What instrument should I take up

April 2, 2018 7:29 PM

I want to learn an instrument. What should I play?

- I'm middle aged. I don't want to join a band or turn music into my life. This is just a little hobby mostly for myself. My biggest ambition is to play some songs with close friends and family
- I guess I want a relatively portable instrument
- I listen to folky, punky, singer-songwritery, "new music" (contemporary composers), and other stuff.
- I need to be able to mostly teach myself with youtube/books/??
So I'm open to whatever. Thanks for your suggestions.

posted by latkes to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (24 answers total)

Ukulele is great for all of your requirements and there are a ton of online resources for learning. Guitar would be fine, too, and you can do a little more with it in the long run but it has a slightly steeper learning curve.
posted by charmedimsure at 7:33 PM on April 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

Harmonica, ukulele, melodica: inexpensive, portable, expressive, relatively easy to learn.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:33 PM on April 2, 2018

I would go with (acoustic) guitar - fairly inexpensive if buying one off craigslist or similar, TONS of self-learning material, goes well with the genres you list, great for accompaniment.

The only thing would be the portability requirement I guess (depending on your definition of "portable"), but it's certainly more portable than, like, an 88-key keyboard or baritone saxophone? (and an acoustic wouldn't need to be plugged in, no amp to lug around, etc) :/ FWIW I started self-learning ukulele and guitar around the same time - I got the point where I could play a passable little tune faster on the ukulele, but have found the guitar much more rewarding in the long run. I like similar music to the genres in your list and play a couple other instruments (piano, trumpet) which I would not recommend given your requirements.
posted by btfreek at 7:49 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

Ukulele.
posted by rossination at 7:54 PM on April 2, 2018

Slide whistle!
posted by asperity at 8:14 PM on April 2, 2018

Ukulele is easy, and there seem to be a lot of groups in my area where newbies get together and all play simple songs (not like bands, just a way to get a little feedback and have some fun). A friend of mine picked it up pretty quickly with no prior music experience.
posted by clone boulevard at 8:21 PM on April 2, 2018

If you need ukulele inspiration, check out James Hill. Great stuff.
posted by kate4914 at 8:35 PM on April 2, 2018

Sure, you could do ukulele, but let me take a moment to plug the Omnichord.
posted by daisystomper at 8:49 PM on April 2, 2018 [8 favorites]

Electric kalimba? This one's got built-in delay
posted by naju at 8:56 PM on April 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

100% ukulele. No question about it! Not a cheap one, but don't go too pricey either. Something like these Ohana Concert ukuleles. It's a wonderful instrument and a lot of fun. It's also way more versatile than I ever expected it would be. A good beginner book would be the Daily Ukulele (Jim Beloff). If your budget goes a little higher, I don't think you'd regret getting this Ohana SK-30L long neck ukulele.
posted by belau at 9:07 PM on April 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

Consider a Strumstick. As the designer says, the tuning is such that there are "no wrong notes", so you can pick it up and start strumming and it'll sound pretty good.

It's based on the mountain dulcimer, so if you want to learn to play songs, there's plenty of tablature and simplified notation online.
posted by Lexica at 9:22 PM on April 2, 2018 [7 favorites]

I met someone who said they chose the harp because it's ergonomic, so they wouldn't ever have to give it up. There's travel harps.
posted by aniola at 9:31 PM on April 2, 2018

A couple of additional comments in favour of a ukulele:
1. When learning a new musical instrument, it is seldom a good economy to get a cheap one. Ukuleles are inexpensive enough that you can get a good one without breaking the bank. There are plenty of reviews which will suggest options.
2. At least here in the UK, ukuleles have taken over from recorders as the default instrument for teaching children in school music classes: this is because of their low cost and portability - but also because - with just instrument, you can use them to learn about rhythm, melody, harmony and self-accompaniment . You can also play them equally well alone or in groups.
3. For these same reasons - ukuleles are pretty good composition tools.

