This is a question which I find almost impossible to answer. Have you ever played any instrument before, have you had any sort of classical training in music ? Do you want to play primarily melody, do you see yourself as an accompanist ? Do you tend more towards wind or stringed instruments ?
I personally - having a musical background in guitar, 5string banjo and harp - meaning `harmonica´as in `blues harp´- tend to recommend stringed instruments where you usually have a melody-oriented approach rather than a chord-oriented as on the guitar or on the 5string where you - at least in bluegrass - tend to play in patterns of `rolls´; this would mean either the tenor banjo or the mandolin. In both cases I found that you can progress quite fast: listen to your favorite tunes on CDs, find them in O´Neill or in TheSession-tune section and begin to roll... Godd Luck !!
I agree with Robert (about the whistle!). I picked it up as a child, from my uncle. However, I worked with Brendan Monaghan (the pipes player) many years back, and he showed me in a couple of kitchen lessons enough technique and ornamentation to get by on. Also, you don't have the issue of tuning/intonation that you would have to deal with in a stringed instrument. I've never taken it much further than perhaps a dozen tunes, but it's possibly the cheapest, most accessible instrument.
The drawback is that one whistle will only cover a finite number of keys, so you may need to invest in more when you are building up a wider repertoire.
I'm guessing melody would be the thing sought after here, seeing as you asked about playing tunes. In that case I would concur on the whistle suggestion.
Or you can take the route chosen by millions of people ages 8 and up and learn how to play Guitar Hero! I've heard that its rather hard though, mebbe not suitable for a beginner.
Thats going to be up to you to find out... the whistle? Fiddle was much easier for me. The whistle is the most challenging instrument Ive ever picked up.
Sorry I can't help with the answer, but fantastic question! While I don't play a purely melody instrument, I reckon whatever you choose will add its own flavour to the music...as each instrument has its own natural difficulties and... sorry, can't think what the opposite of difficulties is...but hope you get the point!
...but your question is also interesting in that it could imply that learning tunes is different from playing them. That's how I took the question, hence it's quite a difficult one. The suggestion about the voice is perhaps the best of all. But if the intent is to eventually play them with people, surely the answer must be: "Whichever instrument you intend to play them on".
If that is the case, then surely the answer is another question: "Which instrument attracts you the most?"...or even, "Which instrument would you enjoy playing the most" because, to be honest, for most people learning is about doing something for a long time, so you're most likely to learn on something you really enjoy playing.
When people ask what harp (my instrument) is the best one to learn on, I always suggest buying a good instrument as that will make learning much more fun than something which is just a total struggle to play / tune / take anywhere.
I think that fiddle is harder to learn than whistle--it only seems easier to fiddlers because they are used to it. For a beginner, it can be very difficult to get good tone, and good intonation. It's also a big challenge to get the rhythm right, with a bow.
Although if you already know how to play guitar, it might be easier for you to learn another string instrument.
But with the whistle, you just blow in one end, and cover the right holes at the right time. Yes, to play it really well is a big challenge--but if you just want to get started on a few simple tunes, it's a shallower learning curve.
Hardest instrument for learning tunes? Pipes, probably, right? Very steep learning curve, lots of complicated, unnatural movements required.
5 string? Take it back, get a 4 string, get the thick strings, tune it GDAE and off ya go. You're already pickin', why stop now?
Whistle is the quickest learning curve. It's like the catchphrase from that 80s American TV commercial for the game "Othello": "A moment to learn, a lifetime to master..."
Playing the whistle could lead you to degenerate habits such as playing the flute and/or the pipes. Then you'll spend countless hours at that Chiff and Fipple website, endlessly agonizing over things like 'tonguing" and "fingering" and so on. Tsk tsk.
Depends how you define easy... A piano is easy to play in tune but hard to play tunes on. A whistle is fairly easy to finger but hard to get breathing etc right.
With a fiddle, you can learn tunes during a session without making much noise. You can pull the bow quietly enough to find pitches without anyone else really hearing. The f-holes are close to your ear.
Not true of whistle, flute, pipes, etc. You need a certain amount of air to make a sound, that sound is loud, and the others can hear it better than you. Not ideal for trying to 'noodle' out new bits of a tune.
>What Key is your CD player in?
C & D, of course. It's diatonic.
But the answer of course is the whistle. For learning. But the whistle is conversely, one of the hardest to make sound really good, because of its very simplicity. In my view.
If you want something easy, there's always the quick crossword in the paper.
If you want to learn ITM you gotta practice - I believe that a recent post suggested 10,000 hours to get really proficient.
Voice is fine--if you have a good ear for pitch, and not everybody does.
I know someone who became pretty accomplished on the clarinet (first chair, high school orchestra) by working hard to finger the proper notes at the proper times--but as a singer, she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. (And don't say, "She just needs ear training"--she played for years. It's just not gonna happen.)
Whistle would be the right instrument, for someone like her.
