The Student Room Group

Easiest Instrument To Learn?

... to a good standard (e.g. ~ Grade 3) within a year?

I have a piano (which I'm kind of self teaching myself on) and an elecric guitar (never played it, it's my sisters). I have no prior musical experience.

But I really like the acoustic guitar as well.

So... which one, with a good amount of practise and weekly lessons will get me to around Grade 2/3 within a year?

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Reply 1
Try the Kazoo.
Reply 2
personally I found the piano easiest, I ave up on guitar, although I'm not pretty good on bass in a short amount of time. My boyfriend picked up piano really quickly too, self taught as well
Well considering you have musical experience; go for woodwinds.
Within a year I got to grade 2 Oboe
It took me a year to get to grade 3 Sax
Then when I started bassoon it took a year to get grade 5
I've been learning clarinet sincse June/July and I'm going to take my grade 5 in December.

Saxophone was easiest imo.
Reply 4
If you know nothing about music, I should imagine it would be quite hard. Even the drums aren't easy to learn to grade 3 standard within a year if you have had no prior musical knowledge (not saying that the drums are easy, but it doesn't require learning how to read notes, so makes it a little easier than melodic instruments... unless we are talking about the steelpan or suchlike [OK I digress]).

Anyway, learning an instrument shouldn't be based on how easy it is. You should learn it because you love it. That is the only way to be proficient in it.
I find the strings easiest to learn.
It took me YEARS to get to grade 5 on flute, but then only 2 to get to grade 3 on bassoon, and less than that to get to grade 5 on double bass. I think it's because they're more logical :yep:
Reply 6
******* bass
Recorder :p:
Doublereedfreak

Then when I started bassoon it took a year to get grade 5


Yay for bassoonists! :biggrin:
Reply 9
I would imagine it would be the triangle.
psychocustard
Yay for bassoonists! :biggrin:

Bassoon :love:
My personal favourite.
Reply 11
bass
Reply 12
Absinth
If you know nothing about music, I should imagine it would be quite hard. Even the drums aren't easy to learn to grade 3 standard within a year if you have had no prior musical knowledge (not saying that the drums are easy, but it doesn't require learning how to read notes, so makes it a little easier than melodic instruments... unless we are talking about the steelpan or suchlike [OK I digress]).


You don't know what you're talking about. I've been playing drums for nearly 7 years, and if you've never seen proper drum notation then don't bother saying something like that. If you have seen some proper notation then I dont know why the heck you said that, open any drum book, and the pages will look similar to any piano/violin etc book. We use the same symbols, they just infer something else. I.e a tom instead of a string. I don't mean to sound so aggressive, but I just hate it when prople downplay drums especially since you said "Even the drums aren't easy to learn to grade 3) That's just pure ignorance.
Reply 13
Ukulele.
Doublereedfreak
Bassoon :love:
My personal favourite.


I do love it, I just don't have mine anymore because it was the county music service's and I can't afford one :'(
The guitar, without a doubt. And that's not me being biased, but I believe it's far easier to self teach yourself guitar than it is piano. Piano is far more technical, whereas guitar is about feeling - and is very easy once you learn the basics. And I have played both (and still play guitar)
Piano if you have the natural talent and if you don't then guitar is easy to pick up but once you get more technical it starts to get hard.
guitar
thats the way forward
psychocustard
I do love it, I just don't have mine anymore because it was the county music service's and I can't afford one :'(

I'm desperately trying to scrape money together to get one.
It's not going so well. :/


Damn lovely expensive instrument!
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Piano if you have the natural talent and if you don't then guitar is easy to pick up but once you get more technical it starts to get hard.




Far less technical than piano though !!!