Why No One Will Teach Your Preschooler Piano

I receive lots of phone calls at my studio from frustrated parents looking for piano lessons for their preschool aged child. They’ve called everyone they know, they’ve called every studio in town and everyone tells them the same thing, “We don’t teach piano to kids until they can read / are in Kindergarten”. The list goes on and on. When I get one of these phone calls, I like to take the time to speak with parents about the actual reasons behind the refusal of most teachers. And many times, these parents are grateful that someone finally explained the why rather than just saying “come back when they can read”.

There are actually real and important reasons behind most teachers’ refusal to teach piano to preschoolers. Most mainstream lesson materials are designed for students starting at about age 6. These methods assume that kids can read a little, have some slightly more advanced fine motor skills, and a longer attention span. They assume that the kids will go home and practice daily, that they will complete their writing assignments on their own and then come back the next week to do it all again for another 30 minutes. Because this is the way most of us were taught to play the piano, this is how many piano teachers still work. And as anyone who has ever been the parent of a preschooler can tell you, just focusing on one thing for 30 minutes is an unrealistic expectation.

Now throw in the fact that many preschoolers do not yet have the fine motor skills to play one finger at time on both hands (not just their dominant hand), cannot write letters well unless it’s the ones from their names and need to have more guidance from mom and dad on daily tasks and you can see how traditional piano lessons are simply a recipe for disaster. Many teachers know this and in order to prevent the meltdown and disappointment they know will come, they simply refuse to teach those students who don’t fit into their molded method books.

But what if there were piano lessons designed just for preschoolers? What if these lessons took into account the preschool attention span and the physical limitations of a typical 3-5 year old? What if preschoolers could explore the piano in ways that make them successful and set the groundwork for them to enter the mainstream methods?

Sounds great, doesn’t it? It’s coming. To Norman. Soon. Like, very very soon. I want to make sure you know when piano for preschoolers arrives so we can get your little one’s fingers moving! Just drop your email address in the form below and you’ll be the first to know when registration opens.

I promise I don’t hound you with tons of annoying emails. You will only be notified of preschool piano news and you can unsubscribe at any time. But be sure to click on the opt-in email that will come right after signup so you actually get added to the list!