Our guide to the 10 easiest, most practical musical instruments to learn and play <\/p>
Many of us would love to learn an instrument. But is the slog worth the result?\u00a0 And how much screeching will we have to put up with before we produce a reasonable sound?<\/p>\n
Although these are big, philosophical questions, we can help you find some kind of answer. That\u2019s because in the world of music, all things were not created equal, and some instruments are definitely easier to master than others. Or at least, easier to get to a half-decent level.<\/p>\n
Here is our list of the ten easiest instruments.<\/p>\n
Affordable, lightweight, yet robust, with only four strings (as opposed to the guitar\u2019s six), the ukulele<\/a><\/strong> is perhaps the easiest of the string instruments.<\/p>\n You can use it to play music in pretty much any genre. Plus, it has the same number of strings as the violin, making it a great precursor to learning to play its harder, screechier, cousin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> While not everybody will be the next Julian Bream<\/a><\/strong>, mastering a few beginner chords on the guitar is fairly straightforward. And so is finding an instrument in the first place, given that you can get a six-stringer for as little as \u00a310.99 on Amazon.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0 <\/span>Those who want more of a challenge can graduate onto a 12-string guitar, or even an electric guitar. But that\u2019s another discussion for another time.<\/p>\n You might shudder at the memory of school recorder group, but the recorder can sound beautiful. Really, it can!<\/p>\n One of the easiest instruments to learn by ear \u2013 and one of the most difficult to break, even if you were trying \u2013 the recorder is a fantastic introduction to rhythm and musicality. And given that it\u2019s not technically difficult, it frees up your mind to focus on the quality of sound. Or at least, that\u2019s one way of looking at things.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> The huge advantage you have with the harmonica is that any note you play will be in key. That, plus, of course, the fact that you can carry it around in your pocket. The downside is that you\u2019ll rarely (ok, probably never) be asked to join a symphony orchestra. But if blues<\/a><\/strong> and jazz<\/a> <\/strong>are your thing, then the harmonica is a great beginner\u2019s instrument.<\/p>\n The prospect of playing with two hands simultaneously can be daunting. But the big head start you have with the piano is that it\u2019s impossible to play out of tune \u2013 unless, of course, the instrument itself needs tuning, but at least that\u2019s nothing to do with your skills as a musician.<\/p>\n Plus, because all its notes are laid out in front of you, the piano is a good introduction to music theory, allowing you to visualise note and chord spacing in a way that can be rather elusive on other instruments.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll need nice neighbours, but learning the drums cuts out a whole layer of complexity, ie note learning. Of course, it takes serious rhythmic chops to get really good. Still, mastering basic pop or rock beats is fairly easy, and wonderfully cathartic.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> You\u2019d think this was one of the most difficult instruments you could learn. After all, it has about a gazillion strings. But actually, at entry level, the harp<\/a><\/strong> is one of the easier string instruments, given that it has no fretting and requires no bowing. Plus it makes a pleasant sound straight away. That said, there are a couple of flies in the ointment, including the nuisance factor of schlepping it around.<\/p>\n Although it can be tricky at first to learn how to blow into the instrument properly, flute fingerings are surprisingly simple to learn, meaning that you can make progress fairly quickly. Also, the flute uses the same positions as the soprano recorder that many of us will remember from school.<\/p>\n As with the flute, getting a sound out in the first place is one of the hardest parts of learning the clarinet. Plus, there\u2019s that whole business with the reed, and you know how exercised wind players can get about their reeds. However, the fingering system is pretty logical and the sound itself easier to control than it is on many other woodwind instruments. And what a gorgeous sound it is.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> It may not be such an obvious choice, or perhaps it\u2019s the most obvious, depending on how you look at it. But your voice is certainly one of the most practical instruments to learn. You don\u2019t have to buy it in a shop, or worry about somebody nicking it.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need to book an extra seat on a plane for it, or fret about whether its dimensions will comply with Ryanair regulations. You don\u2019t even need the best of instruments: with a bit of training, anyone can improve their vocal quality and technique. And whether the result sounds celestial or merely passable, you can still get enormous pleasure out of it.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Our guide to the 10 easiest, most practical musical instruments to learn and play <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":29397,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/10-easiest-instruments-to-play.jpg",640,480,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/10-easiest-instruments-to-play-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/10-easiest-instruments-to-play-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/10-easiest-instruments-to-play.jpg",640,480,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/10-easiest-instruments-to-play.jpg",640,480,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/10-easiest-instruments-to-play.jpg",640,480,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2023\/06\/10-easiest-instruments-to-play.jpg",640,480,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Our guide to the 10 easiest, most practical musical instruments to learn and play","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/29396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
2. Guitar<\/h3>\n
3. Recorder<\/h3>\n
\n
4. Harmonica<\/h3>\n
5. Piano<\/h3>\n
6. Drums<\/h3>\n
\n
7. Harp<\/h3>\n
8.\u00a0 Flute<\/h3>\n
9. Clarinet<\/h3>\n
\n
10. Voice<\/h3>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"