Music lessons
Whether and when your child learns an instrument: only if they ask, a trial period, required for some years, or required with enforced practice.
Should our child take music lessons?
In short: Parents choose between 4 main approaches: Only if the child asks; Try-it period; Required for a set number of years; Required with enforced practice. Evidence: your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. Best settled: school age.
- Evidence
- Your call
- Best settled
- School age
- Part of
- Learning & the wider world
Music lessons: what are the options?
Parents usually land on one of these 4 approaches.
1. Only if the child asks
The child takes lessons only if they ask.
2. Try-it period
The child tries an instrument for a set time and then chooses.
3. Required for a set number of years
The child must take lessons for a number of years you set.
4. Required with enforced practice
The child must take lessons and practice daily, and you enforce it.
Music lessons: what does the evidence say?
Your call. No outcome evidence picks a winner. Preference, culture, money and logistics decide. (Values; cognitive claims contested)
Well-designed studies find essentially no cognitive transfer; a rebuttal finds small benefits for instruments
Sources
What else is worth knowing?
Some families see learning an instrument as a core part of education; others leave it to the child's interest. Lessons require daily practice, which often becomes the parent's job to oversee. Agree on what you would do when the child wants to stop.
Questions to ask each other
- Did we play an instrument and do we regret quitting or being forced?
- Would we require lessons for a set time?
- How will we handle practice?
More in Play, activities and enrichment
First published 2026-10-03. Last updated 2026-10-05. General information, not medical advice.