What non-string instrument should I learn to play?
June 2, 2016 8:36 AM   Subscribe

For years I have played strings but have a craving to learn another kind of instrument, maybe a woodwind. Help me figure out what the most interesting and fun new instrument for me is.

It needs to be small and portable. I'd like to play outside and travel some with it, so it should be easy to carry and not overly sensitive to humidity and temperature.

It should have expansive repertoire, I don't care what style. Also, I can read alto and treble clef so it would be most convenient if my new instrument didn't require me to learn to read new music too.

Darker, deeper, warmer tones preferred; I don't think I'd be happy with a penny whistle or piccolo.

It can be a 'difficult' instrument but that's not necessary. Traditional and nontraditional are also both fine.

Thanks for your suggestions!
posted by epanalepsis to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (21 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Flute? You don't have to go buying reeds for it, and it's eminently portable.
posted by xingcat at 8:37 AM on June 2, 2016 [3 favorites]


Best answer: Oboe oboe oboe oboe

(Yeah, dealing with reeds sucks, but oboe.)

You could learn to play Bach's oboe concertos.
posted by Melismata at 8:39 AM on June 2, 2016 [4 favorites]


Best answer: Clarinet checks most of your boxes. If an Eb clarinet isn't portable enough for you, you could try to get hold of an Ab clarinet.
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 8:44 AM on June 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


Sax or clarinet seem the most versatile/fun. Avoid the Bellowphone.
posted by sammyo at 8:46 AM on June 2, 2016


The one you love the most is the only correct answer.

Clearly that means the oboe.
posted by plonkee at 8:50 AM on June 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: You said "maybe" a woodwind. So how about an accordion? Not the giant ones, maybe a button accordion, melodeon, or concertina.
posted by aimedwander at 8:50 AM on June 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Hang/Spacedrum is an upside down steel drum thing that fits in your lap which you can play with your hands. I'm not sure what sheet music would be like for it since I don't read music for anything except piano.
posted by mattamatic at 8:50 AM on June 2, 2016


Best answer: Woodwind player here...

Woodwind instruments that are actually made of wood are going to be sensitive to humidity and temperature. As in, don't leave it in the car or it will crack. Oboes are particularly susceptible to this, to the extent that some pro models are making the top joint out of plastic these days.

Clarinet is my primary instrument - I wouldn't recommend starting on anything other than a Bb. Eb and Ab clarinets are screechy bastards, and really difficult to play. I play clarinet well enough to have held down a regular slot in a community orchestra, and always dreaded the every-10-year playing of a Mahler piece that called for Eb. A piccolo player turned around and said "do you have to play that thing?" during one of these sessions...

I'd go with alto saxophone - plays on treble clef, one of the easier woodwinds, and you can get gigs on it in jazz and (unpaid) gigs in concert bands. It's metal construction, has pads, so kind of a 5-6 on a scale of 1-10 as far as temperature tolerance. It won't catastrophically break if you forget and leave it in a hot car (but you may be having some pads reseated later).

And 3 more suggestions:
1) take lessons
2) take lessons
3) take lessons
posted by randomkeystrike at 8:51 AM on June 2, 2016 [3 favorites]


Sax or clarinet seem the most versatile/fun. Avoid the Bellowphone.

But what about the Flame-O-Phone? (shown to best advantage starting at the 1 minute mark)
posted by randomkeystrike at 8:53 AM on June 2, 2016


Best answer: Oboe fits musically, but oboes are pricey and extremely sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity.

Saxophone is your best bet if you want to play outside.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:54 AM on June 2, 2016


Best answer: Concertina meets many of your criteria. It's very small. It has a substantial repertoire in many European traditions. It's in the range you're comfortable in. They are a bit finicky about temperature and humidity, true. Probably most importantly, concertina players are always welcomed at sessions.

Here's this years' winner of the BBC Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2016 for a sense of it.
posted by bonehead at 9:25 AM on June 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Darker/deeper/warmer points to clarinet or alto sax within your specs. Clarinet more portable but more temperature sensitive, though starting with a composite material (plastic-ish) instrument will mitigate that.

With either, using a composite reed will make your life a lot easier. They're really quite good nowadays.

On the opposite end of cost/portability, what about harmonica?
posted by supercres at 9:58 AM on June 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Oh, I have no plans to leave it in the car. I just mean, I've met some violins that couldn't even go outside--I'd like something I can at least go to the park with. Obviously I also don't plan to buy a $5k instrument and tote it around. I will be careful with whatever I get.

And of course I will take lessons. I am a serious musician, I know the risks of self-taught errors.

Accordion is a contender! It doesn't have to be a woodwind, I was just thinking classical because my musical imagination is lacking.

More please, thanks.
posted by epanalepsis at 10:32 AM on June 2, 2016


Best answer: Two borderline-offtopic suggestions:

- pianists have more repertoire than anyone. And keyboard skills (if not classical repertoire) transfer to any number of more portable instruments.

- outside classical music, drummers are almost always in demand. And, again, though the full drum kit is a pain to move around, and not generally welcome in the park, it has lots of more portable relatives. OK, the staff is different.
posted by bfields at 10:36 AM on June 2, 2016


Best answer: As a flute player of sorts, I have noted that the flute is an easy instrument to play badly, meaning you would be able to play a recognizable Twinkle, Twinkle in about 15 minutes. And then a lifetime of getting better.

Relatively, Flutes require a lot of wind (and damnation to all the string and keyboard composers who don't allow for a breath). I read recently that oboes call for the least. Oboists are rare compared to clarinetists. In your place, I would go for one of the less common instruments because it would be easier to find folks to play with. "Hey, look, a soprano sax player."

For portability and sing along potential, it's hard to beat a ukulele.
posted by SemiSalt at 11:45 AM on June 2, 2016


I loooooved playing French Horn - maybe you would too? It's somewhat difficult to learn (sort of the opposite of the flute, I think; it takes a while to learn to play simple stuff because so much of what you're doing depends on embouchure, not the keys) but it's so, so pretty. It'll definitely get you the dark, deep, warm tones you're looking for. It's not exactly small/portable but it's also not a tuba - you can carry it with one hand. French horn!
posted by meggan at 12:11 PM on June 2, 2016


Accordian has been mentioned a couple of times, including by the OP. Probably one of your better bets for casual busking/solo performing/etc. No idea how hard it is to learn, but if you know keyboards already it would seem to be relatively easy.

And as I type this I am literally watching a PBS show about Mel Brooks and he just said he played accordian as a young man, so it's like a sign.
posted by randomkeystrike at 12:36 PM on June 2, 2016


As someone who started off playing clarinet, I would suggest starting with alto sax, if it's not too big to bring with you. It's dark and warm in tone and not overly susceptible to humidity, as woodwinds go, and there are a ton of fun parts and solos for it. It also requires a bit more lungpower than clarinet does, which would make clarinet feel easier if you ever did want to take it up. It projects well, too, if you ever wanted to busk. And it's a woodwind you can actually play in a rock band.
posted by limeonaire at 3:19 PM on June 2, 2016


Best answer: Give the recorder some consideration! A good wood instrument has a beautiful tone, from sopranino all the way to bass. So versatile - I play mine in church all the time. Have fun!
posted by alicat at 4:38 PM on June 2, 2016


Alto or tenor recorder!
posted by leahwrenn at 5:03 PM on June 2, 2016


Best answer: Have you considered a melodica? Maybe not what some would classify as a serious instrument, but it's cheap, easy, and portable.
posted by fings at 9:57 PM on June 2, 2016


« Older Explain bottle-feeding a breastfed baby as if I...   |   Font identification Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.