What is the right age to start music lessons?

Q. My 4-year-old niece takes 20-minute piano lessons. I think it's a waste of time and money. What's the appropriate age for a child to start music lessons? My two school-age children started taking the viola in third grade. I told my sister, but she won't listen.

A. She probably still won't listen after she reads this.

Each family of instruments has a different appropriate starting age, says Dale Lewis, executive director of the Usdan Center for the Arts in Wheatley Heights, a renowned summer arts camp. String players might start in first or second grade, when their hands are developed enough to manipulate the instrument. Wind instruments launch in third or fourth grade, when a child can control the embouchure - the shaping of the lips on the mouthpiece.

Piano is another story, Lewis says. The keys are easy for young children to comprehend, and they can start to develop appreciation for technique and ear training. "They don't need to understand musical theory," Lewis says. "It shouldn't be to teach the child to play sonatas and concertos. Starting at age 4, keeping it fun and very accessible, based on tunes that a child would know, I think would be great." A child age 4 can pay attention for 20 minutes and learn such melodies as "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Lewis sides with sis: "I don't think it's a waste of money."