I'm gong to force my kid to take a few years of piano. She can quit after two years or so but I want her to get a chance to develop her ear and lean how to read music on a harmonic instrument. I know a few professional musicians (commercial and mercenary touring) most of them cut their teeth on piano early. Not that I want my daughter to grow up to be a concert pianist or even just a shiftless musician but I would like the joy of creating beauty cooperatively to be easily open to her. Music seem like one of the most assessable ways to make art in groups, it's a grand fun thing to do. I would be surprised if she doesn't play some sort of instrument at some point in her life after piano, we listen to a lot of music in our house and have a few different instruments sitting around. I've also bought her a variety of 'kid' instruments that she really gets a kick out of (recorder, bongos, harmonicas, glockenspiel, wood blocks, a little accordion and various whistles).
Our daughters are roughly the same age. I recently took my daughter to her first violin lesson. Suzuki. It was a nightmare. She had started daycare for the first time that week and it was at 5:30pm and she hadn't yet eaten. She was rubbing her eyes and was grouchy prior to entering the class. -I could just tell from the look on her face this was going to be challenging. She was the youngest in the class and by the end had spent most of it in the hallway with me because she was being so disruptive. Long story short, she's not even close to being ready. I'd say three or three and a half will be the right time. But there is no doubt that she'll take a few years of violin lessons. Ideally, she will enjoy it and stick with it. Like you, I would be shocked if she doesn't play an instrument as an adult. There are so many instruments in our house and she voluntarily plays all of them. I can tell, she has the desire and potentially the innate ability. ' Good luck.
We recently bought a piano for our daughter, who is 18 mos. A piano instructor that we spoke to suggested that we wait until she was 5 years old. He said that he has found that many habits that children learn when they are very young need to be untaught. Specifically, he said that very young children must look at their hands when they play, because they haven't developed the ability to make the mental separation between reading and playing music. As a result, he didn't think there was much advantage starting beforehand.
The only reason I wanted to start so young is because the two favorite musicians I've ever played with were both violinists that started out playing around age 3. They learned via Suzuki Method and had the two best ears of anyone I ever played with. Could they read well? Not really, but they played with a joy and creative-ability that I found to be really inspiring. If I could choose what kind of musician my child was, that would be it. I'm not interested in her winning contests etc, but I am interested in her instrument being an extension of herself. But.... that journey will have to wait a year :) congrats on the piano! They're fun to have in a house.
Oddly, the instructor made the opposite argument, which sold us: He said that he found that kids that learned too early played by rote, and it was the kids that waited a couple of years (5-6yo) that could play piano as an art. At any rate, I think we are both looking for the same outcome.
I took piano lessons for about 10 years as a child. The first five I spent watching my teacher's hands and copying her, rather than reading the music which she thought I was doing. Eventually she caught on, and only then did I start learning the ability to play anything on my own. The first five years were by no means wasted--I learned a lot of physical technique--but I definitely didn't get as much out of those 10 years as I would have liked. Although, I started at age 8, so maybe I was just a difficult child. :P
He said that he found that kids that learned too early played by rote
-Somewhat harder to play by "rote" when you aren't reading but are relying on your ear. Still definitely possible, just less likely imo. Check out the Suzuki Method, I've been impressed by the people I've met that were thus trained.
I'm aware of it. This instructor said he is trained in the Suzuki method, and uses it. His point was that with very young kids, they need to look at their fingers when playing the piano, whereas they don't need to a couple of years later. He found that they needed to unlearn that behavior if they wanted to play freely and artistically. Maybe it's different for violin, which I think might make some sense.