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My 2.9 DD has been recommended by an pediatric eye doctor to take piano lessons.... My DD13 takes them and has a wonderful teacher who has agreed to try it and see if she can do something to help us. Curious what people have found to work with the young crowd? Thanks ahead of time!

I'm following along- my 3 yo is begging for music lessons, but he rarely sits still??
plus, he wants flute, trumpet, clarinet, and guitar lessons...eek.

I've been told that it's best to start with piano for little kids since it's easier (?) with their limited hand-eye coordination. Obviously there is also Suzuki violin for very little kids.

For that age I might try something like Music Together as a first step. We found it really helped prime the ear for success with later music lessons. http://www.musictogether.com/

Kodaly classes are also supposed to be great for this age group (no personal experience, though).

Hi, I looked up Kodaly and Music Together they look cool. The suggestion in regards to piano lessons was actually an intervention in regards to her very low visual motor integration. In some ways I really like the intervention as it is the first that has acknowledged her more advanced abilities. It seems a bit out there, however, as I think on it I like it as a way of trying to bring many aspects of herself together...i.e eye hand coordination, fine motor, sensory perception stuff etc. We are also seeking other services, but it is also nice to do something "normal" if you know what I mean and not all therapy therapy therapy.... I will be interested to see how it goes. My little one is very excited about it and can't wait till Thursday. And to tell you the truth, I am not beyond using chocolate...

I started my DS4 in Suzuki piano lessons before he turned 3. He would hear a song on the tv and then play it on the piano. He zoomed through book one, but at that point he really wanted to learn how to read music. I switched him to a traditional teacher when he was 3 1/2. He was reading books (like The Magic Tree House) and his teacher felt like if he could read that well, he could learn to read music. It's been 9 months and he has progressed very rapidly. He's gone through almost four levels of piano books and quite a few supplementary books. His teacher figured out a few months ago that he might have perfect pitch (he can tell you what note is being played while in the other room).

He recently turned 4 and you can already tell music is such a part of him. He really enjoys it and I can't imagine him not playing the piano. I agonized over the decision to put him in lessons so young. I was worried about what people would think. I was worried about pushing him at a young age. I look back now and realize I didn't need to worry about it at all. Other people can think what they want, and my son loves it so much I don't feel like I am pushing him to do anything.

It's different for everyone. You can always stop and start again later if it isn't working out. I feel lucky that I found such a wonderful teacher that is really patient with him. Good luck with whatever you decide!

What timing. My DS4 just started piano lessons today -- took me a year or so to find a teacher who'd agree to a young student. First time went pretty well. Teacher is using a book called Music for Little Mozarts. Kind of a haughty title but the books are right on for my son. Story of a bear and a mouse, the first part has a story where they introduce the characters and say the bear likes to play low notes, mouse high notes, etc. One can even order stuffed versions of the characters that the child can use as props (we didn't, we are pretending one hand is the bear and the other the mouse). As the book goes on the bear and mouse learn the names of the keys, find black keys in groups of 2 or 3, etc. Has a accompanying work book which is coloring type activities. Of the two or three other starter books I looked at this set seemed the most engaging. There are probably others though.

I really like that it's geared towards understanding the terminology and then reading music and starts right in with names of keys and how to find them. My son is going to be lag in ability to use all the fingers correctly, his fine motor skills are fine for his age but not precocious, so in the meantime he can feel confident in the more cerebral part.

If the teacher hasn't worked with preschooler age before maybe just keep it short and positive especially the first couple times, and have some ideas of things to do that are not physically at the keyboard. The teacher DS had today had a matching game DS played in the middle, pictures of musical type things to match up, that was a great idea as nap-time DS can't sit patiently at a keyboard for 30 minutes. We also stood and stamped our feet to the beat to something. And at the end learned how to bow. So the actual time focussed on the keyboard wasn't a strain for him. Today for the first class DS mainly showed he could find low and high notes, found groups of 2 black keys, and banged on a key (supposedly in time to) the teacher saying a little song.

We have done a Kindermusik or Musicgarten/Music Together type class back a year or two ago and it wasn't great. There was no depth to it and it moved so quickly from thing to thing there was no time to enjoy the more interesting parts. DS didn't find very much fun about being told to shake a shaker or bang with a drumstick on a wood block inbetween walking around in a large circle. It was more about following group directions and sitting in a circle. Disclaimer is of course I'm sure they are all different but so far I'm sold on the one on one lessons.

Polly

Aiden (now 4.5) started piano when he was 3.5 years after he begged for 6 months to either learn violin (his first choice) or piano.

I found a teacher that said we could try it. We kept it short (20 minutes per lesson, eventually extending to 30 minute when he wanted to carry on/was focused. If we got there and he was clearly not in the mood the teacher would show him the guitar, recorder or a drum kit, always ending with a tie back to the piano. Otherdays she would just discuss music with him - tempo, beats, composers etc. Some days they would play with shakers and tambourines and triangles etc and march around together just having fun.

We always stopped when he said he was tired and I never ever pressured him to practice either - I would suggest it and if he was keen we would.

After 6 months he wanted to take a break and I agreed since the lessons were getting a bit expensive to not do it seriously kwim?

6 month break and then he has now started Suzuki violin and has expressed an interest to return to piano. We are getting an old piano from my brother and I will teach him the basics here until he shows he will practice nicely.

the big thing is to let him enjoy it more than anything.

We did the Music Together thing since DD was 6 months. We started a Dalcroze when she was 3 and the school pushed us to start her on piano, something they didn't do for 3 year olds traditionally. We declined and signed up for group piano the September she was turning 4. The teacher pushed again and we started, traditional piano lessons, Russian school.

Although Heather's experience is delightful to hear, I have found that although DD loves to play pieces, and play them fast, practice is a pain. Learning the pieces can be a pain. I have to sit on the lessons and take notes so she practices correctly -- the Russian school is very particularly on how a piece is played. I do not expect her to be a pianist, her ability to sit and practice for hours is not her interest. But since we started and she is turning 7 this September, I expect her to do her best. It is an excellent skill to learn and I hope you have success. Just be prepared to practice with your child.

Ren