# What musical intrument would you master? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058 "2012-02-26T15:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/21 "2012-02-26T19:03:04Z")
Cello. I play guitar badly now, my second choice would be to master guitar, electric blues, blues rock. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/22 "2012-02-26T19:09:12Z")
I’d say it’s a toss-up between bagpipes and sax. Both are so insufferably cool that I just can’t decide between the two. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/23 "2012-02-26T19:20:54Z")
> [@Archergal](#): > > A B/C Irish button accordion or an Anglo concertina. I am also fascinated with the Anglo concertina, but my musical talent just isn’t up to the challenge. I love to listen to them though. ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/24 "2012-02-26T19:21:47Z")
Lute. Which is truly pointless as the only people who appreciate lute players are Ren Faire types and Ren Faires just ain’t my scene. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/25 "2012-02-26T19:30:44Z")
Guitar. My skills have deteriorated form competent to rudimentary. I want to be a virtuoso (without all the time, sacrifice and practice, that is). …or harp, because I love the sound. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/26 "2012-02-26T19:38:50Z")
I think I would have to go with the cello. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/27 "2012-02-26T19:43:43Z")
Pipe Organ. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/28 "2012-02-26T19:52:18Z")
Tough choice, but probably cello. Or piano. Or cello. Or piano. Ok, cello. Just have to get me a piano sidekick, like [these guys](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR94NDIfGmA&list=PL2FCE4EAED0A3000B&index=1&feature=plcp) If only. \<3 ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/29 "2012-02-26T20:06:31Z")
Just curious, **Czarcasm** - why do you eliminate voice from our possibilities? Granted, it isn’t an instrument and a singer uses a strange blend of some of the skills of a musician and some of the skills of an actor, but it is a discipline well worth pursuing, and difficult to master. As the question stands, I’m divided between piano and guitar - both are instruments I’m working on, and so I’m painfully aware of my limitations and what it’s going to take to exceed them. Both have a wealth of fantastic repertoire that remains beyond my reach and my grasp, and both are immensely satisfying in those rare moments when a performance goes as well as you could have hoped. Choose one over the other? That’s like choosing between my two kids… ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/30 "2012-02-26T20:07:30Z")
I play both the mandolin and the piano; both well enough to know a few pieces and sound reasonably competent, but neither especially well. I love bluegrass, but if I had to pick one to master, it would be the piano, since it adapts to a wider range of music. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/31 "2012-02-26T20:13:20Z")
The banjo. And I’d like to own one with a fiddle-shaped peghead! ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/32 "2012-02-26T20:31:18Z")
Piano. I just about mastered the clarinet and saxes, but still was limited without piano training. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/33 "2012-02-26T20:50:44Z")
The reason why piano is so notoriously difficult to master is that the keyboard is hard wired for C major (and the church modes). When you want to learn another key, all of the hand shapes for the scales and chords change. Therefore, it takes years of practice to become proficient in all keys. It’s similar to the Qwerty keyboard where a bad design becomes the standard and it becomes impossible to change because millions of people are used to it. The solution is [isomorphic keyboards](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isomorphic_keyboard) where all musical intervals have the “same shape” on the keyboard. One day I will get a MIDI capable isomorphic keyboard. For now, I can barely play keyboards in a couple of keys and enjoy fooling around on this cheap [isomorphic concertina](http://www.concertinaconnection.com/elise.htm). Of course, my skills would improve if I actually practiced. ---
**Author:** ![MsJinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MsJinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsJinx)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/34 "2012-02-26T20:53:47Z")
Violin, for the same reasons as Freckafree. It’s portable, has various styles, can be solo to ensemble, and sounds good alone. Maybe I would say piano if I didn’t already know how to play. I don’t play well, or when anyone can hear, except my kids when they were too young to know I wasn’t very good. I didn’t take lessons long enough to learn any theory or even chords, and cannot play by ear or change keys. It’s just for my own entertainment. I do credit the training with making me a very fast typist,though. Sightreading notes and letters are about the same. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/35 "2012-02-26T20:56:54Z")
Either the violin or the theremin. I find the violin to be incredibly expressive. Theremins are just cool. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/36 "2012-02-26T21:00:28Z")
Organ first and the rest nowhere. I have grown fond of the trumpet since “accidentally” taking it up ten years ago, but the organ’s the love of my life and likely to stay that way. Although pipes are great, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at a really good electronic. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/37 "2012-02-26T21:02:14Z")
Electric Guitar; the greatest and most flexible instrument ever created. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/38 "2012-02-26T21:19:45Z")
Right now I’d say oboe. I’m just very taken with the haunting quality of its sound. ---
**Author:** ![lshaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/39 "2012-02-26T21:27:18Z")
Violin - I saw Midori and Itzhak Perlman in concert, and it was there and then that I thought that to really be able to master it and to perform it all over the world on the scale that they do, must be one of the best jobs ever. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058/40 "2012-02-26T21:40:31Z")
Trombone. I already know how to play it (or at least I did, years ago) and it would be wonderful to master. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-musical-intrument-would-you-master/614058.md?page=3)