People often ask, “What’s the best age to start music lessons?”. After years of personal observation, I’d say that it’s based on more than one factor. The first would be inspiration. For years my parents wanted me to take piano lessons, but I wasn’t even interested in trying. Mostly because of some misconceptions I had about the piano, I had zero inspiration to start. But then one day, at the age of 10, I heard a couple buddies of mine playing the famous Heart & Soul piano duet on an old upright during recess at school. I had no clue that either one could do that and somehow the funky little duet on that old timey slightly out of tune piano was exhilarating. Surprisingly, these days, I get annoyed when I hear someone playing that duet. But back then, it was the spark of inspiration which caused me to do a 180 and shock my parents when I approached them about wanting to take piano lessons. So, I’m a huge believer in inspiration as I’ve seen what it did for me and many others at any age. 
The next factor would be focus. Having taught private lessons, it’s clear that some kids between 5 and 7 can’t sit still for 5 minutes. However, I’ve learned that some kids at age 5 are more focused than some adults. It was quite a revelation to see that some of the biggest whiners and least focused are adults. I’ve had some adults show up for their lesson week after week and spend 90% of the time talking about non-music topics.
Another factor is physical and mental maturity. Physical mainly because of the strength and size of hands which is sometimes necessary (at least for certain instruments like piano and guitar). And mental because typically the older and more mature we get, the more experienced and better we are with fundamentals like discipline and time management for a daily practice routine.
One of the misconceptions non-musicians have is that you must start lessons as a kid at a very early age. However, some of the best players I’ve ever heard didn’t start lessons until their late teens. So, while it’s true that Mozart and Beethoven started extremely young, apparently others have managed to become quite accomplished following a different path.
For me, the stars finally lined up just right at the right time. When I got my first piano at age 11, I had the inspiration, the focus (no iPads and video games back then), and enough mental faculty to make plenty of time for daily practice. In tenth grade I got my first electric bass and in the eleventh grade I got my first acoustic guitar. And interestingly, I‘ve taught people who didn’t start lessons until they were in their 70’s. So, I don’t believe there’s one “best age” for everyone to start. And how about you? If you ever took music lessons, do you think you started at an age that was right for you?