Any dangers associated with learning piano too young?
I have read:
How do I motivate my 8-year-old to practice the piano regularly?
How do you teach a toddler rhythm and melody?
How do you determine when to start a child on music lessons without pressuring them?
But I still don't have an answer.
Are there any dangers associated with starting a child to play the piano at too early of an age? My daughter is 6 years old and some friends have told my wife that learning piano before age 7 can cause problems with the child's heart, somehow relating it to finger movement.
I've searched elsewhere and have yet to find any reference of any health-related dangers. Are there any that I simply have not found yet?
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It probably depends on how long and how often they play. But as beginners I don't think they will overstretch their hands or do anything which could be harmful. Some piano teacher told me that we usually recommend children to be at least 6 year old.
That is absolutely NONSENSE.
Post kindergarten and around that age is a great time to start!
The only "danger" to piano would be forcing it too young on a child (say 2 or 3) because the attention isn't there and physically their muscles and joints would have potential problems forcing that young.
As far as piano and heart conditions are concerned that is just plain nonsense. You need to stop listening to these people because they don't know what they are talking about.
At our local music school courses start the year the kids are 6. The usual pack is 2.5h per week divided among:
Solfège
Choir singing
Learning the first instrument (piano, guitar, you name it)
My kids started last september with piano when they were 5. The first three months they constantly shouted stated in a civil manner their opposition to music lessons. The next four months they wanted to switch to trumpet, guitar or whatever rather than piano. Now they enjoy it a lot.
So the only things in danger are your patience, family budget and eardrums. Your kids will be fine.
The keys of the regular acoustic piano are quite "heavy" that initially limits the duration of the lesson. I do not think that getting tired is dangerous but do not push on playing further if the child says she is tired after 20 or about minutes of playing.
I have researched and researched and researched looking for any associations between starting piano too young and heart complications. I have found nothing. While that's not dismissing the claim since I have no evidence either way, it does sounds rather unreasonable.
I was able to find personal stories of playing piano and problems with pain. One man I read about, Chuan C. Chang, revealed a story about chest/heart pains after playing intensely. He ended up discovering that it was 1, due to bad warm-ups, and 2, because he wasn't relaxing while he played. This was causing him to stress his diaphragm while he played, thus causing heart attack and heart palpitation symptoms.
Another lady indicated that playing the piano caused her pain because of her [fibromyalgia].
I found several other sites that were more satire than anything but nothing related to heart issues and children playing the piano. The only danger I can think of is that if they are not mature enough yet to take on a musical instrument, they may develop a disdain for it and complete disregard lessons as being useful.
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