What musical instrument should I learn to play?

[The BMW Guy]

I've been surfing song covers on youtube and my passion for music has been re-ignited. Problem is, I don't know what to play.

I used to play the piano for a few years, but I grew bored as I had to sit in one place for too long (I'm fidgety) playing classical songs. Not fun at all.

I can probably pick up piano again, but I'd rather explore some more. Another instrument!
Something where I can move around while playing to the music. None of those instruments that I have to blow into though...wasn't a fan of those back in Jr. High.

Two instruments come to mind for me...violin or the guitar.
Not sure which one is better (if there is a better one), your thoughts?

[finboy]

apples and oranges imo, personally i'd stick with piano but that's just me

[Disoblige]

Having neither experience in both guitar or violin, I would want to play the guitar. IMO, violin.. piano.. etc. fall into a classical category, where of course is not limited to classical but guitar in general sounds cooler no matter what you play.

[three.eighteen.]

depends on what you want. if you really want to understand other instruments and music in general, learn piano. guitar doesn't make a whole lot of sense (how come there's no E# on the first fret?) if you don't know what a keyboard looks like.

if you just want to plunk some chords and impress some girls, learn guitar via tab - no need for the brain work.

violin is just horrid to listen to when played badly, there's a reason it takes years to master.

[Vagabond142]

Learn to play the bagpipes :)

In all seriousness, guitar is the more supported (and a little easier to learn, but hard to master)

[Alterac]

Id totally go for Violin. Learn fiddling, and go to town man.

But, i quite enjoy my east coast music / irish / scottish :D

[EK 2.0]

Being a piano player...(well my mommy made me take lessons for a very very long time)...I would say stick with piano.

I tried to learn guitar in high school but NONE of th piano skills transferred over for me...so I gave up....and you can play some pretty bad ass shit on the piano....

Only negative...you can't carry one with you to impress the ladiezzz like you can with an axe...

[sexualbanana]

Originally posted by EK 2.0

Only negative...you can't carry one with you to impress the ladiezzz like you can with an axe...

But you can impress them when you get back to your place, and EK has no problem getting them back there.

I say stick to piano. If you can learn to play cover versions of some awesome songs on piano, they sound awesome. Look up David Sides on youtube.

Guitar is alright, especially if you learn to play acoustic.

[LUDELVR]

Guitar bro! Just started playing (or rather learning) when I left New Zealand. Didn't know much but a couple of songs to play while on the beach and yeah, definitely a good way to do some pulling!

Ended up getting back from Italy and I brought my gee-tar and yeah, was heaps better since I dawned it. There are so many guitarists who are abso-fucking-lutely amazing out there, but it was cool to break the ice, make some new mates and again, meet some new birds!

Funny story was I met a Finnish bird there and we ended up chilling out on the lawn in Florence by a cathedral and I ended up shacking up with her for a few days and I started playing time of your life and tears slowly started streaming from her eyes and at the end of the song when the last line was "I hope you had the time of your life" she looked at me and responded with a very heartfelt and sincere "I did". Okay. thanks.

Anyways, yeah bro, I'm not good by any means, but it's always fun to take your instrument where you go for practise as well as to meet new people and impress some hotties!:thumbsup:

[finboy]

you could always keep with piano and pick up guitar, personally i think more music translates well to piano than it does guitar...

NEJF_TRNV1s

violin would be cool to understand how orchestras work, but having family who play violin, it is NOT cheap.

[LUDELVR]

Here's a vid of a group of buskers while I was in Venice, Italy. They were actually pretty damn good! Watched them for like an hour. Each guy had his solo and they looked liked they were just playing off of each other at some points having battles and shit.

You too can aspire to this mate! Traveling the world with a guitar, smelling like rubbish, playing for random people in a relaxxed atmosphere...while asking for money! :confused: or you can sit at home in front of your ivories playing for a distinguished group of people who pride themselves in their personal hygiene and clothing!! :rofl: Just kidding.


