A First Instrument: Violin or Piano? — How to Choose What Suits Your Child and Family
Why this topic is on parents’ minds
Around age 4 is a time when the number of families starting an instrument jumps. And the first question that stands in the way when considering it is almost always “Piano or violin—which should we choose?”
- “I heard violin gives children perfect pitch more easily—is that true?”
- “Is it true that piano can progress even with self-study, but violin is hard to supervise at home?”
- “Are there age guidelines like violin if starting at 3, piano at 4 to 5?”
- “Is it true that learning an instrument makes children smarter?”
- “In the end, which is easier to keep up?”
Online, this topic has many assertive comparison articles circulating, such as “perfect pitch comes with violin,” “IQ comes with piano,” “___ makes you smart.” But when you line up actual research and findings from performing arts medicine, the answer converges on “not which instrument is better, but something to choose by fit with your family.” Let’s go through it in order.
First, let’s check: the current state of the “learning an instrument makes you smarter” theory
Let’s first properly check the premise “because it makes them smarter,” which tends to be placed first as a motive for choosing an instrument.
An experiment that randomly assigned 144 6-year-olds to 4 groups—piano lessons, voice lessons, drama lessons, and no lessons—and compared their IQs after 36 weeks
reported that the music lesson groups had a full-scale IQ increase about 3 points larger. It is a famous study that became the starting point of the argument that “music might make children a little smarter.”
However, later, a meta-analysis integrating 38 studies (3,085 participants in total) that examined the cognitive transfer of music training in children and adolescents was published, showing that when the quality of study design is controlled for, the effect of music training on other cognitive abilities and academic achievement converges to almost zero.
In other words, research as a whole at present does not support strong claims such as “having your child learn piano raises IQ” or “doing violin makes you smarter.”
With that in mind, when piano and violin are compared for the purpose of “enjoying music itself and acquiring it as a skill,” what is the difference between them?—here is the main topic.
The essential differences as instruments
Piano and violin differ greatly in the very structure of the instrument. Once you grasp this, “the difference in how they look at home” becomes easy to understand.
Piano: a “chord instrument” with fixed pitches
On a piano, the moment it is tuned, all the pitches are physically fixed. Pressing a key always plays that note—in other words, the task of “creating the pitch” is separated from the player.
In exchange, because it can play several notes at once with 10 fingers, one person can express chords, accompaniment, and melody at the same time. Both Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and Chopin’s waltzes work as whole pieces on a single piano.
Violin: a melodic instrument in which the player “creates” the pitch
The violin has no frets (no markers like a guitar). By shifting where the fingers are placed by millimeters, the player creates the pitch themselves. At the same time, they create tone and volume with the angle, speed, and pressure of the bow.
In exchange, the number of notes that can be played at once is basically 1 to 2 (limited even with double stops). With a single violin, most pieces become “melody only,” and it is an instrument that works as a set with ensembles or accompaniment.
Piano
Keyboard, fixed pitch, chord instrument
Pitch is fixed by tuning. It can play chords, and a piece is complete with one player. <strong>Suits self-study and practice at home</strong>. On the other hand, because pitch is not created by ear, training in 'creating pitch by ear' tends to be secondary.
Violin
Bowed strings, player creates pitch, melodic instrument
Pitch is created by the player to the millimeter. Chords are limited, centered on melody. <strong>Training in creating pitch with the ear and fingers</strong> is needed every day. On the other hand, even in home practice, 'checking the pitch' is always needed, from a parent or a recording.
Which is superior?
Editorial summary
<strong>Not superiority but a structural difference</strong>. Piano is 'an instrument suited to self-study, where a piece is complete with one player'; violin is 'an instrument that creates pitch with the ear and fingers and assumes a parent accompanies practice.' The conclusion visible from research and practice is that it is something to choose by the home environment and the child's temperament.
A guide to when to start
For both instruments, there is no strong evidence showing “age ___ is best.” However, there are guidelines, from the structure of the instruments, for “the age at which children can realistically start.”
