Parents of very young children often ask me if their offspring are old enough to start to learn piano. Well I've known some four year olds to start to learn to play piano successfully. Most, however, at that age find it too much of a challenge and I see them return later when they are closer to six years old.

I have a great deal of experience teaching a music course designed for very young children. It covers keyboard skills as well as singing and general musical awareness. At four or five 'though tiny hands and fingers find it hard to cope. By the age of six, however, most children will progress with leaning keyboard skills faster and enjoy the experience more.

It may appear obvious, but there is a marked difference between a five and six year old learning to play piano. It's not just hand size to reach the piano notes but ability to concentrate too. Basic knowledge in other ways of the world makes a big difference too. For example, knowing the first seven letters of the alphabet.

The type of course offered too makes a big difference. My course for the very young is taught in a group of six or seven pupils. Parents are encouraged to sit in and help. I can demonstrate and encourage from the front whilst parents can guitde their own child's hands on the piano keyboard. I can move around the group and check each is coping.

Lessons for the very young need to be flexible and fast moving. Incorporating singing and even dancing helps to introduce musical concepts leading to learning piano without the need for great physical dexterity. Preventing piano or music lessons from becoming too intense helps in teaching adults as much as it does in teaching children.

When learning music you are actually asking the pupil to think in two languages at the same time, for music has a 'language' all of its own. Add to that the need to learn to physical keyboard skills of making your hands work independently and add expression and feeling to the music and you realise what a task learning to play piano is.

I therefore have all praise and admiration whenever I see a six year old, who probably has difficulty reading English, make a success of playing the piano. There are lots of children of this age who cope very well, however. It's wonderful to see a small child learning to sit comfortably at the piano and looking at ease as they play their simple but challenging pieces.

To wrap up then I would say that the age of about seven would be an ideal time to start seriously taking piano lessons. This can be preceeded 'though by a couple of years of learning to 'feel' and understand simple musical ideas such as rhythm and pitch through singing and dancing. Of course, 'though, a keen six year old with supportive parents will be far more successful than a sullen seven year old who is really only their because of parental ambition rather than their own.

Each child and each teacher is different. You have to make a realistic judgement and don't despair if things don't work out at the first attempt. Just be careful not to push too hard and risk putting off a child from music forever by going too far too young. Remember to learn piano should be a joy and a benefit to all.