Musical instruments are practically universal components of human culture. There were also musical instruments from ancient times, like clay drums, shell trumpets, pipes, and whistles.
Also, they have been regarded as an essential component of the ritual believes necessary for spiritual survival.
Surprisingly, the further progression of the enormously diverse musical instruments has been reliant on four main factors. These factors include available tools, technical skills, symbolic preoccupations, and harmonizing abilities.
Therefore, to sustain and feed your brain with calm and tranquility, one needs to enjoy listening to or playing musical instruments.
However, you don’t always have to rush to musical learning sessions to learn how to play the instruments. Instead, you may buy the easiest and cheapest devices available and self-learn them.
This article briefed you about the easiest instrument to learn to help you enjoy your leisure time with melodic, soft, and tuneful music.
15 Easiest Musical to learn
Below is the list of the easy instruments to learn with their best features and qualities to help you buy the most suitable one for you.
1- Ukulele
Ukulele, from Hawaii, is a easy instrument to learn, which belongs to the lute family of instruments. It is a guitar-like instrument with four nylon strings usually played with the bare thumb or fingertips.
Also, it comes in four different sizes; soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. You may choose any of them that’s suits you well.
A variety of ukulele available that varies in quality ranging from plywood, tone wood, sprue to mahogany.
You have diverse options available which differ in price, and you may buy any of them suitable for your pocket. However, the traditionally preferred wood for the ukulele is a type of acacia endemic to Hawaii, called koa.
Besides, it’s a very suitable and easiest instrument to learn for beginners. Its soft nylon strings are gentler to your fingertips and don’t create pain like other guitars do.
Also, the small size prevents wrist tension because the notes are accessible without stretching.
Therefore, it is famous as a real instrument and not an introductory instrument.
2- Harmonica
Another easiest instrument to learn is Harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ. It’s a free reed wind instrument whose specialty has distinct roles in various musical genres.
Also, they have roles in blues, jazz, country, rock, and American folk music.
There are multiple types of Harmonica available: diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, bass, and orchestral versions.
It’s among the top 10 easiest instruments to play. You just need to use your mouth (lips and tongue) through the holes along with the mouthpiece.
Behind each hole, there is at least one reed that is flat and elongated that aids in blocking and unblocking the airway to produce sound.
Moreover, the most significant advantage to make it the easiest instrument to learn to play is its size which is very simple to handle.
Also, you may carry it wherever you want in your pocket. Also, even if you’re playing it for the first time, you may sound melodious since it’s easily manageable and excellent for beginners.
3- Piano
You can always opt for piano if you’re looking for the easiest instrument to learn. The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument in which strings are struck by wooden hammers coated with softer wool or leather.
Besides, one plays it using a keyboard on which the performer strikes his fingers and thumb to produce a melodic tune. There are three types of piano available, ranging in price and advancement; Grand piano, Upright piano, and Digital piano.
Each of these has its characteristic features with different notes and specialties.
You may also buy a mini piano before getting an original one to get your hands on it. Although the piano is heavy and a bit expensive, it’s among the easy to play instruments. Also, the musical versatility is beyond tremendous, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy playing it.
4- Guitar
Another easiest instrument to learn is the guitar, a fretted musical instrument with six strings. It is played by plucking the strings with the hands of players simultaneously pressing the strings on the opposite end.
The musical sound of the guitar is either enhanced by its resonant chamber or is augmented using an electronic pickup and amplifier. It has a crucial role in developing blue, rock music, jazz, soul, pop, mariachi, country, heavy metal, and punk rock.
Besides, it is the most famous easiest string instrument to learn and is less challenging for beginners due to its easy plucking techniques.
Also, no matter what your age is, if you’re 3 or 100, you can get your hands on it very quickly as it’s one of the most gratifying instruments to learn.
Bonus Tip: How Many Strings Does a Guitar Have?
5- Drums
Drums are the easiest band instrument to learn. It is the world’s oldest and most universal musical instrument. It consists of one membrane, called a drumhead stroked using a mallet to produce sound.
Also, a resonance head underside the drums are present, enabling sound to be produced in a low pitch and pleasant-sounding tone. You can play it individually or with a player using one drum only.
Besides, drums are well-known for music therapy and are essential in religious ceremonies. These are famous for jazz and popular music because of their tactile nature and unique perimeters.
You may require some self-practice to be perfect in it, but it’s enjoyable, and you would enjoy playing it and creating new, unique music.
6- Banjo
The banjo is another easiest instrument to learn to play. It’s also a stringed instrument with a thin membrane that is typically circular or plastic or sometimes animal skin.
Banjo is generally associated with folk and country music and sometimes rock songs.
The answer to the question of what’s the easiest instrument to play is the banjo precisely. Moreover, it would be advantageous for you if you’re a guitar player. This will help you learn banjo in less time.
There’s a myth that the heavier the banjo, the more it will sound good. That’s false! The weight has no relationship with the sound it produces.
You can enjoy multiple styles while playing the banjo and relish r&b, blues, Irish, country, pop, New Orleans brass band, and much more!
Besides, older banjos are better, producing much more exciting sounds. Some of the great banjos are Deering, Ome, Romero, Huber, Santa Cruz, and much more.
