After having learned how to play piano, guitar, bass, sing, and play drums (in that order), I feel I can certainly look back and tell you which instruments were the hardest for me. First off, let me point out to you, I am by no means a master of any instrument, save guitar. However, on any of my instruments, I can hold my own, being able to perform with enough technique to work in a band.

As a kid, I wanted to learn drums. In fact, I used to (and still do – much to the annoyance of my neighbors) constantly hand-drum on everything that would make a noise. My mom knew I wanted to play drums, but she convinced me to enroll in piano lessons. Looking back, I don’t think her decision was aimed at getting me to play an instrument she thought I would be better with, but more one she could live with. Drums tend to be extremely loud, and expensive and at the time electronic drum kits were still well into the thousands of dollars. Interestingly enough, after becoming a music instructor and teaching countless hordes of people guitar and piano, I’ve found most students have a hard time really grasping music theory. I think this is mostly because piano is a linear instrument – it starts at the left and ends at the right, but guitar is a paradoxical instrument, with multiple notes that are the same (unisons). This simple difference makes it considerably harder to memorize things such as the chromatic scale, since you can’t really see a pattern on the guitar as you would the piano. It always tends to be the little things like this I notice some of my students struggling with no matter how often we review it. I think a lot of that is the visual impact differences between a guitar and a piano. On a piano you can see patterns and notes, but not on a guitar or bass.

In short, I think it makes learning easier if you start with piano and then move onto guitar. Also, I would personally consider guitar to be a slightly harder instrument than piano, making piano a better start for kids. Drums on the other hand have been the most difficult instrument for me to learn, because it’s so much more complex with every limb doing something different rhythmically. Of course, all this knowledge is single sided. The real issue, is do you want to play a different instrument, or have as much desire for it? I think more important than learning the easiest instrument first, you should find out if you have the mental fortitude to learn the instrument you want and not give up no matter the challenges that lay ahead.

Keep Rockin’

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