Before you try the fiddle, you should play a mandolin, because a mandolin has frets. The frets on the mandolin will help you to understand the placement for fingering and what the true sound of each note is. You will achieve success sooner with a mandolin than with a fiddle.
After you have and understanding of how to play tunes on the mandolin, then you are ready to try a fiddle. The fingering patterns will be the same. Playing the fiddle well means learning how to coodinate the bowing and playing the intonation of each note with accuracy.
The whistle is also good to start with if you have good lungs and can control your air. Not everyone has this ability.
Voice?
OK, chaps, if you insist on going down the route of non-instrumental instruments then I'd suggest just whistling, rather than voice. The voice you have to articulate the sound: la la la or deh deh deh, whereas whistling is a purer note......
...actually I don't care what you do but among real instruments the tin whistle is easiest to get simple tunes out of.
as a fiddlist/violinist i find it easier to pick up a tune on the mandolin and transfer that to the fiddle. you might not get the desired effect straight away (e.g. ululating or warbling parts) but to just get the hang of a tune's basic structure it's ideal
Thanks for all the interesting replies, I do bash around on the 5 string but meant on a more melody oriented instrument, such as whistle, fiddle, mandolin or banjo (4 string). It's kind of a double barrelled question as i reckon you cant learn a tune on an instrument until you have the tune in your head.
Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
What instrument do you reckon is easier for learning tunes??
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by fap
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
A CD player.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Dragut Reis
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
But most people start making noise with the whistle.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Dragut Reis
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
What Key is your CD player in?
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by upmine3
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
This is a question which I find almost impossible to answer. Have you ever played any instrument before, have you had any sort of classical training in music ? Do you want to play primarily melody, do you see yourself as an accompanist ? Do you tend more towards wind or stringed instruments ?
I personally - having a musical background in guitar, 5string banjo and harp - meaning `harmonica´as in `blues harp´- tend to recommend stringed instruments where you usually have a melody-oriented approach rather than a chord-oriented as on the guitar or on the 5string where you - at least in bluegrass - tend to play in patterns of `rolls´; this would mean either the tenor banjo or the mandolin. In both cases I found that you can progress quite fast: listen to your favorite tunes on CDs, find them in O´Neill or in TheSession-tune section and begin to roll... Godd Luck !!
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by alexweger
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
try this.
cheap,doesnt need replacement strings or reeds etc, and can be practiced anywhere
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX18CMR1I9Y
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by rumpole
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
I agree with Robert (about the whistle!). I picked it up as a child, from my uncle. However, I worked with Brendan Monaghan (the pipes player) many years back, and he showed me in a couple of kitchen lessons enough technique and ornamentation to get by on. Also, you don't have the issue of tuning/intonation that you would have to deal with in a stringed instrument. I've never taken it much further than perhaps a dozen tunes, but it's possibly the cheapest, most accessible instrument.
The drawback is that one whistle will only cover a finite number of keys, so you may need to invest in more when you are building up a wider repertoire.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by ciaranbradley
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
I'm guessing melody would be the thing sought after here, seeing as you asked about playing tunes. In that case I would concur on the whistle suggestion.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by rob_handel
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
The violin, as that is the only instrument I can play well
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by I ♥ Dow
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
fap:
Your bio says you are taking up five-string (banjo, I assume).
Are you thinking of something for learning tunes with the banjo eventually in mind?
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Piece
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
straight answer
whistle
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by zippydw
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
The fiddle is the easiest instrument to learn how to play fiddle tunes. Don't waste your time with non-fiddle instruments when playing fiddle music.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Tadhg mac Saoirse
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Whistle probably the easiest, but failing that, a kazoo
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Mix O'Lydian
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Or you can take the route chosen by millions of people ages 8 and up and learn how to play Guitar Hero! I've heard that its rather hard though, mebbe not suitable for a beginner.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by rob_handel
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
whistle
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by AlBrown
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Hey - what about "air guitar"
... or maybe stylophone ...
... anyone remember those?
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Mix O'Lydian
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Thats going to be up to you to find out... the whistle? Fiddle was much easier for me. The whistle is the most challenging instrument Ive ever picked up.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by wichitafiddler
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Sorry I can't help with the answer, but fantastic question! While I don't play a purely melody instrument, I reckon whatever you choose will add its own flavour to the music...as each instrument has its own natural difficulties and... sorry, can't think what the opposite of difficulties is...but hope you get the point!
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Mark Harmer
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Fiddle.
No other way to fly man...
-Mais ça n'engage que moi
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Fanning
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
...but your question is also interesting in that it could imply that learning tunes is different from playing them. That's how I took the question, hence it's quite a difficult one. The suggestion about the voice is perhaps the best of all. But if the intent is to eventually play them with people, surely the answer must be: "Whichever instrument you intend to play them on".