Violin: possible from age 3, but assuming a parent accompanies practice
The violin has fractional-size instruments starting from 1/16 size, a structure that lets even small children hold one. In classes that use materials systematized by the International Suzuki Association (ISA), it is also common to start around age 3 with “practicing how to hold the instrument.”
What matters, however, is that it is impossible for a 3-year-old to tune, check their posture, and check their own pitch by themselves. Daily practice almost assumes a parent accompanying them at their side.
Piano: from ages 4 to 5 is standard
Because piano requires sitting in a chair and moving the fingers independently, many classes generally start from ages 4 to 5. Because pressing a key plays a note, it is an instrument where time for the child to “play around on it” alone easily works.
The critical period for perfect pitch and its relationship with instruments
It has been reported that acquiring perfect pitch has a developmental critical period, and that whether music training was started by about ages 5 to 6 is strongly involved.
What we want you to note here is that one cannot simply say that perfect pitch is “easier to acquire with violin” or “easier to acquire with piano.” The key is whether the child received “training linking note names with pitches” during the critical period, and that depends more on the method of lessons and the everyday sound environment than on the type of instrument. For perfect pitch itself, please see the article “Should children acquire perfect pitch?”
How involved parents need to be — the biggest difference
What affects “family life” most in choosing an instrument is the burden on parents of accompanying practice.
Violin: daily accompaniment is almost essential
Listing the typical roles parents take on in violin practice from preschool to the early grades of elementary school, they look like this.
- Tuning: fractional instruments from 1/16 to 1/4 size have pegs that loosen easily and need tuning almost every day. Difficult for children
- Checking posture: unless you check how the instrument is held, how the bow is held, and how the shoulder is raised each time, bad habits become fixed
- Checking the pitch: every time, checking and correcting whether the note the child played is right
- Sitting with the child during practice: being present every day for 10- to 20-minute practices, moving things along while encouraging
- Recitals and class events: Suzuki Method classes tend to have many events where parents come along, such as ensemble concerts and grand concerts
This does not mean “it’s hard, so avoid it”; it means that “for families who can enjoy accompanying practice, it becomes rich time to engage closely with the child through music.” On the other hand, if both parents work and it is hard to be present on weekdays, or the parent has no music experience and feels uneasy, choosing a class and coordinating with the teacher become extremely important.
Piano: suits self-study and practice at home
Because the pitches are physically fixed, piano is an instrument where, even if the child practices alone, “becoming fixed with pitches off” is unlikely to happen. Because pressing a key plays a note, “playing around a little” works even at the preschool stage.
For this reason, a feature of piano is that a parent being present every day is not quite essential. Especially for families where the parents have no music experience, having “a sense of being able to leave practice to the child” is a big advantage.
However, this is also a double-edged sword. If it becomes too much like self-study, habits in posture, habits in finger use, skipping over parts of the score, and so on can become fixed between lessons. These are areas a teacher cannot fully cover in one 30-minute lesson a week.
Space needed
<strong>Piano</strong>: even an upright is about 150 cm wide and weighs over 200 kg. An electronic piano can save space.<br /><strong>Violin</strong>: the instrument itself is very small. A case and a music stand are enough.
Guide to initial costs
<strong>Piano</strong>: electronic piano ¥50,000 to ¥150,000; used upright from ¥200,000 to ¥500,000 and up.<br /><strong>Violin</strong>: fractional instrument ¥30,000 to ¥100,000 (set). However, <strong>it needs to be replaced 2 to 3 times as the body grows</strong>.
Running costs
<strong>Piano</strong>: monthly fees about ¥6,000 to ¥12,000. Tuning 1 to 2 times a year, around ¥15,000 (not needed for an electronic piano).<br /><strong>Violin</strong>: monthly fees about ¥7,000 to ¥15,000. Bow rehairing from ¥6,000, string replacement ¥5,000 to ¥15,000/year.
Differences in physical load
The two instruments also differ in the nature of the load they place on a child’s body.
