What's the easiest instrument to play?

is it easy to get the velocity you want i.e can you play really soft reliably?

this sounds really good but I have to be careful not to convince myself another gizmo will magically make me write good music (plus can’t afford it heh)

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haven’t even plugged anything in for 6 months so it would just sit on the floor of my room anyway tbh.

Cool that there are still good inroads in accessibility and versatility being made though!

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its scatting

this ain’t the filth thread mate

image

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M9 it’s literally just four strings, half of which you don’t even need :thinking:

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Blues type harmonica (as opposed to the chromatic type Stevie wonder plays) - impossible to play a bum note basically. You do need to learn to “bend” a note to get a full scale, but you can get by without that

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(as a guitarist) all guitarists think they can just pick up a bass and be automatically good at it cos “it’s just an easier guitar isn’t it?” but when you actually start to devote a lot of time to bass you eventually reach a point where you become actually good at it and realise you just hadn’t noticed how shit you were at it before

not sure if i could play bass in a band as i feel it requires more stamina and consistency than guitar (depending on what type of band it is i suppose)

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to play or to play well or to become amazing at?

to ‘play’ a keyboard is easy as producing a note doesn’t require any training or practise, same as it doesn’t require practise to hit a drum beyond very very basic coordination

to master playing a full drum kit with subtlety and expression and feel and groove takes an incredible level of practise

i found learning the trombone fairly easy at first, i reckon the initial learning curve for a brass instrument is easier than for a reed instrument or for a bowed string instrument

found beginner guitar impossible tho cos my fingers are fat

Guiro

Autoharp looks pretty easy

I started in the school orchestra on the drum, was demoted (partly for taking the round end off the drumsticks and flicking them at the double bassist) to the cymbal then was demoted from the cymbal when I dropped it on the floor (onto an iron plaque in the floor of a church in the middle of a quiet part of a church service, in fact) and ended up on the triangle.

The triangle is pretty easy, and even if you get it wrong no-one can hear you.

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Smoke machine

I wasn’t demoted but my moment of failure while playing drums was when my band were playing outside at a 6th form sports day. I knocked over my ride cymbal which cut through the power cable, meaning suddenly all the guitars and PA went down :smile:

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Inglorious musical careers could definitely be whole new thread. I liked the bit in one of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s biographical books where he describes his school band’s only gig when they beg to be allowed to play at a local shopping centre and it ends with the manager coming out and actually offering them money to stop playing and go away.

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You’re playing it wrong

It definitely depends on the type of band and the style of playing but ultimately well-played bass in your average rock band is a thankless task where most of the time no-one will notice if you’re doing a stellar job, but if you fuck up it will ruin everything.

this is why I insist on whacking filthy overdrive on everything I do and tending towards the the highest and lowest frequencies possible. WHOOM

A friend of mine - the best singer I personally know - reckons singing is a “you’ve got it or you haven’t” thing, requiring refinement more than actual learning so this is actually a very good shout

Oh for sure, but the only people who’ve ever come up to me after a show to compliment my playing are other musicians, whereas I think “impressive” guitar-playing is something that’s apparent to anyone regardless of whether they’re a muso or not.

Not bragging here, I’m really nothing special, but I did spend a few years in a band where the drummer and I were the most competent players and it’s quite telling the kind of person who makes a point of coming up to and complimenting the rhythm section after a pub gig.

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