above 6 years old. By this time they must have developed the motor skills needed to play the piano. Motor skills simply mean the ability to use your various body parts together. You need a good hand-eye coordination and concentration to be able to play the piano. So 6 years and above would be a good age to start.

Adults
For adults the old maxim applies perfectly, which says that, "It is never too late to start learning anything". Same applies to the Piano as well. But the problem is adults spend a lot of time unnecessarily thinking whether they should learn the Piano or not. They need a lot of coaxing and convincing before they actually start taking lessons.

Strengths
Adults, in general, have a lot of advantages over children when it comes to learning the Piano. Some of them are –
• far better concentration
• highly developed motor skills
• highly motivated and eager to learn quickly
• Can think and relate better
These are some of the strengths which give adults a head-start over children if they have to learn the Piano.

Weaknesses
Though adults have some inherent strengths, they also have weaknesses which they acquire over the years. Some of them are –
• Higher expectations with themselves
• Fear of failure
• Lack of patience
• Juggling with too many different things
• Like smaller learning curves. 6 months is too much time for some adults to learn a new thing.

Take the Plunge
These are some of the weaknesses which prevent lot of adults from taking the plunge in the first place. Even if they do, lots of them give it up midway simply because they lose their focus or because they do not have sufficient patience.

But as long as you are focused and aware that you need to give it some time, it becomes easier for you to learn the Piano. If you factor these things, your age has got nothing to do with how good you can become at playing the Piano. Once you get past the beginner piano player level, your improvement will depend purely on how much practice you are willing to put in.

• Go back to the "Piano Lesson" page
• Go back to the Home page from the "Beginner Piano Player" page