Which Musical Instrument is Recommended for Beginners?

You have decided to take up a musical instrument but you are not sure which one to choose. When deciding to purchase a musical instrument there are a number of factors that might influence your buying decision:

• Will the instrument I choose be affordable?
• Which instruments are easy to learn and which are difficult to learn?
• Will it be a quiet instrument or a noisy one?
• If I don’t choose a popular instrument will I be able to find a teacher easily?
• Is the musical instrument of my choice popular or is it an instrument that not many people play?
• How much will a lesson cost?
• I want to choose a musical instrument that I can play in a band. What instruments should I choose?
• I want to play a certain type of music. Which musical instruments are suitable for different styles?

In the following article I will be answering all of the above.

Here is a list of musical instruments to choose from listed in popularity, with the number 1 being the most popular:

1)  Guitar
2)  Piano
3)  Keyboard

4)  Drums
5)  Violin
6)  Cello

7)  Flute
8)  Saxophone
9)  Clarinet
10) Trumpet/Cornet
11) Trombone

12) French Horn

13) Banjo

14) Recorder

15) Viola

16) Tuba

17) Oboe

Will the instrument I choose be affordable?

If you want to buy a musical instrument but don’t wont to spend too much money I would choose either a guitar, keyboard, violin, clarinet or trumpet. These instruments are the cheapest to buy when starting out.

Will it be a quiet musical instrument or a noisy one?

Do you have neighbours that don’t appreciate music? And they live right next to you with thin walls.
Do you want to play late at night or early in the morning
Are you embarrassed that you are not making a good sound yet, or you don’t want people to hear what you are playing.

If any of the above is true, you need a quite musical instrument or at least one that you can play with headphones or adjust the sound electronically.

If you want to learn a quiet musical instrument, then choose one of the following: Guitar, Piano, Keyboard, Recorder, Clarinet or Flute.

The Classical guitar is very quite and delicate but not the electric or acoustic guitar which are very noisy when amplified!

You can plug headphones in to a digital piano or keyboard or you can turn the sound down. This is the ideal instrument to buy if you don’t want to make any noise. The acoustic piano (also known as the upright or grand piano) is very noisy and should be avoided if you need some peace.

The Recorder is fairly quiet, apart from the high notes, so this instrument would be ok.
The Clarinet is a fairly quiet instrument. It does really depend on how it is played.
The Flute is also quiet but the sound can be a bit piercing on the higher notes.

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If I don’t choose a popular musical instrument, will I be able to find a teacher easily?

You can find a musical instrument teacher almost anywhere; there are literally tens of thousands in the UK.

You will almost certainly have no problem finding a teacher if you play the more popular musical instruments: guitar, piano, keyboard, drums or violin.

Is the musical instrument of my choice popular or is it an instrument that not many people play?

Please see the above list of musical instruments. They are listed in order of popularity, number 1 being the most popular instrument.

There are a few guides to find out if a musical instrument is popular. Just look at a symphony orchestra or a wind band and count the number of instruments there are and how many there are of each.

You will find that there are lots of violins and percussion (clarinets and flutes in the wind band case) which means that there is no shortage of people learning these instruments. You will also find that there is only one tuba, one oboe, a few french horns, a few flutes, a few clarinets etc. Of course this is only a guide, as some of the other popular musical instruments such as the guitar, piano and keyboard are not normally found in a symphony orchestra.

How much will a lesson cost?

Individual musical instrument lessons can cost between £8 and £20 for half an hour. Group instrument lessons £5 to £12. Popular musical instruments are normally cheap than not so popular instruments, normally because there is no shortage of teachers and competition tends to bring the prices down.
It is normally better to learn instruments in a group rather than learn individually.

Group learning is much more fun as every one is the same level as you and you can share experiences together. Individual instrument lessons can be too serious for a beginner and can actually put you off learning music because of this. However, individual lessons are a must when you get to a certain level of proficiency.

I want to choose a musical instrument that I can play in a band. Which instrument should I choose?

The best musical instruments to learn if you want to play in band are: Guitar, Saxophone, Clarinet, Violin or Cornet.

This list might be considered a strange one, but let me explain the reasoning behind this.

• The guitar is second-to-none as a solo instrument for a band. If you are the lead guitarist (electric guitar), you get all the limelight. You can play great riffs from all the famous songs.

•  The Saxophone is a great solo instrument and if you play in a jazz band or big band you get lots of solos to play.
  
• The clarinet is the king of the wind band; it is the orchestra’s equivalent of the lead violin. In a wind band you get to play lots of solos and intricate melodies.
  
• The Violin is a fantastic solo instrument and orchestral instrument. Many of the great composers have written beautiful solos and melodies for this instrument.
  
• The Cornet is the king of the brass band. This instrument has one of the most delightful sounds of all. The cornet is given the lead role in a brass band and is featured in all the best arrangements. The lead cornet player gets to play many solos.

I want to play a certain type of music. Which musical instruments are suitable for different styles?

Here is a list of different music styles:

Rock, Classical, Pop, heavy Metal, R&B, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Carribean, African, Latin, Dance, Country, Rap, Hip Hop, Christian, Opera.
This list below would be endless if I went in to it in great detail, so here is a short list.

1)  Guitar. The electric or bass guitar is suitable for pop, rock, R&B, heavy metal, R&B, Jazz and blues, the classical guitar for classical music, the acoustic guitar for pop and folk.
2)  Piano. The acoustic piano is suitable for classical, jazz, blues and dance.
3)  Digital Piano/Keyboard is suitable for pop music, dance, jazz and blues.

4)  Drums are suitable for pop, rock, classical, jazz, African – well, almost everything!
5)  Violin is suitable for classical, folk, country and dance.
6)  Cello is suitable for classical.

7)  Flute is suitable for classical.
8)  Saxophone is suitable for jazz, blues, pop.
9) Clarinet is suitable for classical, jazz and blues.
10) Trumpet/Cornet is suitable for classical, jazz, blues and dance.
11) Trombone is suitable for classical, jazz and blues.

12) French horn is suitable for classical.

13) Banjo is suitable for country and folk.

14) Recorder is suitable for classical.

15) Viola is suitable for classical.

16) Tuba is suitable for classical.

17) Oboe is suitable for classical.

I hope that you now feel more informed and can make a decision on which musical instrument is best for your needs.
If you need more information about musical instruments, or you are now ready to make a decision I can recommend a great website: www.Soundsmusical.com. They offer good advice, lots of information and a massive selection of all musical instruments.

Happy learning!

About The Author

Graham Howard is a respected member of the music community. He is known as ‘The Guru of Music’ and has written many articles about musical instruments. You can reprint or reuse this article as many times as you wish.

[Do you want to use this article on your website? ukpianos.co.uk gives you permission to copy this article and use it, providing you include this author's biog box.]

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