Suggestions for new musical instruments to self-teach

Cafe Society
1

I’m pondering the idea of using some of my now-free time to teach myself to play a musical instrument, and I’m looking for ideas.

It’s been a few years since I’ve played anything, but I read music pretty well, I took about 10 years of piano lessons, I played the saxophone for a while, and I’ve sung in several very amateur level choirs. I’ve never played a stringed instrument of any sort.

The requirements -
It must be interesting to play solo. This is something I’ll be sitting on my porch doing.
It can’t be very expensive. I don’t need a pro-level instrument, and I’m willing to spend up to maybe $200. I am willing to buy second hand. This is about entertaining myself/doing something besides watching TV.
It must be smallish. No tubas, no pianos.
And finally, I live in a suburban area, so noise level can be an issue. No bagpipes.

Other than that, I’m pretty open. I’m also quite willing to try out something unusual.

The first instruments I thought of were the harmonica, or just to be different, a theremin (I know those are very different price ranges).

Any other suggestions? Banjo? Lap harp? Pan flute? didgeridoo?

2

I think I would pick guitar before the banjo.

3

Ukulele - cheap, easy to play, not loud

The strumming and “chunking” techniques are fun. You can sing along. Skills are somewhat transferrable to the guitar.

4

I vote guitar. You just need to build up some calluses on your left hand and learn four chords (three for country music) and you can sound pretty good all by yourself. You can buy a decent new guitar for less than $500, so $200 used should be easy. Consider a classical guitar if you want something soft to play alone on your front porch; the nylon strings will be easier on your fingers.

5

I feel like you’re not particularly looking for a challenge, in which case I will second the guitar, or if you’d like to be less mainstream, the uke or banjo. These instruments are all deceptively easy; there are really only a few basic concepts to master and you can sound decent very quickly. Of course they can all get super complex, but just memorizing a few chords is trivial, and with just handful of basic chords you can play thousands of recognizable songs.

6

Have you ever tried a kalimba? Also known as a thumb piano, they’re small and have a pleasant, mellow sound that makes me think one might be an ideal porch instrument for you.

I got mine years ago for about forty bucks. Looking online, I see that the cheaper ones nowadays aren’t much more than that. The highest end ones are around two hundred. You can also build your own from a kit, if you are so inclined.

Though you can play actual songs, I like to improvise. I’m not very musical but it seems nearly any combination of notes played on a kalimba sounds good to me. I like the feeling that there’s no pressure to get it right. It’s meditative and relaxing.

I found a site called Kalimba Magic that you might have a look at. And there’s lots of videos on YouTube of people playing and teaching the kalimba, too.

7

How about revisiting keyboards.

There’s some really nice 44 key mini keyboards.

Chris Martin (Coldplay) used the Casio SA-76 to play “Heroes” by David Bowie and “Us Against The World” in Dave Cordens Carpool Karaoke.

It’s no toy. Listen to Chris Martin’s Carpool Karaoke on YouTube. Runs off batteries. You play it on your porch, in a park or anywhere.

I play piano and it always bugged me that the instrument wasn’t portable like a guitar. Well, now it is.

Ok, the Casio doesn’t replace a full size keyboard. It’s designed to play spontaneously to entertain yourself & friends.

Under $100

8

I’d second the ukulele and add that I’ve always liked the tones of a mandolin.

I also agree that you shouldn’t totally forget about a good electronic keyboard. On many of them you can listen through headphones if you’re worried about annoying the neighbors.

9

Walmart has the Casio for $65 plus tax.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Casio-SA-76-44-Key-Mini-Personal-Keyboard/184643469

Review

10

The term “guitar” covers many sins. “Standard” 6-string guitars come in many sizes from 3/4 on up and are often tuned in 5ths (mostly), providing many different ways to play many different chords. 4-string “tenor” guitars are tuned in 4ths (mostly) as are mandolas and tenor banjos, and offer simpler ways to play fewer chords. Any banjo except a soprano banjo-'ukulele with nylon strings will tend to be loud but can be muted by stuffing a rag inside.

'Ukes are most commonly soprano (Tiny Tim size), concert (alto), and tenor (mandolin size), which is IMHO best unless you have tiny fingers. (Sending an orange soprano 'uke to the White House would be a wasted taunt.) They’re usually tuned similar to a standard guitar so some skills can be transferred. A baritone 'uke is almost a 1/2-size standard guitar missing the bottom 2 strings. If serious, see what fits at a music store.

Few fretted string instruments are simpler to play than a mountain dulcimer and they’re easily tuned for modal music. I used to build and sell them but what I have now is a Chinese model, real cheap at a Walmart on the Mexican border. I guess someone in marketing thought LatinXs would buy Appalachian instruments. Hmmm…

Instruments with 8, 10, or 12 strings typically sport doubled courses which can distress a beginner’s fingers. Avoid at first. New players may disagree on what hurts more, thinner steel or wider nylon strings. Finger steel long and hard enough and you’ll be whittling your calluses with a penknife in no time. :cool:

Other stringy possibilities: autoharp, bowed psaltery, shamisen, fretted viol, koto, lyre. See the Stringed Instrument Database for many many more. Note: some are easily built.

