What is the hardest/easiest musical instrument to play?

[Squinky]

I play the harmonica, and yeah I can play other folks music just fine. I can't bend notes very well though (depends on the harmonica) and I haved a hard time writing any music for it, since I am usaully wanting to use it along with my guitar. I have a hard time wrapping my head around it's diatonic ways....But yeah, it is easy to get it and play it straight....I'd love to be able to get all crazy with it, like that fat bastard from Blues Traveler...

I can't play the drums either, seriously. I just can't do it. But I have never had any problems being a mediocre guitarist/bassplayer that plays like a guitarist.

[Elliott Hird]

-The hardest instrument would have to be the chapman stick.  Just look at the way it's played and how you're supposed to hit the notes. Not only that, you also need to control of both of your hands.       

!?!?!

My dad used to play the Stick.

[Evil]

It all depends on what level you're talking about, like DKH said. Sure you can play Mary Had a Little Lamb on the flute, but when things are mor complex it's much harder.

Harmonica is very difficult IMO, becuase bending notes is a B. Close to impossible, even for an intermedite.

Guitar can be hard as well. Mary Had a Little Lamb is a lot easier then mega death metal.

Drums are very hard too. Sure, I can play a set alright, but only basic rhythmns.

But I'd have to go with the Theremin for hardest instrament in general. High five to Las for knowing his intraments!

Edit: Claves are the shit!

[Gregjazz]

I think the learning curve is different for instruments, but deep down instruments have a great complexity to them.

I mean, listen to Howard Levy play the harmonica (though he plays a chro). Listen to Jaco Pastorius play bass guitar. Listen to Bela Fleck play banjo.

And then even people who play "simple" instruments like cowbell or clave have to be good at what they do. Most percussionists have to know how to play many percussion instruments and have an arsenal of rhythms they know. Speaking of clave, did you know that one of the sticks is bigger than the other, so one you hold still in your hand and the other you use to strike with? You have to hold the claves a special way to get a nice, open tone, too.

[Erenan]

Yeah, percussion is a heck of a lot more than just banging stuff together. You have to be able to count and keep steady rhythm, and when it comes to playing kit, you often have to be able to make it sound good without anyone even noticing what you're doing.

The two instruments that come to mind for the hardest are the horn and the violin. There's just so much to playing these instruments that you have to worry about before you can even get a single note that sounds remotely close to nice. Things like piano and guitar are much easier in this sense. You can pick up a guitar and pluck a string, and you've essentially played a note properly. Same goes for piano. Hit a key. Done.

Chapman Stick isn't really all that terribly difficult when it comes to technique. It's musicality that's the hard part. Putting parts together between the hands, etc. And that's just at first. It gets much easier fairly quickly, in my opinion.

Easiest? Um... Probably a penny whistle. That's way easier than recorder.

[Gregjazz]

Yeah, percussion is a heck of a lot more than just banging stuff together. You have to be able to count and keep steady rhythm, and when it comes to playing kit, you often have to be able to make it sound good without anyone even noticing what you're doing.

Yeah, and the amount of control it takes to hit very softly but still maintain groove is tough.

The two instruments that come to mind for the hardest are the horn and the violin. There's just so much to playing these instruments that you have to worry about before you can even get a single note that sounds remotely close to nice. Things like piano and guitar are much easier in this sense. You can pick up a guitar and pluck a string, and you've essentially played a note properly. Same goes for piano. Hit a key. Done.

Yeah, hitting a note on the piano or plucking a guitar string as a beginner is not going to sound nearly as bad as squeaking out notes on a violin.

But ultimately getting a good tone on piano, guitar and violin is a very difficult process.

[Tuomas]

I'd say the recorder orÃ,  blues-mouthorgan on A-major is the easiest. Recorder can be made bloody hard though, but if you listen to blues even just a bit, and get a band to back you up at A, you can't play the mouthorgan wrong.

The hardest I find Sitar. They say that you only learn to play it well once you have practiced for several lives. Like if you play moderately, it means you have started playing it in the life before your reincarnation:
http://www.buckinghammusic.com/sitar/sittut/images/pos.jpg
Tough one.

