How old for piano lessons?

Following on from my guitar post, how old do you think kids have to be to have piano lessons?

I was a musical child altho have sort of let it slide as an adult........had piano lessons from 7 to 17 and was a good guitar player, also played clarinet as an adult.

So I have guitar/ piano/ clarinet at home.

Probably going to get her a guitar for christmas and I can teach her tha basics of that myself. what age do you think it's ok to start piano lessons? or should I wait till she asks to learn????

So far she has shown a lot more interest in the guitar than the piano, altho she has an electronic keyboard (not bought by us I hasten to add, ffs we have a REAL piano nana......) and she likes that

My piano teacher believed in waiting until they show an interest - his daughter asked him to teach her when she was 8, she was playing to huge audiences by the time she was 10!

I'm not sure there is an optimum age but i would say you have to want to do it to enjoy it and therefore be good at it.

not sure about lessons but my bro self taught upto grade 8 standard then had lessons i.ll ask him what thinks x

She's more interested in ballet tbh, so maybe I should let her do that for a bit. Plus she should really learn to swim.......

I would let her decide. I had piano lessons for 6 years and can't read a bloody note, it was torture and I hated it lol

Musicians and (sometime) music teachers here - DH has taught guitar at times....let her decide. Children who are sent to music lesson by parents when they don't want to go (not that I am suggesting this is what you are doing!) rarely enjoy it or continue the instrument.

Guitar is also one of the hardest instruments for small children - your hands are moving in different directions, making different actions with slightly different timings (left hand has to make and hold the notes / chord shape a fraction of a second before your right hand / fingers pluck or strum). Not easy for little people who are still learning not to trip over when they run!

Dancing is fantastic for learning about musicality and rhythm. Piano is a great basis for learning to read music; I wish I'd learned as a child!

Ds1 has been having violin lessons for a year now (he is 7.5) and ds2 (almost 6) has just asked to start piano. His school has said that they won't do them until he is in year 2 so I'm going to get a book and teach him myself.

I do agree that there's little point unless they are showing genuine interest and are willing to do the practice, but they're certainly capable of learning very young if they want to

As a piano teacher myself, I find the best age for kids to start is around the age of 8. As many others have said though, be careful not to "push" (not that you would, I'm sure!) her to play as she will resent it, and that will make it horrid for her and her teacher, and stressful for you too. The best way, I've found, is when a child is really ready (I've had one girl only start with me when she turned 11. She's now 15 and working towards grade 7!) and if they are younger (ie primary school age) they NEED the support of parents from home. This means putting aside time each day (just 5 mins or so to start with) to spend with mum/dad at the piano revising what they learnt in their lesson with their teacher that week. I teach a 7 year old atm, who is certainly bright enough to pick it up quickly, but she is totally unsupported at home (parents don't make time to spend with her at the piano) so she's just "drifting" along, not really learning much and getting frustrated she's not making much progress.

Sorry for the ramble, but hope I've made sense! Do PM me if you want to ask any more questions, etc.

xx