Some say the best time to start learning music is when you’re a young child. As someone who was kicked out of piano lessons at age seven, I say ‘not necessarily.’
For some reason, I wasn’t interested in piano at seven. In hindsight, it’s a bit embarrassing and I feel bad for my old piano teacher, Mr. Johnson. I never practiced and you can’t blame him for getting fed up with me. He’d be very surprised to hear I ended up as a professional guitar teacher who’s been doing it for over thirty years.
I started learning guitar at age fifteen, and was by then a self starter who practiced without being told. You can probably blame AC/DC, who were big at the time. They were enough to inspire me to spend hours every day practicing. That was the right time in life for me to start music, and guitar was the right instrument.
There is no set age to start learning guitar, but to be fair, it’s good to try it early in life. Two of Australia’s best ever – Tommy Emmanuel and the classical John Williams – both started at the age of five, and look how they turned out. Some kids who start young do drop out though, while others stick with it. Like myself, some need to be older. Teenagers, for example, have often developed an interest in music by the time they are teens.
However, some of the keenest students are the adults. Two of my most enthusiastic right now are in their fifties. One is a lady who first picked up a guitar a few years ago and it’s now her number one passion. The other is a 55 year old heart surgeon who says that the guitar lesson is the highlight of his week.
On the other hand, I do have some good young ’uns too. There’s a nine year old girl who’s been learning bass for two years and is doing really well. Also a seven year old boy learning ukulele.
In other words, there’s no set age for learning guitar. It’s just when the person is ready and willing to try it out.
Having said that, some early exposure to music is good. When I learned guitar at fifteen, some of the knowledge from my early piano lessons came back, mainly the ability to read music. So it is worthwhile to try things at a young age when the brain is developing and receptive to new experience. Even if a kid learns for a while then drops out, they may come back to the instrument later. And who knows? Maybe if they do start young, they’ll turn out to be the next Tommy Emmanuel or John Williams! More importantly, they’ll develop a lifelong love of music, which is what really matters.