Skills children should know before they begin music lessons

Posted by: merismusicalmusings on: November 27, 2011

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When is a child ready to begin formal private music lessons on an instrument? When they can perform at least 80% of the skills in the following list.

• Be able to concentrate on an active task (like doing puzzles or drawing a picture) for at least 10-15 minutes.
• Know the alphabet from at least A-G. (and if you can, know it backwards too!)
• Know how to count from 1-20.
• Can write their own name, and the numbers 1-10.
• Can colour a picture within the lines.
• Can read most words in leveled readers on their own.
• Has some independence of finger motion.
• Has learned how to follow verbal instructions.
• Know how to sit with good posture of the back and neck (most important for wind students, but it makes playing all other instruments a lot easier)
• Be able to blow a steady stream of air for 10-15 seconds (especially if your child picks up a wind instrument later)
• Be able to pretend to play a string instrument pretending to use a steady bow (if you want your child to learn a string instrument)
• Be able to sit with their elbows well above their knees. (particularly for  instruments that are played about vertically)

Several of these skills are necessary to do short writing exercises that are part of many method books, especially piano method books, though others are necessary in most, if not all areas of music study. Some children will have mastered all these skills by about 4 years of age; others do not learn all these skills until they are about 7 or even 8 years old!