Violin: an asymmetrical posture continues over the long term
On the violin, the player holds a posture with the instrument clamped by the left shoulder and the neck twisted to the left for long periods. A clinical, ergonomic, and behavioral study of professional violin players reports a high frequency of musculoskeletal problems in the neck, shoulders, and upper back. Because it is about professional players, it does not apply as is to preschool children, but that the accumulation of an asymmetrical posture can affect the body is shared as common knowledge in performing arts medicine.
While children are young, practice time is short and serious problems are rare, but care such as “learning from a teacher who corrects posture,” “splitting practice time,” and “adjusting the shoulder rest and chin rest as the child grows” is important.
Piano: symmetrical use of both hands, mainly seated. On the other hand, delicate finger movements
Piano is played in a relatively balanced posture, moving both hands symmetrically. A neuroscientific review dealing with the flexibility of motor control in piano performance lays out the process by which pianists develop highly independent control of the fingers.
In piano learning in the preschool years, the height of the chair, whether there is a footrest, and the angle of the wrists are key points. In the lower grades, hands are still small, and forcing the fingers to stretch unreasonably can cause pain.
Which children and which families each suits
Based on the summary so far, what becomes visible is less “suited or unsuited” and more the obvious matching of “for this kind of child and this kind of family, this one is easier to keep up.”
Features of families for whom piano is easier to keep up
- The parents have no music experience, and it is hard to be closely present at daily practice
- The child is the type who enjoys time spent concentrating on something alone
- There is space at home to put an instrument (an electronic piano is fine)
- A child who likes finishing pieces at their own pace rather than in ensembles
- An inclination toward “I want to be able to play lots of pieces on my own”
Features of families for whom violin is easier to keep up
- The parents themselves can enjoy accompanying 10 to 20 minutes of practice every day
- The child likes both play that uses the body and play with sound
- The family can be enthusiastic about taking part in the class’s recitals and ensemble concerts
- The family can accept replacing the instrument as the child’s body grows
- The family wants to value experiences of “playing together with everyone” and “playing with the teacher and peers”
Actually, I’d heard that violin is better because children get perfect pitch, and it’s been on my mind.
It’s true that there’s a critical period, until about ages 5 to 6, for acquiring perfect pitch. But what makes perfect pitch easier to acquire is not “because it’s violin,” but “how much training linking note names with pitches the child received during that period.” Some piano classes do careful ear training, and some violin classes focus more on expression in pieces than on ear training. The content of the lessons and the sound environment at home matter more than the instrument.
I see. Also, I’ve never done any music, so I’m worried whether I could accompany violin practice…
That worry is important information. Because violin is an instrument that almost assumes a parent is present every day, in families where the parent can’t be beside the child during weekday practice, or where sitting with them feels like a burden, the parent often gets tired before the child does. Piano, on the other hand, lets the child play around on their own, so it works relatively well even if the parent has no experience at all.
How to set up the home environment so the child can keep going
Whichever you choose, the things families can do to make it easier to continue are quite similar.
1. Prioritize “how often the child touches the instrument each day” over the amount of practice
From preschool to the early grades of elementary school, touching the instrument every day, even for 5 to 10 minutes, rather than 30 minutes of formal sit-down practice every day, results in lasting longer. Longer on days when the mood is right, shorter on days when it isn’t—that way, “instrument = something painful” doesn’t happen.
2. Celebrate “the moment the child becomes able to play something” together
Rather than “How was today’s lesson?”, “You can play this now? Amazing!” motivates children to go on to the next step. Parents listening happily works better than anything.
3. Treat the class and fit with the teacher as most important
More than the choice of instrument, fit with the teacher makes the biggest difference to whether the child keeps it up. We recommend going to trial lessons at several classes and seeing whether your child says, “I want to see that teacher again.”
4. Decide from the start that “it’s OK to quit”
“You have to keep at it for 3 years,” “quitting partway shows lack of grit”—these worries have little research basis. Promising each other from the start, parent and child, that “if it stops being fun, we’ll talk, and it’s OK to quit” ends up making the period of continuing healthier too.