Bonus Tip: Top 10 Best Banjo Songs in 2021
7- Recorder
The recorder is a winding wood musical instrument known as internal duct flutes. It is the most known duct flute in western culture.
Moreover, it’s distinguished from other flutes by having a thumb-hole on the top for the upper hand while seven finger holes; three for the upper hand while four for the lower hand.
These are available in various sizes and compasses, giving multiple vocal ranges. Also, the internal and external proportions’ dimensions vary, which is another reason to give a distinct sound calming for everyone.
It is another one of the easiest and cheapest instruments that gives a clear and sweet melodious sound matching birds.
Its tone is relatively pure due to a variety of articulations. These articulations provide unique tone colors and effects that are harmonious and melodic.
Although the recorder’s design has changed multiple times over the last 700 years, the fingering technique is still the same. Lips around the beak support the recorder, and the right hand is the lower hand while the left hand is the upper hand.
Bonus Tip: What Are the Different Types of Flutes of All the Time?
8- Tambourine
The tambourine is always superior in the list of instruments that are easy to learn and play. It belongs to the percussion family consisting of a frame made up of wood or plastic. It has a drumhead that uses drum sticks to play it.
This musical instrument comes in many shapes, but the commonest one is circular. You can enjoy various types of music from it like Turkish folk music, Greek folk music, classical music, Persian music, pop music, country music, and much more!
This instrument is also among the easiest instruments to play. It would help if you held this instrument in your hand or place it on a strand. Then strike or shake the jingles using a stick to produce a loud and clear sound that is harmonious and calming.
Besides, it produces a rattling, metallic, bright, rustling, and jiggling sound that is soothing to one’s ear.
9- Maracas
Maracas is also among the simple instruments to learn. It’s sometimes called rumba shaker and is commonly appears in Latin music and the Caribbean genre.
It is the easiest instrument to play. This musical instrument, used in pairs, has a handle that produces a unique sound from its top round-shaped structure when shaken.
These are rattles with multiples pebbles inside and red feathers outside to give it a beautiful look.
Moreover, it is usually in various cultures for dancing purposes. People just dance and swing it in the air and produces a melodic tone.
Besides, some people consider it a spiritual connection that gives them tranquility and calms while playing or listening to it.
You can make these maracas at home too, which would save your money. Also, it is perfect for children to use as a toy musical instrument. The sound it produces is quite loud but excitable and suitable for dancing.
10- Bongos
Bongos is also the answer to your question, what is the easiest instrument to learn?
These are Afro-Cuban percussion instruments having a pair of small bottomed drums of different sizes. You can enjoy Cubano, salsa, and Afro-Cuban jazz from it.
They produce relatively high-pitched sounds and kept on their knees while playing it. It is played using hands, keeping in mind that the giant drum should be suitable for the right-handed people and opposite for left-handed ones.
Besides, this instrument is the answer to your question, what instrument should I play at leisure time. You need a bit of practice to play it using the tips of your fingers and edges on the palm on the drumhead.
11- Castanets
Castanets are among the types of instruments that people use to produce clicks for rhythmic accents. It is known as clickers and is famous in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Swiss, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome music.
This is among the easiest instruments to learn. You need to hold one pair in each hand, with string hooked over the thumb and castanets resting on the palm. Each pair will make the sound of a different pitch when clicked with fingers.
12- Glockenspiel
Glockenspiel is also on the list of instruments that are easy to play and learn. It’s a musical percussion instrument with a set of tuned metal pieces mounted in a frame. These are struck with small hammers to produce sound.
This requires a technique that is pretty simple to learn. You may self-learn it or take guidance from the internet.
13- DJ controller
Your question about what instrument should I play when I need exhilaration and excitement in life is DJ Controller.
This easy-to-play device helps to make DJs mix music using knobs, encoders, jog wheels, faders, and other components. You require some practice to learn it then you become a pro at it.
14- Saxophone
The saxophone is best for beginners if they’re familiar with the sound of it by listening to music, especially jazz. You may also teach it to yourself, but it would require some time and some extra energy.
The clever, modern design of the saxophone makes it easy for everyone to start. The keys on it are spaced apart in a precise way that matches the shape of the hand pretty well.
15- Cello
Cello or violoncello is a string instrument belonging to the violin family. It has four strings that are usually tuned in perfect fifths.
This musical instrument requires training, so if you have a teacher, you should go for it because the sound it produces is very soothing, and you would love playing it.
Frequently Ask Questions
Q: What instrument should I play?
A: You should start with the piano. It’s best for beginners, and it only requires some techniques you need to learn, then, later on, you get to master them. Also, some fantastic keyboards and digital pianos are available that cheaper and easier to play.
Q: What are the cheapest instruments?
A: The cheapest instrument is the flute. Trumpet and tambourine are also much more affordable, but their use is far more limited.
Q: What is the hardest instrument to learn?
A: Violin is the hardest instrument to learn. Followed by organ, French horn, accordion, and harp.
Q: Which instrument will you choose?
A: My pick-up would be drums as it’s the easiest instrument to learn. Playing the drums relieves one from stress and helps one dive into music in a musically fun way. Also, the basics of drumming are relatively simple.
