My 13 year son is just like that. (I'm not!) He started choir in the 4th grade, and immediately started learning to read music. He's in the 8th grade varsity choir at his middle school, and recently started lessons. The guy is a natural, and I wish we'd started sooner. Good luck "freeing yourself" on the keyboard. I can't play a damn thing, and like others here, sure wish I had taken the lessons as a kid that were offered to me. I can imagine few things that would be cooler than to be able to sit down and just play riffs on a piano. I've learned to pick out Memories of Green from Blade Runner, and a couple of other things, but music looks like Chinese or Greek to me. I told my kid that he's going to have a gas playing in bands in high school.
Good Boys Do Fine Always. I did the Suzuki method from age 4... reading music was no problem. (frankly, I was so young, I forgot what the "method" really was... but I never had a hard time reading music). The key, of course, is to find a good teacher. No matter what "method" you end up using, a good teacher superseeds all.
Hey Ima, does your mom still teach piano? My wife wants to start lessons for my son. He'll be six in June. We're in the Cy-Fair area.
Both my boys started in Kindergarten playing cello in a local elementary school that teaches the Suzuki method. They introduced sight reading as the kids got older and were ready for it. They both have a great appreciation for music and are able to pick up other instruments pretty easily. My youngest now plays the stand up bass in the HS orchestra and is looking at having a music scholarship to college. Don't discount Suzuki, especially for the younger kids.
