Music, from four to eighteen

Four is the usual starting age

322 of the 707 take a child aged four to six, and that is where most families begin. At that age it is initiation rather than an instrument: singing, clapping rhythms, trying things before committing to one.

76 take children under four. Not many, and they go quickly.

It does not stop at twelve

337 music activities take 13 and over, second only to sport for teenagers. At that stage it becomes ensembles, orchestras and jazz groups rather than lessons, and most of them take people who have never played.

Starting an instrument at 14 is ordinary here. The assumption that it is too late is the only thing that makes it true.

Wind, strings, and the unusual ones

Wind instruments are the largest single group, covering flute, clarinet, trumpet and saxophone. Then guitar, violin, piano, choir and singing, solfège, cello and percussion.

The unusual ones are worth knowing because nobody thinks to search for them: ancient harp, organ at the Temple de la Madeleine in the Vieille-Ville, double bass at Jonction, accordion in Grand-Lancy.

It is a commitment

666 of the 707 are ongoing classes rather than one-offs. Music is the category with the least try-before-you-buy of any we list, so a trial lesson agreed directly with the school is usually the way in.

Where

Genève has 396, then Lancy with 62, Carouge 32 and Satigny 30 activities. 19 communes altogether, and the right bank is better served than parents expect.