Klarinet Archive - Posting 000158.txt from 1997/08

From: rteitelbaum@-----.com (Rob Teitelbaum)
Subj: How young is too young?
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 1997 01:17:14 -0400

I have a 7-year-old brother (yes, it's a large age gap--what can I say,
we're weird?) who appears to have a good deal of "natural" musical
ability (he can identify pitches and melodies better than anyone else in
the house!), and has been interested in learning clarinet for several
years now. While I certainly haven't discouraged this interest, I have
previously told him that I thought he needed to wait until his lungs and
fingers developed a little more before trying to start on the instrument.
Now my mother thinks he's old enough to begin learning, and is
considering having him take clarinet lessons. I myself began playing when
I was 9, which did not cause me an inordinate amount of difficulty, but
I'm wondering what all of you think--is 7 years old too young to begin
playing?

TIA,

Rob Teitelbaum
rteitelbaum@-----.com