And when it comes to guitar, I had thi show in our school, and oen of the guys played guitar just before me. And he was fast like he had been up to it all his life, bet he has played longer than I have, but anyhow, when he dropped the tempo to half of what he was doing, he couldn't keep up at all. I have never thought that being fast means you can play the guitar, or any instrument. I could take any instrument and run through scales for a year and be very fast, but no-one would admire my skills. One can type al lot of shit with ten fing ers workin bga lk the tinme , being fast, but does it mean hi's any good?

[The Inquisitive Stranger]

Tuba for the win.

I agree with this person.

[milkanannan]

i think dkh said the skin flute was pretty easy

[MillsJROSS]

Harmonica is very difficult IMO, becuase bending notes is a B. Close to impossible, even for an intermedite.

Within a day of getting a harmonica, I was able to bend notes fairly efficiently. I did look for instructional techniques, but it's not really that difficult.

The percussion is a difficult if you're working with other percussionists and you have to hit the third sixteenth note, or something like that.

In all cases of instruments, though...it really just depends on your abilities. Some people might be able to pick up and learn string instruments more easily than a brass, and vica versa. The truth of the matter is, though, that people can get away with not having the best sound or quality, as most people listening, can't percieve the little extra things that the musician is capable of.

-MillsJROSS

[CaptainPancake]

I have heard that the Sitar is the single most difficult instrument in the world to play, but that could be false. 

As for easy instruments, I would suggest the Xylophone.

[shitar]

Violin is hardest because from everyone I know (music related), the violin takes the "musical ear" to play, so you can hear your mistakes and stuff like that. Could be wrong but its what I heard. Not sure I really consider the triangle an instrument, but if it is I will strive to become a Professional Triangalist and make more money than any Triangalist ever has.

[Barbarian]

I play the harmonica, and yeah I can play other folks music just fine. I can't bend notes very well though (depends on the harmonica) and I haved a hard time writing any music for it, since I am usaully wanting to use it along with my guitar. I have a hard time wrapping my head around it's diatonic ways....But yeah, it is easy to get it and play it straight....I'd love to be able to get all crazy with it, like that fat bastard from Blues Traveler...

I can't play the drums either, seriously. I just can't do it. But I have never had any problems being a mediocre guitarist/bassplayer that plays like a guitarist.

I've been playing Harmonia (diatonic / Blues-Harp style) for a number of years now. I love bluesy and jazzy type of music, and the Harmonica always had a unique and interesting sound to me when I heard it in music, almost like an extension of the voice.Ã, 

And it's really amazing to listen to some of the "Blues Masters" play the harmonica and some of the amazing sounds they could get out of that "little piece 'o tin". For a while, I was trying to emulate the Blues-Harp style of Sonny Terry (who was usually paired with Brownie McGee).Ã, 

I had a sizable collection of Blues cd's back home, I would listen to often and try and pick up a few new licks or get the general vibes from it.Ã,  John Popper of Blues Traveller, you're right, he's a wild-man on the Harmonica! Truely amazing, and I'd say one of the best Blues-&-Rock style Harmonia Player of our time.Ã, 

I was starting to get fairly good at playing a "Sonny Terry" style, but, I can't even come close to some of the wild notes that Popper does.Ã,  Ã, I'm fairly good at bending the lower-notes, but I find bending the higher notes a lot harder, which it seems Popper has mastered.

In simplicity, the 10-hole harmonica, blow and draw to make a sound, it's fairly easy to get the hang of.Ã,  But, when you get into some of the bending, throttling, popping, growling, diatonic-splitting, trilling / vibrating, mutiplie chording, over-blowing and some of the other tricky bluesy and "tounging techniques", it can also be a very hard instrument to play indeed that way. So, for me, the Harmonica is easy and hard to play at the same time, depending on what style and sounds you're trying to get from it.Ã,  Ã, The main thing I guess is to have some fun with it, and the more you practice, the better you'll get (like most things in life).

[esper]

I play guitar... Not well. I can only play accompaniment, and the strum patterns I can do on it are very limited... But I still manage to play in a fairly decent band. However, for easiest, I would say the feadog, aka traditional Irish penny whistle. I have one in the keys of A, C, D, E, and G, and have learned to play fairly beautiful music on one of the simplest musical instruments there is. They are also fairly inexpensive and obtainable at many music stores. They are easy to learn, but difficult to master. You could learn to play any song on one in a half an hour, but making the song sound fantastic is a task in itself.