5. In parallel, keep “time to enjoy music” at home
Outside lessons and practice—singing as a family, dancing to favorite songs, going to concerts and events—having time to enjoy music itself positions practicing the instrument as “one way of engaging with music,” and eases the sense of obligation. If you are interested in a eurhythmics-type approach, please also see the article “Does eurhythmics work?” (Japanese)
Closing dialogue
Until now I’d been thinking about it in terms of “which is superior,” but the way I was framing the question was off in the first place, wasn’t it?
That’s right. Piano and violin have completely different characters as instruments, so rather than comparing which is better, it’s much more constructive to think about which fits our family’s life and our child’s preferences. If both parents work and your child likes to concentrate alone, piano is easier to keep up; if you can enjoy accompanying practice and your child likes both physical play and sound play, violin is easier to keep up. That’s all there is to it.
I think I’ll ask my child which one she likes. I want to take her to trial lessons for both and see how she reacts.
That’s the best approach. If you watch whether she says “I want to see that teacher again” on the way home from a trial lesson, you’ll learn both your child’s preferences and the fit with the teacher at once. Whichever you choose, if it adds time for your child to enjoy an instrument at home, it’s truly a good choice.
Research details
Primary sourcesStudy design: Randomized controlled trial (RCT)
Participants: 144 6-year-olds (randomly assigned to 4 groups: piano / voice / drama / no lessons), with a 36-week intervention
Main results: The groups that received piano and voice lessons had a full-scale IQ increase about 3 points larger than the control groups (the effect was small, but was observed uniformly across IQ subscales and standardized achievement tests).
Limitations: A single experiment in a single laboratory. The sample size is moderate. The effect size is small, and later large meta-analyses did not reproduce an equivalent effect. Note that it was not a “comparison by type of instrument.”
Study design: Meta-analysis
Scope: 38 studies (3,085 participants in total) that tested the cognitive transfer of music training in children and adolescents
Main results: The overall effect size is d=0.16 (very small). The higher the quality of the study design, the smaller the effect (an inverse relationship). It concluded that “it cannot be said that music training reliably improves children’s cognitive abilities or academic achievement.”
Limitations: The content of the interventions (instrument, duration, teaching method) varies, and it is not an analysis that isolates “the effect of a particular instrument.”
Study design: Cross-sectional survey study
Participants: Analyzed the relationship between the age of starting music training and acquiring perfect pitch, in people with and without perfect pitch
Main results: The rate of acquiring perfect pitch was higher the earlier music training started, and notable especially in the group that started by ages 4 to 5. In the group that started at age 6 or later, the acquisition rate fell sharply. The authors concluded that “acquiring perfect pitch has a developmental critical period.”
Limitations: It is a cross-sectional survey, and comparison by type of instrument was not its main purpose. Whether a person has perfect pitch itself depends greatly on whether they had “training linking note names with pitches.”
Study design: Neuroscientific review
Scope: Organized a body of research on the flexibility of motor control in piano performance
Main results: Skilled pianists develop to a high degree independent control of the fingers, coordination of both hands, and context-dependent switching of movements. This motor learning is acquired through long-term practice.
Limitations: It is a review paper, so generalizing to preschool children should be done carefully. The claim that “piano transfers to other abilities” is outside the scope of this paper.
Study design: Clinical, ergonomic, and behavioral survey
Participants: Surveyed musculoskeletal symptoms and related factors in professional violin players
Main results: Violin players reported musculoskeletal problems in the neck, shoulders, and upper back at a high frequency. A long-lasting asymmetrical posture and the way the instrument is held were identified as the main factors.
Limitations: It studied professional players and does not apply as is to preschool children. However, it is useful as a general finding in performing arts medicine that “the accumulation of an asymmetrical posture can affect the body.”
Study design: Textbook / review chapter
Scope: Organized the neuroscientific foundations of music education
Main results: It organizes the integration of hearing, movement, and vision in learning an instrument, as well as the features of teaching methods (the Suzuki Method, Kodály, Orff, etc.) and their place from a neuroscientific viewpoint. As features of the Suzuki Method, it lists “the mother-tongue model,” “parents accompanying practice,” and “learning that enters through the ear.”
Limitations: Because it is a review, it is not a quantification of the effects of particular interventions but an overview of teaching methods.