What is the "Easiest" Musical Instrument to Learn?

Hi, and welcome to virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com. I'm Robert Estrin.

Today's question is a really loaded one. What is the easiest instrument to learn how to play? There's a lot to this question and there are many different levels of difficulty that we might assume. And let's get it right here.

First of all, there are different aspects of what is easy. I've often said that, in some ways, in basic tone production, the piano is the easiest instrument of all. You simply push a key and you get a tone. Even a young child can do it and get a satisfactory sound out of the piano. Try that in an oboe or a flute. It could be hard, even in the course of an entire lesson, even getting a sound out of an instrument like that.

So what is the easiest instrument? I'm tempted to say kazoo. But being serious for a moment, the human voice, we all sing, so maybe that's the easiest instrument. However, if you've ever heard a great singer and then listen to yourself, you know there is a real distinction in the quality of sound.

So the question is twofold. What's the easiest instrument to approach? What's the easiest instrument to master? And, sadly, there are no easy instruments to master. They all require tremendous amounts of work. I will say this, however. I majored in both piano and French horn in conservatory, and some instruments require more practice than other instruments. In fact, there are some instruments that you can't practice as much as other instruments. For example, the voice, getting back to the human voice. Now, there's a tremendous study of scores and the study of languages and accents, and many aspects that go into the study of voice, however, no one's gonna practice singing for eight hours, whereas some violinists or pianists, indeed, will practice six, eight hours a day preparing for competitions. A brass instrument, it's pretty tough to practice six hours in a day. Maybe with rehearsals, if you're very gentle in your warm-up and careful, you might be able to do six hours, but really, a four- or five-hour day is a heck of a lot to blow a horn or a trumpet.

So, some instruments require longer practice or you can practice longer. Piano, because the immense repertoire and all the complexity, the score requires a lot of practice, so the string instruments oftentimes, but the truth be known, no instrument is easy to master and some people have an affinity more for one instrument or another. The instrument that you love is the one that you're going to be drawn to and will be easiest for you to master.

Thanks so much for the great questions. Again, Robert Estrin at livingpianos.com and virtualsheetmusic.com.

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