I think violin, as has been stated many times, is the most difficult instrument. I have one of these, as well, that I have been trying to learn to play, but the "guesswork" involved (exactly where to put your finger, exactly how to position the bow to hit the string you want, etc.) makes it very hard...

[Mugs]

Chapman Stick isn't really all that terribly difficult when it comes to technique. It's musicality that's the hard part. Putting parts together between the hands, etc. And that's just at first. It gets much easier fairly quickly, in my opinion.

I never really tried or seen(with my own eyes) a Chapman Stick,  but I heard that it was one of the hardest instrument to play.  After watching at the "Dream Theatre" DVD, It looked pretty darn difficult.  That's why I started this topic, to see what people really think is the hardest instrument.  The easy instrument part was just added for fun. 

[Evil]

I think violin, as has been stated many times, is the most difficult instrument. I have one of these, as well, that I have been trying to learn to play, but the "guesswork" involved (exactly where to put your finger, exactly how to position the bow to hit the string you want, etc.) makes it very hard...

I beg to differ. I made a ukulele in woodshop that is completely fretless. Once you learn where the "frets" are, according to the length of the neck, it's fairly easy. I play guitar and bass, and I was able to pick the cello up very quickly. Fretless instruments really require you to be able to "hear" the music. I agree with the statement about the bows though. It can be difficult, but it's easy to pick up once you get, what's the word, into(?) the instrument.

Mills: I've searched the internet before, and all of the sites about bending are very difficult to understand. Care to share an example?

[Gregjazz]

Violin is hardest because from everyone I know (music related), the violin takes the "musical ear" to play, so you can hear your mistakes and stuff like that. Could be wrong but its what I heard. Not sure I really consider the triangle an instrument, but if it is I will strive to become a Professional Triangalist and make more money than any Triangalist ever has.

If you think violin is hard, Erhu is so much harder then. I play an Erhu and it's a tough instrument to play. There is no fingerboard like a violin has, so when you do the equivalent of fretting the Erhu string the pitch goes up. Also, the Erhu has only two strings unlike the violin's four strings (or sometimes even five string violins). The Erhu bow goes between the strings and you have to bow inwards to play the low string and bow outwards to play the higher string--so you have to put rosin on both sides of the bow.

[Mugs]

This is the first time i've ever seen or hear about this instrument. It looks kinda odd (or should I say, screwed up).

[Nikolas]

Mugs, I meant why are you asking. If it is that you want to take up some instrument or just for the shake of argument/as a good thread... This is what the why means...

I have to agree with most people here that "older" instruments might be more advanced and thus more difficult to master.

On the other hand a harmonica, which I believe has very limited capabilities, should be a litle easier to learn and actually master.

But in the case of violin, where you have no frets it is difficult to begin with. And after ten years of practise you get a piece with quarter tones and you have to forget everything .

But if we're talking for simply trying out a little and playing a little with an instrument a lot would qualify. Piano/keyboards, harmonica, xylophone and marimba and the vibes, guitar certainly... I believe that it's more difficult to start an instrument like trumpet, or violin rather that piano, which seems to me (a pianist ) straight forward.

[Gregjazz]

This is the first time i've ever seen or hear about this instrument. It looks kinda odd (or should I say, screwed up).

Looks kinda screwed up? But it sounds so beautiful! I will have to post sound clips. The way you position your hands when playing the Erhu is comfortable and feels natural, too. It's very similar to the Chapman Stick in the sense that you're playing vertically in that same relaxed position.

Mugs, I meant why are you asking. If it is that you want to take up some instrument or just for the shake of argument/as a good thread... This is what the why means...

I have to agree with most people here that "older" instruments might be more advanced and thus more difficult to master.

On the other hand a harmonica, which I believe has very limited capabilities, should be a litle easier to learn and actually master.

But in the case of violin, where you have no frets it is difficult to begin with. And after ten years of practise you get a piece with quarter tones and you have to forget everything .

But if we're talking for simply trying out a little and playing a little with an instrument a lot would qualify. Piano/keyboards, harmonica, xylophone and marimba and the vibes, guitar certainly... I believe that it's more difficult to start an instrument like trumpet, or violin rather that piano, which seems to me (a pianist ) straight forward.

Yeah, having piano as my first instrument really gave me the advantage of being able to play things like chords and melodies at the same time. Piano is a really good base in music to have.

Though, about the harmonica thing, listen to Howard Levy like I said earlier, and then tell me that harmonica is not difficult to master.