So much for strings. Harmonicas have evolved with baroque complexity; I’ll suggest a chromatic to fill your hours. Nose flutes are cheap fun but nasty. Ocarinas are olay. Brass mouthpiece plus kazoo ==> kazumpet. If you’re short on breath, skip the digiridoo and try an intact concertina. A real theremin will tax your patience. Kalimbas are k00l; one was my first Xmas gift to MrsRico many decades ago.

11

I’ll second the mountain dulcimer – inexpensive, very quiet, and it takes a very short time to actually be playing music. You can even avoid the finger pain of learning a stringed instrument by playing noter and drone style.

12

IMO uke and harmonica are the easiest, lowest cost options. Bari uke is tuned like guitar, but only 4 strings. Tons of online resources for both uke and harp, as well as both kinds of uke. Uke, you can learn 3 chords and play music almost instantly. Check youtube for bari uke/tenor guitar clips, and you’ll see they are far from “toys.”

Harmonica takes a little longer to be able to sound individual notes, but quite accessible. Difficulty playing in different keys w/o different harmonicas. And bending notes is a bit of a challenge.

I bought a pretty decent bari uke for under $200. Bought my grandkid a decent soprano uke for under $50. And a decent harp is under $50.

I’m currently teaching myself clawhammer banjo. Not terribly easy, despite my pretty extensive experience w/ folk/oldtime music (on standup bass). The strings are tuned quite differently than a guitar/mando/fiddle/etc. You need to capo/retune for different keys, and chord fingering shapes are different in different keys. And whether playing clawhammer or bluegrass style, the picking motion takes a LONG TIME - months if not years - to get reasonably reliable and up to speed.

You can get a playable beginner’s banjo for $200.

I’ve never heard mountain dulcimer as anything other than a pleasant - but quickly boring - strumming. Very quiet also, in case you ever want to play w/ anyone.

For me - as a bassist - guitar and mando have too many strings too close together. :wink: Fiddle introduces the additional complexity of bowing. Wind/brass instruments involve embouchure.

Good luck.

13

Moderator Action

Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.

14

I started out playing the piano. I had ten years of classical piano training, and also played the trombone in band. I taught myself how to play the guitar and bass, and when I was in band, the trombone section was next to the tuba section (if you can call one guy a “section”). I always learned my parts quickly and the tuba player did as well, so we were always bored while the less motivated players were struggling through their parts. So I would switch instruments with the tuba player, and I unofficially learned how to play the tuba. If the band teacher ever noticed, he didn’t care (probably because we both knew our parts well).

I also picked up a trumped a couple of times and was able to make some reasonable sounds out of it.

The point is, I can usually pick up a new instrument and make some sort of reasonable sounds out of it with a few minutes of tinkering around with it. Or I used to be able to. I’m a bit rusty these days from not playing anything in about a decade. Just put new strings on my guitar over quarantine here so starting to get a bit back in shape.

But…

The only instrument I ever picked up and truly struggled with was the violin (aka fiddle). That is the single most unforgiving instrument I have ever touched. It has a smooth fretboard with few markings on it, and because the fretboard is so short, if you are just slightly off, you are playing the wrong note. REALLY wrong. And the bow isn’t just additional complexity. It is also completely unforgiving.

It is a truly miserable instrument to try to pick up and fiddle with (heh, literally).

If you want to truly annoy the fuck out of your neighbors, then the violin/fiddle is the instrument for you.

Banging out simple chords on a guitar is fairly easy. The most difficult part for beginners is not having enough finger strength and callouses to hold the strings down properly. The bass guitar is also easy, especially for simple pop songs that just thump out an easy bass line. The ukulele is easy,unless you played the guitar first and then all of the chords don’t make sense (it’s actually not that hard to figure out). The recorder is simple and dirt cheap. I have never played reed instruments so can’t comment on those.

The banjo (IMHO) requires fingerpicking to really sound good. That’s a bit advanced. Go for it if that’s what you really want to play, but that’s more difficult than just banging out chords on a guitar or ukulele. You can play chords on a banjo, but that doesn’t sound as good (again, IMHO). That “banjo sound” that everyone likes comes from fingerpicking.

The harmonica is fairly easy, and inexpensive, though they do make more expensive models, like most instruments.

Brass instruments require a bit of work to figure out how to blow properly (it’s more of a phbftbftbft than a blow). Probably not a good choice for the OP though since they aren’t exactly quiet.

I’ve never played a lap harp or didgeridoo.

Based on the OP’s requirements, ukulele or harmonica would be at the top of the list. Or both. You can get both for under $200 and end up with decent instruments.

15

The tin (or penny) whistle is cheap and small. It is hard to find simpler.

Whether you find it interesting is more of a personal thing. I will leave you with this solo example and the search once you are on Youtube

16

Tin whistle, diatonic harmonica, mandolin and guitar are all well within that price point and easy to learn initially. You’ll just spend the rest of your life trying to master them… :smiley:

17

If you’ve played saxophone, consider the flute.

The fingering is (almost) the same, it’s not too hard to learn to cross-blow, and it’s a great solo instrument. In fact, since it’s keyed to C, you cam play along with any pianist or guitarist very easily. Not just classical music, but any popular song. Most popular songs sound great on flute, anyway.

You can also play Irish trad music, jazz, and blues.

And a concert flute, secondhand, can be obtained for under $200.

Too much money? Buy an alto or tenor recorder. The Brits consider them the equal of the cross blown flute.

18

3 string shovel guitar?

19

Thanks for all the ideas, folks.

Now why didn’t I think of that?