If that is the case, then surely the answer is another question: "Which instrument attracts you the most?"...or even, "Which instrument would you enjoy playing the most" because, to be honest, for most people learning is about doing something for a long time, so you're most likely to learn on something you really enjoy playing.
When people ask what harp (my instrument) is the best one to learn on, I always suggest buying a good instrument as that will make learning much more fun than something which is just a total struggle to play / tune / take anywhere.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by Mark Harmer
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
I think that fiddle is harder to learn than whistle--it only seems easier to fiddlers because they are used to it. For a beginner, it can be very difficult to get good tone, and good intonation. It's also a big challenge to get the rhythm right, with a bow.
Although if you already know how to play guitar, it might be easier for you to learn another string instrument.
But with the whistle, you just blow in one end, and cover the right holes at the right time. Yes, to play it really well is a big challenge--but if you just want to get started on a few simple tunes, it's a shallower learning curve.
Hardest instrument for learning tunes? Pipes, probably, right? Very steep learning curve, lots of complicated, unnatural movements required.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by John Galt
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
5 string? Take it back, get a 4 string, get the thick strings, tune it GDAE and off ya go. You're already pickin', why stop now?
Whistle is the quickest learning curve. It's like the catchphrase from that 80s American TV commercial for the game "Othello": "A moment to learn, a lifetime to master..."
Playing the whistle could lead you to degenerate habits such as playing the flute and/or the pipes. Then you'll spend countless hours at that Chiff and Fipple website, endlessly agonizing over things like 'tonguing" and "fingering" and so on. Tsk tsk.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Depends how you define easy... A piano is easy to play in tune but hard to play tunes on. A whistle is fairly easy to finger but hard to get breathing etc right.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by snowyowl
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
With a fiddle, you can learn tunes during a session without making much noise. You can pull the bow quietly enough to find pitches without anyone else really hearing. The f-holes are close to your ear.
Not true of whistle, flute, pipes, etc. You need a certain amount of air to make a sound, that sound is loud, and the others can hear it better than you. Not ideal for trying to 'noodle' out new bits of a tune.
# Posted on January 24th 2009 by polkageist
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
>What Key is your CD player in?
C & D, of course. It's diatonic.
But the answer of course is the whistle. For learning. But the whistle is conversely, one of the hardest to make sound really good, because of its very simplicity. In my view.
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by Rudall the time
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Rumpole os right, of course, it's your voice.
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by ...
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
voice
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by Ben Steen
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
If you want something easy, there's always the quick crossword in the paper.
If you want to learn ITM you gotta practice - I believe that a recent post suggested 10,000 hours to get really proficient.
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Voice is fine--if you have a good ear for pitch, and not everybody does.
I know someone who became pretty accomplished on the clarinet (first chair, high school orchestra) by working hard to finger the proper notes at the proper times--but as a singer, she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. (And don't say, "She just needs ear training"--she played for years. It's just not gonna happen.)
Whistle would be the right instrument, for someone like her.
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by John Galt
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Before you try the fiddle, you should play a mandolin, because a mandolin has frets. The frets on the mandolin will help you to understand the placement for fingering and what the true sound of each note is. You will achieve success sooner with a mandolin than with a fiddle.
After you have and understanding of how to play tunes on the mandolin, then you are ready to try a fiddle. The fingering patterns will be the same. Playing the fiddle well means learning how to coodinate the bowing and playing the intonation of each note with accuracy.
The whistle is also good to start with if you have good lungs and can control your air. Not everyone has this ability.
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by Leendah
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Voice?
OK, chaps, if you insist on going down the route of non-instrumental instruments then I'd suggest just whistling, rather than voice. The voice you have to articulate the sound: la la la or deh deh deh, whereas whistling is a purer note......
...actually I don't care what you do but among real instruments the tin whistle is easiest to get simple tunes out of.
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by Rudall the time
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
If you don't have good breath control, try the one row melodeon.
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by PatrickJWK
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Do you mean the easiest instrument to learn, or the the easiest instrument to learn a new tune once you have learned the instrument?
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by Theo Gibb
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
This is it.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el8meJ3XOyg
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by bogman
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
as a fiddlist/violinist i find it easier to pick up a tune on the mandolin and transfer that to the fiddle. you might not get the desired effect straight away (e.g. ululating or warbling parts) but to just get the hang of a tune's basic structure it's ideal
# Posted on January 25th 2009 by jack.rowe
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
Thanks for all the interesting replies, I do bash around on the 5 string but meant on a more melody oriented instrument, such as whistle, fiddle, mandolin or banjo (4 string). It's kind of a double barrelled question as i reckon you cant learn a tune on an instrument until you have the tune in your head.
# Posted on January 26th 2009 by fap
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
easiest - mouthie
second easiest - anglo concertina (exactly same principle)
# Posted on January 26th 2009 by geoffwright
Re: Easiest Instrument for Learnng Tunes
You mean the tin sandwich, Geoff.
# Posted on January 27th 2009 by Guernsey Pete