I’ve never played a musical instrument. Okay, scratch that, I played glockenspiel in my junior high band, but that instrument never took a lot of skill to play and the melodic percussion players weren’t even used in every song, so I never even played much. I’ve tried to learn guitar a few times, but that instrument never really clicked for me, I never fell in love with it.
I don’t want to play a mouth instrument, I know that much. Piano and guitar are out since I don’t have the space for the first one and I’ve tried the second. I like the idea of drums, but the drum is not a solo instrument (in most cases) and anyway, I think my roommate would have a little bit of a problem if I spent all night practicing drums. I want something I can learn on my own from books; I’m a really self-motivated learner who doesn’t do well in a class structure. I’m 24, so I need something I can learn even though I’m an old fogey, but not something that is super-easy to master like the glockenspiel.
This is going to be my new year’s resolution, to learn to play a musical instrument adequately well before the next year is out. I’m especially interested in hearing from people who learned to play an instrument later in life since many people say it can’t be done. Tell me, what instrument(s) should I be researching?
The first thing that comes to mind is the accordion, or any hand-blown reed instrument like that (but not any bagpipes, as from all I’ve heard all the hand-blown bagpipes take years to be any good at). You said you didn’t like guitar, so you probably wouldn’t like banjo, mandolin, or anything like that. Hammered dulcimer, perhaps? Or hurdy-gurdy? I don’t know how obscure or ethnic you want to get.
Well I know you didn’t like the guitar - but what about a ukelele? As long as you can keep it in tune, it’s ridiculously easy to pick up. And portable. And your Tiny Tim impersonation will be the toast of the town.
If you don’t have room for a piano, you can always get an electronic keyboard. Same concept, and the skills are transferable to a piano should you ever find yourself sitting in front of one. Never underestimate the adoring crowds you can gather by playing the piano in a public area impromptu, especially if you can sing as well.
I came in here thinking “banjo,” til you said you tried the guitar. I guess if you’re not into strings, you might not like it. But can you imagine being able to play “Dueling Banjos?” That’s inspiration enough for me. If you have Netflix, there are a couple of banjo videos you can rent, maybe you can get a feel for it.
So then I was going to suggest the accordion, but whadya know, first post and it’s already taken. I don’t know how hard it is to learn, but you’re going to have to have a certain amount of patience to learn a musical instrument in the first place. That’s my problem. No patience. Also, one downside the accordion is that they’re pretty darn expensive.
The ukelele is fun, portable, (relatively) easy, and unusual enough to be a conversation starter. And, while you might not expect it, it can be a terrifically evocative instrument.
Check out Cliff Edwards (sub-pages have links to songs, but they’re in .ram format), aka “Ukulele Ike,” as in our esteemed moderator. He’s best known for being the voice of Jiminy Cricket, but his music is terrific.
I’ve had a ukelele for two years or so, and it’s loads of fun. Granted, I’d been playing guitar for about fifteen years before that, but I’ve heard that it’s one of the easiest instruments to learn. It’s definitely the easiest I’ve played. Also you can get one pretty cheap; a not-great learner’s model will run about $50.
Hammered dulcimer! It’s a fun instrument to play, and you end up surrounded by a cloud of sound (no dampers on the strings, so they just keep ringing). It’s easy to start learning, and the learning curve is pretty steady (my experience), so you shouldn’t hit a plateau that takes all the fun out of it. I taught myself HD by ear in my early 20’s.
It can be played quietly if you use padded or leather-covered hammers, so your roommate would be happy. Un-padded hammers are a lot louder, which is nice if you want to play outdoors. People seem to either like the sound or tune it out easily. When I lived in an apartment, I played a LOT in the evenings - no one complained, and a lot of people remarked how much they liked to hear it (I wasn’t that good, so it had to be the sound and not my talent they liked).
It can be tuned to suit the ethnic music of your choice. It looks VERY impressive.
Dusty Strings made (probably still does) a decent entry-level instrument. If you don’t want a new one, used ones abound.
Mostly punk/alternative, some classical. I never thought about the accordion; it seems hard to learn, though. But what a unique instrument! If someone told me they played it, I would first think it was funny and then I would be really intrigued. Same with the hammered dulcimer, which I had never heard of until this post.
I think what I mostly didn’t like about the guitar was that what I played never seemed to “sound” like anything; I learned a few rock songs (not “Stairway to Heaven,” more like Sleater-Kinney… whose songs are not that complex musically), and even though I thought I was doing everything right, without a bass and drums to take up the other parts of the song it just sounded like the same three chords. Most of what I listen to has just three chords, actually. Maybe if I had tried to learn different songs, I would have liked it, and maybe I’ll try again someday. But I’m definitely not counting out string instruments altogether.
Can you imagine the jam sessions? You’ll be sitting out by the campfire on the beach with some buddies, maybe a coupla hot babes and some brewskies, and suddenly you whip out your accordion? You’ll be gettin’ laid buddy, guaranteed.
