Good parents, no matter what their economic background, try their best to expose their children to activities that they feel will produce a well rounded child. When the question of when is too early to expose your child to a musical instrument is asked, many parents offer various degrees of opinions, but which is the most accurate?
Exposure to music can begin as early as when the child is in the womb. Once a child reaches the age of 6 - 8 months old, music activities with a parent can be introduced. Realistically, 3 - 4 years old is when music programs that involve movement, singing and sometimes arts and crafts while listening to music.
When a child reaches age 5 - 6, group piano lessons is a good segway into learning other instruments later. Basic music theory concepts, for example, knowlege of the music alphabet, quarter note, half note, whole note, what the music staff does, and the keys on the keyboard is grasped during this age group.
At age 7 and up and after basic knowlege of music theory, children usually have the patience and discipline to begin learning to play the drums, guitar and string instruments.
If your child is expressing a great interest in music, use some of the information above to guide you on what direction to take.
Picture by Paige Lackey Martin
I think it is alright to expose children at a young age. Dependent on what it is they are taking in of course. Don't think I would entertain introducing "Death Metal Rock" at a young age unless you want a completely unruly child by age 2. But I have experimented with this myself using not music but affirmation repetitions. I used an affirmation device to repeat affirmations in repetitions throughout the night. It helped with potty training...3 days...no more bed wetting. Now used with her studies, her dance performances and more. It has certainly delivered me great results because the mind is growing at a young age and very susceptible to input and storing that input as factual intelligence. This is how professionals get to be who they are. Like Michael Jordan, the best NBA player to play the game. He devoted his life to practice and what he got was perfection. You start a child on musical instruments at a young age, they will be masters by their teens. I don't think that is a problem. Parents need to also understand that the childhood we had is not the same childhood that kids these days have. We did not have technology like there is available today. This is why we played ball in the street, skateboarding, swimming etc. In our parents days they did not even have the option to do those things, it was a hoop and a stick. We evolve as technology evolves. Parents should realize that their kids need to adapt and live in the world with the things that their future will be running on.
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Great Post!!
I totally agree. Our children are under 8 years old and they play piano and drums. Introducing them to instruments early has done a lot for their confidence especially when performing in front of a crowd. Every child is different, but if they are showing interest in playing an instrument, it wouldn't hurt to see where it could take them.
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