People often ask, “What’s the best age to start music lessons?”.  After many years of personal observation, I’d say that it’s based on more than one factor. The first would be inspiration. For years my parents wanted me to take piano lessons, but I wasn’t inspired and was only interested in playing guitar. Because they could only afford to buy me a VERY cheap electric guitar in first grade, things went downhill quickly. 

But then one day, at the age of 10, I heard a couple buddies of mine playing the famous Heart & Soul piano duet on an old upright during recess at school. I had no clue that either one could do that and somehow the funky little duet on that old timey slightly out of tune piano was exhilarating. It was the spark of inspiration which caused me to do a 180 and shock my parents when I approached them about wanting to take piano lessons. So, I’m a huge believer in inspiration as I’ve seen what it did for me and many others. 

Another factor is physical and mental maturity. Physical because of the strength and size of hands which is necessary for certain instruments like piano and guitar. And mental because typically the older and more mature we get, the more experienced and better we are with fundamentals like discipline and time management for a daily practice routine. It’s very clear that kids focus much better as they get older. 

One of the misconceptions non-musicians have is that “You must start music lessons as a kid between ages 4 and 8. However, some of the best players (both guitar and piano) I’ve ever heard didn’t start lessons until their late teens. So, while it’s true that the exceptions like Mozart and Beethoven started extremely young, others have managed to become very accomplished even if they started as adults.

For me, the stars finally lined up at just the right time. When I got my first piano at age 11 and my first acoustic guitar at age 16, I had the inspiration, the focus (no iPads and video games back then), the physical advantage of bigger hands, and the maturity to schedule plenty of time for daily practice. And as an instructor, I‘ve taught people who didn’t start lessons until they were in their 70’s. So, I don’t believe there’s one “best age” for everyone to start, but there are clear benefits in not starting too young. 

And how about you? If you ever took music lessons, do you think you started at an age that was right for you?