What is the Hardest Instrument to play?

Has anyone mentioned tabla?

...I found the guitar a very easy instrument to learn. But when it comes to brass I suck. I make trumpets sound like oboes. :happy:

That's actually quite an impressive feat - and goes to show that what comes naturally and seems relatively simple to one person can be overly complex and daunting to another.

...

Has anyone mentioned tabla?

No, I don't think so - and yes, quite an intricate instrument there, players spending many years in apprenticeship.

To me, I consider a French Horn my bane. I'm a trumpet player, and my ear is finely tuned to playing a Bb instrument. So, when I picked up a french horn, aside from the different mouthpiece, I had to tend to the fact that a C on a french horn sounds different from the C on the trumpet.

Someone mentioned tabla earlier on, there's a picture too.

Back there, also, I noticed people saying flute is among the hardest but it really isn't. I never had any trouble learning flute at all. After I got the embouchure down, It was easy.

Theremin.

/end

^

The guitar and piano were very easy for me to begin to play, but became quite difficult to master (especially the guitar). It took me a while to learn the basics of the violin, but once I got those down, everything else came pretty easily.

I think the hardest instrument over all would have to go to the bagpipes. One of my old friends played the bagpipes. His first two years of lessons focused on how to control breath and actually play a note. Then, in his third year he finally started working on a beginning piece, which took him another year to learn. Maybe hes just a slow learner, but it seamed pretty tough to me. Especially after I tried to play a note and barely got a dull squeal out of it.

Quote: I think the hardest instrument over all would have to go to the bagpipes.

I thought we were talking about musical instruments:D

Quote: I think the hardest instrument over all would have to go to the bagpipes.

I thought we were talking about musical instruments:D

How are bagpipes not musical?

v That's what we call a joke, Will. :P

Quote: I think the hardest instrument over all would have to go to the bagpipes.

I thought we were talking about musical instruments :)

the wobbleboard?

I have always heard the basoon and violin are the hardest of them all, but I have never actually attempted playing them.

erhu!

:)

hihi

Now, on a more serious note, as most threads in here (:)) these things are completely subjective:

I'm a pianist by nature I assume. I can play pretty much anything (ok, almost anything, sattisfied?)

I also tried the guitar for more rock purposes and had little trouble getting my head around it.

On the other hand, I went and bought a violin. Never managed to held it straight with my head, or play with the bow naturaly. And I put a lot of effort into it.

Tried the trumpet for a while. (not much, borrowed from a friend). Gave up after 2 weeks of not making a sound. It felt like I was a virgin again making sex but couldn't cum. :) Frustrating...

Every instrument is difficult to their own right!

Other instruments are easy to pick up and get harder towards the end. I do think that piano is one of them.

Other instruments are difficult to begin with, like... the violin or any brass (for me).

The voice comes natural to everybody. You can sing, I can sing, everybody can sing. Additionaly, if you ask me to sing half an opera or an aria, I will do it with a tad of practice. I may go unstable almost anywhere, or be uncertain, or maybe screw my virbato and phrases, or even go green on a few notes, but on the other side, if I dare ask a vocalist to play a diploma (grade 8 and above) piece like... a Beethoven sonata (not the easiest ones around), I dout they will be able to even get over the first few bars. Can somebody explain this to me?

In addition to the above,I just had a friend soprano here, who has her diploma examns in 2 months. And she'snot touched 4 pieces of her repertoire! Heck! It must be easy then! Cause I spent much time preparing for each piece of my exams. And surely any pianist will tell you that 4 pieces is a tad much...

Vocals are EASY!

(for those who don't understand exaclty, everything is exxagerated, and this is to stir up discussion a bit further).

Your description of your experiences with the trumpet is certainly quote-worthy... However, I won't disgrace myself so much as to actually do that. :)

I think the hardest instrument to play would be the touch guitar.

The mechanics are nuts. Your playing a guitar like a piano but you have to remember this is all on strings so any slight quiver in your finger results in an out of tune note. The attacks on the notes have to be perfect because your hammering everything. This is NOT eddie van halen tapping. If you want to see somone I reccomend Stanley Jordan. He uses a regular guitar, but there are guys who use wierd extended ones(I have no idea what they are called).

I have to say I play the french horn as well and it has always been easy for me. Granted hitting the notes consistantly takes alot of practice but it isn't too hard in the end.

I've spent hours and hours playing guitar though and I am finally becoming fluent in mulitiple styles( all excluding classical) it is a fairly hard instrument.

I think the hardest instrument to play would be the touch guitar.

Especially when you play two at the same time...

:horrified: Stanley Jordan - Autumn Leaves

The hardest instrument to play is the one right in front of you, waiting for your artistic input...

Especially when you play two at the same time...

:horrified: Stanley Jordan - Autumn Leaves

Thats wierd I watched that 20 minutes ago.:D

If you want touch guitar the chapmanstick is the only way to go.

www.stick.com - Stick Enterprises Inc.

Its made for what this Jordan guy is doing. (I made a thread in general)

When I get one I'll be playing piano and stick at the same time.

A friend is giving me his trumpet. I hope its not quite as hard to start as some of you make it to be.

On vocals though...

Vocals are inherently easy because every functioning member of society is required to have practice with them. But, it is as far from dichotomous as you can get. Dynamic, tone and pitch all have incredible subtulties.

Any decent musician that cant sing though just isn't listening. But controlling all the subtulties can be very hard.

But still, its monophonic so who cares! The only good instrument is a polyphonic instrument I think. I'm joking though.

Especially when you play two at the same time...

:) Stanley Jordan - Autumn Leaves

You know what?

I'm 30 years old now!

And my one bloody "evil" comment is that I don't like jazz and I won't write jazz!

And not only that. I have NO jazz records whatsoever. Not even 1. Not even 1.

And yet with you around, Robin, I have a feeling I will start enjoying jazz more and more. Just a public thanks for being around YC I guess... :D

I said Thermin like 2 times...look it up, you'll see why.

nikolas: you don't like jazz?! Damn... Jazz is totally amazing. Latin jazz is like, my favourite, because of the rhythm, and modal jazz is amazing too (I have with Astor Piazzola on the accordion and Gary Burton on the vibes - totally amazing). You better start listening to more jazz :musicwhistle: :D

Especially when you play two at the same time...

:thumbsup: Stanley Jordan - Autumn Leaves

No kidding

YouTube - Super Mario

...my one bloody "evil" comment is that I don't like jazz and I won't write jazz!

And not only that. I have NO jazz records whatsoever. Not even 1. Not even 1.

And yet with you around, Robin, I have a feeling I will start enjoying jazz more and more. Just a public thanks for being around YC I guess... :thumbsup:

That's all I can ask for is a set of open ears!

Check out Kenny Wheeler (listen to this record), lives in London and possibly one of the greatest composers alive...effectively straddles the blurred lines between classical and jazz...

Robin, this guy's great! I love the fugue :thumbsup:

Some guy mentioned the theremin. I play the theremin, so can offer some input as to how difficult it actually is. . . .

To play the theremin, you have to have a phenomenally good sense of pitch (some claim that you need absolute pitch, but this isn't true), you have to be able to stand almost perfectly still and restrict any bodily motion to your arms and hands, you have to have a brilliantly developed muscle memory, and you have to be able to find pitches in three-dimensions without any tactile reference of any kind, except for the noise of the instrument itself. Vibrato is almost essential to disguise the inevitable pitch discrepancies.

I've got a recording here, if you're interested:

www.myspace.com/charliedraper