Which instrument is the easiest and hardest to play/learn???

Remember that campfire with your friends where you sang “Sham Bhi koi…” under those brilliant stars or that family Antakshari where you had to sing “Neele Neele Ambar par”……… I am sure you wished you knew an instrument to play along with your songs. However, learning an instrument is not a day’s task. It took long-long years for an ordinary person like us to become Mozart. Music like any other subject requires a lot of patience and sheer practice. After all, life is not a cakewalk. But, to make your musical journey easy, we have come up with a list of musical instruments to pair up with your musical passion.

“Remember, playing an instrument is as easy as walking and talking. All you have to do is pour your efforts and wait for your instrument to play the right chord.” The most popular instruments to learn are Piano/Keyboard, Ukulele, Guitar, Violin, Drums etc…

PIANO/KEYBOARD

“The piano keys are black and white but they sound like a million colours in your mind” ~ Maria Cristina Mena

The piano and keyboard have black and white keys. Oh Wow..it's a piece of good news for colour blind people. The piano has 88 keys, which means it has 7 octaves and each key produces a distinct sound. While generally, the keyboard has 61 keys. The playing styles for both instruments are different but yes you can play your favorite tune by just pressing the right note at the right time. Recently, I came across a quote by Bach, he said “If you play the right note at the right time then your instrument will play by itself.” So amazing...isn’t it? It's a new era of “Press and Play”, all you have to do is press a key and let the piano/keyboard produce harmonies. Instruments like ukulele, drums, recorder are quite simple. However, they have great technicality too. These instruments are like a pickle in your main course. Initially, learning an instrument might be a little time consuming but, you can surely overcome it with the excitement of learning. Well, the more time you spend with your instrument, the more familiar you are with it and sooner or later, your instrument will turn out to be your best friend.

VIOLIN

“The true mission of the violin is to imitate the accents of the human voice, a noble mission that has earned for the violin the glory of being called the king of instruments” ~ Johann Sebastian Bach

Everyone says the violin is tough to learn but, I have seen my classmates learn it with a lot of ease and comfort. However, learning violin requires a lot of patience and dedication. This instrument needs to be perfected with a lot of elegance. Firstly, the violin is an instrument that has neither frets nor keys, Ahaa..there is a challenge however, the hard part is that it is more of a technical instrument. Finger positions and movements, head positions, bowing techniques, scales/arpeggios, reading music, etc can prove to be time-consuming for beginners. But, with a lot of practice and hard work, anything and everything can be achieved.

FLUTE

“Everyday I practice my flute. I’ve been doing it for decades and every day I find something new that inspires me for all the rest that I do in my days” ~Phillipe Kahn

This instrument may look very ordinary but it has a unique charm. Like all great things and instruments, it takes real work and total dedication to be a successful flute player. To be a master in it, it takes a lot of effort and time. You should be filled with extreme passion. For this divine instrument, you have to learn the art of controlling your breath to create music. And to produce the right sound from the flute you have to learn how to make a specific shape with your mouth. However, you can not sing and play the flute all together at the same time.

HARP

“Glorious is the voice of man, and sweet is the music of harp” ~ Richard Llewellyn

Harp is a huge instrument with 47 strings and 7 pedals. It may look royal to play an instrument like this but it is surely not everyone’s cup of tea to be a harp player. To begin with, every time you play this instrument, you have to make sure that your finger bends back and touches your hand all the time. Then comes changing pedals which is not only supposed to be done before a performance but also while playing. This requires a lot of concentration. Last but not least, the harp is not a portable instrument. So, if you are planning for a road trip then the harp is not the instrument you would like to take along with you on your journey. However, if you wish to be a musical performer, then you should surely add this instrument to your list. In a nutshell, as per my experience with music learning so far, I can assure you that music is not about how easy it is or tough. It is all about the 3 P's - Passion, Purpose and Progress. Just gather all your passion and patience stored inside you and enjoy this beautiful journey of MUSIC.

Don’t play it until you get it right, play it until you can’t play it wrong

Article by : Meeta Patil

Mumbai