Children are capable of learning musical principals from a very early age- research has proven it. Yet there remains a pervasive bias against starting children “too young”. The benefits of music lessons on young minds is significant and broad based. Parents who have figured this out can help their children lead happier, more successful lives. Musicians, on average, have longer attention spans, communicate more clearly, socialize more easily, naturally work towards longer term projects, and have higher math and science scores. A recent Canadian statistic found that of all disciplinary backgrounds, musicians had the highest proportional rate of acceptance to law school than any other. Introducing music to a person of any age can have cognitive and social benefits. However, the younger you start with music lessons, the more lasting and profound the impact will be.
What’s Too Young?
The objection goes something like this: “I want them to be old enough to know what they like, so they can choose whether they want to do it or not. I don’t want to force them.” As someone who speaks to hundreds of parents a year about starting lessons, I can tell you that most want music to be a voluntary, fun, and entertaining experience for their children, and I’ve heard that statement (or some version of it) uttered almost every time the subject of music lessons is raised. This is at odds with most other activities that parents believe to be of high value for their children, such as school, other social activities, access to technology, or sport. In those cases, the ‘voluntary’ part is often overlooked, and ‘fun’ is always balanced with the hard work or the less enjoyable parts of those activities or skills.
The problem with letting music be voluntary is that it is incredibly challenging and the challenging part is why there are so many benefits. And unless you’re one of the 0.005% who has an ubertalent on their hands, learning music will be just as difficult as learning algebra, advanced gymnastics, or a second language. It doesn’t take kids very long to figure this out, and even if they initially had an interest in music, they’ll quickly elect for an easier activity.
For most parents, starting music lessons too young doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with age, it’s tied very strongly to a concept of forcing an activity or lifestyle on someone who is too young to decide. There is a practical limit to how early someone could begin working with a coach or a class (2 or 3 for most kids), but there is absolutely no limit to how early someone can start listening to music, or beginning to interact with small percussion instruments or pitched instruments (xylophone, for example).
What does “starting lessons” mean, anyways?
There are good reasons for this bias to exist. For most of the 20th century, a wrote learning, conservatory system of teaching has been in place in most parts of North America, which focused exclusively on the mechanical parts of playing music, without exploring most of the cognitive parts. Repetition of pre-composed passages and whole pieces was what practicing essentially was. How to hold your hand, how to play a scale, and how to regurgitate 100-200 year old music. And this was usually driven by a disciplinarian teacher focused on exam marks, or festival wins.
While that still has appeal to some families, many see that method of music lessons as a negative, traumatizing experience quite a few parents may have in fact experienced that first hand as students, and vowed never to do that to their own children.
So its this vision of lessons, coupled with imposing it on a 3 year old, that freaks many parents out.
Parenting is hard and busy enough without having to drag your young one through the gauntlet of piano lessons.
What if lessons were fun and more successful?
There have been several educators over the last 50 years who have started to uncover the secrets of how to instil an incredibly complex set of musical skills on incredibly young minds without traumatizing anyone.
Shinichi Suzuki, Orff, Koday, Pace, Merriam, and many other pedagogists have successfully created curriculums which immerse young people in musical learning, where the information can be absorbed much like a mother tongue. The lessons and practicing become a family affair, and music becomes a true outlet of expression and social connection.
Unfortunately programs such as these are often expensive, and are difficult to find outside of the major metropolitan cities of North America and Western Europe. However, where available, students as young as 2 years old start to absorb and assimilate the musical language as effortlessly as learning to speak but it takes an enormous amount of structure, teacher training, and parental commitment.
When executed well, music students will grow up with a full and completely transferrable set of skills, with the added bonus of being able to play and enjoy music for the rest of their lives.
Finding the right programs
Many cities in North America feature schools and programs that apply these principles with great success. Notable examples in Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, Seattle, New York, Chicago, Nashville, Boston, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, London, Paris, Berlin, have all proven that the formula can be replicated.
And while every school won’t be identical, they share the following:
● instructors with high levels of classroom training
● lots of formal and informal opportunities to play in a group, and play for others
● a highly structured exam / certification process to set benchmarks and ensure progress
● a focus on applied learning, rather than wrote learning
● high retention rates
● successful graduates
Finding a school that can deliver an engaging and fun experience to your young son or daughter is vital. And if structured properly, children as young as 2 and 3 years old can immediately start taking advantage of the numerous cognitive and social benefits that music can give someone for life.
Good luck!
Other great articles to check out online:
- Music Lessons Were the Best Thing Your Parents Ever Did for You, According to Science
- Music lessons spur emotional and behavioral growth in children, new study says
-
Music lessons may boost poor kids’ brainpower, study suggests