But if you want something unusual: A hurdy gurdy.
posted by rongorongo at 11:13 PM on April 2, 2018

Perhaps a Hang - like a developed steel drum - sounding like this.
posted by rongorongo at 12:16 AM on April 3, 2018

My main concern would be whether you have neighbors who share walls. I really want to learn to play drums and I played the trumpet for more than 20 years. Living in apartments or condos has made that kind of noise difficult.

I think a banjo would be awesome! But a ukulele would work too...
posted by bendy at 12:29 AM on April 3, 2018

Hangs are super cool, but also super difficult to get hold of because they're only manufactured by one company that turns out very few year-on-year. You might have a bit more luck looking for handpans, which is the generic term.

I'd probably steer clear of handpans and strumsticks and other things you haven't heard of, though, because although they're fun and unusual, they can end up being a bit limiting. Even something like an Omnichord, which you can play recognisable songs on in any key, ends up just sounding a bit samey after a while.

I'm in the uke camp, I think - it's simple and easy enough with nylon strings that you can pick up basic songs in a day, but still flexible and nuanced enough that there's plenty of distance to go before you fully master it. Plus, it's a good way to get used to fretting and strumming and build up your fretting hand strength if you want to transfer to acoustic guitar.
posted by spielzebub at 2:53 AM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

Recorder. Dulcimer.
posted by Gnella at 3:24 AM on April 3, 2018

Just putting in a vote for guitar.

Reason 1: If you want to have a sing-song with people, a single melody instrument like a recorder isn't ideal - you want something on which you can play chords.

Reason 2: Some people have a guitar sitting around in their house that you can pick up if you didn't bring your own. If it's out, it's fair game! At parties where it feels like the right time for a sing I have even asked if the host had one somewhere. They often do!

Reason 3: you can play along to a ton of stuff really easily, it's super versatile.

Citation: I have picked up dozens of instruments over the years and the guitar is the only one that I consistently use to drag comrades into a song :)
posted by greenish at 4:43 AM on April 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

I'll second banjo, in particular clawhammer style. Once you master the strum and a few chord shapes, you can do quite a lot. I took it up and didn't stick with it enough to get really good but could still make music on it. An advantage to banjo is that in the most common tunings, just hitting the open strings is euphonious.
posted by Smearcase at 8:51 AM on April 3, 2018

Nthing ukuleke, but if you're like my dad (who thought he was going to play the ukulele until his arthritis made gripping the instrument too difficult), you might also consider the mountain dulcimer. It's about the same size/weight as a ukulele, but since you play it in your lap it doesn't aggro arthritic joints nearly as much.

it's also cheap like a ukulele, if that's an issue – I found a beginner dulcimer on amazon for like 80 bucks
posted by The demon that lives in the air at 9:26 AM on April 3, 2018

If you want to do this largely by/for yourself, I would suggest harmonica rather than banjo or ukulele as I think it's a bit easier to learn how to play solo melodies on the harmonica than it is to pick them out on a stringed instrument. Most elementary guitar/banjo/ukulele techniques are for harmonic accompaniments (e.g., strumming/picking out chord patterns) rather than melodic material. Also, you can't beat the harmonica for portability.
posted by slkinsey at 12:56 PM on April 3, 2018

For singer/songwriter type music an acoustic guitar would probably be the most versatile. The uke has an easier learning curve and is more portable. But my vote is the concertina!
posted by cazoo at 1:22 PM on April 3, 2018

guitar has great room for growth - you can happily spend your life strumming 3 chord songs on it, but you can also go much farther into e.g. fingerpicking, if you want to.
posted by thelonius at 5:54 AM on April 4, 2018

Response by poster: Thank you all so much for your advice! I really considered every option suggested, and they all seem to have their benefits. I especially considered a Uke as many folks here made a strong case for the uke. But ultimately, I figured a guitar is something I would be most likely to want to stick with long term. So I bought a super cheap used guitar and I'm starting on youtube guitar lessons. Maybe in six months or a year if I enjoy playing music I'll branch out to something else. Really grateful for the advice shared here, thank you!
posted by latkes at 9:37 PM on April 21, 2018 [2 favorites]