"Easy" Instruments

Post Reply New Topic

What musical instruments do non-musicians think are the easiest to play, besides the triangle, kazoo, and whistle?

Need more cowbell.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGBD1KUz2RA[/youtube]

the guitbass and bassitar... one finger power chords.

as someone who has played both, i can say that the trumpet i easier than the violin.

I briefly played a small drum for a Morris dancing troop, and it felt pretty straight forward.

bass drum is pretty easy. as long as one has a double-headed beater, one can roll or thwack with aplomb. BOOM!! !

For all the percussion instruments mentioned, you will need a good sense of rhythm. Really, you need it for anything, but it's especially crucial for the percussion listed above.

I've played other brass instruments, and they are really easy, but you have to practice several times a week in order to keep your lip in shape. Don't puff out your cheeks!

the problem with all wind instruments is the embouchure is the most important thing, any issues with mouth or lips ends things before they begin.

I have read, and I think it is the truth, that the saxophone is difficult to play really well, but it is one of the easier ones to play acceptable.

the double reeds and the French horn are the toughest for those without iron embouchures. the flute [especially the bass flute] takes the most lung power.

Anything with a reed will take more work than other brass instruments because of the fingering. Trombones take a lot of skill, too, because you have to develop your ear to hit the notes exactly. A trumpet usually only has three valves, so the fingering consists of only a few combinations. As the notes get higher, you rely more on your lip because the intervals between open keyed notes get smaller.

probably the two toughest instruments to master, are the drumset and the Wurlitzer theatrical pipe organ with 2nd touches. the reason being, both instruments requires fluent multitasking, IOW each limb does something different without even having to think about it. with the Wurlitzer, each finger/foot has to do up to 3 different things at once.

the recorder for sure

Some would consider the clarinet, until they realize how screwed up you must be in order to play it. First, the entire weight of the instrument comes down on your right thumb. Second, the weakest finger on both hands, the pinkie, controls the stiffest levers on the horn. Third, the instrument is acoustically compromised. The air column of the instrument is a cylinder, instead of a cone, which makes it acoustically unstable. For example, if you play a middle c on a sex, a flute, an oboe, or a bassoon, and you open the register key, that note becomes a c one octave higher. Do the same on the clarinet, and that same middle c becomes a g on top of the treble clef. Why? The air column is a cylinder on the clarinet, while the other instruments listed, the air column is a cone. Finally, given the acoustic instability of a cylindrical air column, many compromises had to be made on the placement of tone holes on the clarinet, which means it can never be perfectly played in tune with the rest of the band or orchestra.

With the register key, the note goes up an octave and a fifth, therefore there are more fingerings to learn. None of the clarinets are the easiest instruments. This is why I have strong pinkies.

As someone who had to play recorder as well as many other instruments, definitely not. You need to learn how to blow and press the holes correctly, and the fingering is complex.

It's easy to learn to play easy songs on the piano, and it's the easiest to kearn to read music from and get a sense of melody and chords.