It just occurred to me that I assumed you’re male. If you aren’t, I apologize. But I still stand by my statement (the getting laid part, although if you’re female, you probably wouldn’t need the accordion to get laid).
Actually, I am female. But I’d have to say, an accordion would be a major item in the “hot” category (or at least the “interesting” category). Especially if the accordionist also had a Snidely Whiplash mustache and a fedora with a feather in it as per my mental picture of a typical accordion player.
I’m with Sleepy Duck – get an electronic keyboard and learn “piano.” It has the advantage that it makes music quickly and easily, so that you can play favorite songs fairly quickly (even if in simplified versions.)
I have long-ago memories of hearing some guy playing a bowed psaltery when I was at university. Lovely tone, and you don’t stop the strings as with a fiddle - on the other hand you have to move the bow from string to string to change notes, so it’s an unhandier instrument than a fiddle.
'Comes to that, why not the violin? A year hence you should have some idea, although from my experience with the trumpet (first lesson aged 41, nearly four years ago) a modicum of professional training would make no end of difference, even if only at the start. And twentysomething girl fiddlers are hot.
Oh my, I thought I was the only person on earth with a thing for box* players. And I have one something chronic. :eek:
Whilst I’m here I will recommend the harp. Two common misconceptions about those are that there are really hard to move and really expensive. This is certainly true for a concert harp, but there are plenty of moveable and affordable celtic harps, say a harpsicle for a beginner would do nicely.
The other good thing is that it is really hard to make a well tuned harp sound nasty. To make it sound interesting requires practice but pretty much anything you do on a harp sounds more or less pleasant. I’ve been getting by for years that way.
On a more serious note, though. Every instrument, down to the triangle is hard to learn initially. It will take a while before you get to the fun part of playing nice music. Therefore if you don’t feel at least quite strongly about wanting to learn an instruments is quite difficult to get through that hard stage without the thing ending up in a corner gathering dust. So whatever you pick, pick one you truly love. Good luck.
Unless you don’t like keys for some reason, you could do worse than to begin with a synthesizer – old-school, analog synthesizers which have always had a place in synth-pop, post-punk, prog rock. You could buy a cheap MIDI controller, with at least a mod wheel and 4-5 octaves, and try out several freeware software synthesizers on your current computer. These can sound amazing, and are used by top performers on stage today, in addition to many more recordings than you’d think. It’s not difficult to get, to take an example you’re probably familiar with, the sounds on Herbie Hancock’s “Headhunters” album from freeware synthesizers.
Digital pianos are small, and decent starter instruments with weighted actions are cheap now – Yamaha P-60; Clavia Privia (recently released models are reported to have a better piano sample than the first generation). I used a Wurlitzer 200A electric piano for a few years as a practice instrument – it’s very small and has self-contained speakers. Everyone’s using one nowadays, it seems, even in rock or pop music.
If you really get into music, you’ll want a keyboard – or at least a chordal instrument – eventually as an aid to your studies in harmony. You won’t struggle to produce a tone in the beginning. Playing these instruments well is very difficult, but while you learn the fine points, you’ll be playing simple accompaniments and leads out of the box, guaranteed, if you try. Also, instruments like the Wurlitzer or my main axe now, the Rhodes, are very susceptible to use of guitar-style effects. I always think of standard notation as being “keyboard tablature” as well, so you won’t have the horrible task of trying to learn to read after becoming proficient on a string instrument, like guitar, or of beginning an instrument which doesn’t have a substantial concert repertoire with which to practice technique or analyze.
I’m going to nominate the zither so you can have that cool Orson Wells Third Man sound. Punk-zither… very cool.
Actually, I agree with some of the other posters on picking up a keyboard, and there are several reasons for this. One, a chorded instrument will make it less “boring” to practice because you will be creating a fuller sound to help fill in those dead spaces you complained about. I know what you mean here because I play saxophone, and it does get a bit boring just playing/practicing by yourself. Two, learning the concept of chords will dramatically improve your overall concept and understanding of music… and the more you understand about it the more confident you’ll feel and the more fun you’ll have. I also play guitar (which I learned much after learning sax) and having to learn the guitar chords and why certain things work and other things don’t work actually improved my saxophone playing. Third, there is an absolute drought of good rock/alt keyboard players out there. You can find 100 guitarists to every good keyboard player, so if you’re looking to hook up with a band in the future, this may be a consideration. Four, once you are comfortable playing, there are endless possibilities with patches, open-source synths, etc.
And maybe another real suggestion would be a harmonica. I know it’s a mouth instrument, but it’s moderately easy to pick up (though does take some serious effort to master), supremely affordable and portable, and you can usually just plop down with anyone else with an instrument and start jamming on harmonica.
Also, this is sometimes a good place to find deals on used gear. (Though the Pittsburgh listings seem a bit sparse.)
As always… learning any instrument has it’s ups and downs, so stay with it and keep practicing.
I don’t know how hard it is to learn, but you’re going to have to have a certain amount of patience to learn a musical instrument in the first place. That’s my problem. No patience. Also, one downside the accordion is that they’re pretty darn expensive.