Oops, first time using youtube!!

fuck it, here are the links!!:

Buskers 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw6EpE1MCKM)

Buskers 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LhjTm-0oVI)



Nah, like I said, I chose to start practising the guitar becaues it's a bit more convenient to lug around as well as play pretty much anywhere! Easier to sing with too. I reckon that's what gives the ladies panty soup, if you can sing with the guitar or any instrument for that matter! ;) Fiddle looks like it'd be cool too! Only thing missing with these fellas is a vocalist

[spikerS]

well, here goes.

I play the following:
Piano
Guitar (acoustic, i cant make an electric sound good for the life of me)
Drums
Bass

I play the above ok, not to a professional standard by anyone's measure, but i am great for jamming. I tried to learn the fiddle, but after a few months, I had to give up. it is pretty hard to get the hang of.

Accoustic guitars are awesome, and don't take much to learn. I take mine camping all the time. When I break it out around the fire, people just gravitate towards it, and with how easy alot of songs are to play, you can sound like a hero. Women love it. I never realized how much attention a guy with a guitar can get.

Next insturment I plan on giving a whirl is a banjo.

[TKRIS]

Originally posted by Vagabond142
Learn to play the bagpipes :)

I came in here to say exactly this.
The world needs more pipers.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2199/1805139373_5a0118eb57.jpg


^That fella grew up in Calgary.

If I thought I could pull it off, I totally would.


I like playing guitar, but it's so common and cliche that it's almost embarrassing to tell anyone about.

[DENZILDON]

Guitar would be a good choice but you also can look at getting an MIDI keyboard. Partner it with a good program and you can compose/remix songs.

[sexualbanana]

Like I said, if you can play new songs on piano, I think they sound f-ing amazing

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Even if the original song kinda sucked...
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[gretz]

banjo or an accordian - always party favorites

[sputnik]

Learn to play the cello.

[teknical]

Banjo would be siiick! I used to play the Trumpet way back when, but it really isn't cool enough to bring back :(

[LUDELVR]

Originally posted by sexualbanana
Like I said, if you can play new songs on piano, I think they sound f-ing amazing


I really can't say I'm surprised that you'd be amazed at watching a black dude bent over while assiduously storking slender pieces of ivory! But then again, that just sounds like something you'd do!! :devil:

[sexualbanana]

Originally posted by LUDELVR


I really can't say I'm surprised that you'd be amazed at watching a black dude bent over while assiduously storking slender pieces of ivory! But then again, that just sounds like something you'd do!! :devil:

I thought you would be, afterall you've watched your mom in that same position your whole life.

[homelessman]

Originally posted by The BMW Guy
I've been surfing song covers on youtube and my passion for music has been re-ignited. Problem is, I don't know what to play.

I used to play the piano for a few years, but I grew bored as I had to sit in one place for too long (I'm fidgety) playing classical songs. Not fun at all.

I can probably pick up piano again, but I'd rather explore some more. Another instrument!
Something where I can move around while playing to the music. None of those instruments that I have to blow into though...wasn't a fan of those back in Jr. High.

Two instruments come to mind for me...violin or the guitar.
Not sure which one is better (if there is a better one), your thoughts?

the skin flute.

[stevieo]

if you want lessons ask team_mclaren, pro-star violinist right there. haha he plays all crazy and shit with his neck and head swaying back and forth

[XylathaneGTR]

I've played guitar for the better part of 13 years now...so my opinions are a bit biased.

Relatively speaking, it's a pretty easy instrument to learn and to play. Not that i'm a proponent for this approach, but at the very least, you could skip all of the musical theory and in little time, could learn some basic chords and structures and play quite a bit of your favorite songs.

I'm not sure on how strong your resolve to learn a new instrument is, but it would probably take substantially more time at a higher cost to pick up the violin and make it not sound like garbage (where as a few hundred dollars can pick you up a very decent starter guitar and only a few months of your time to start really picking things up).

That being said, if you don't have available much time or really aren't willing to commit to a lesson schedule, consider a guitar. I absolutely love violins and have huge respect for those who have invested the time to master them and it's something that I wish to do myself one day, but currently do not have the time nor the patience.

I wouldn't completely write off the Piano though, especially if you have some experience with it already.

Good luck.

[The BMW Guy]

Good opinions guys!

To be honest, I don't like the piano. I don't know why, I just don't.
I'll probably just keep playing it on the side though. Should never throw away a skill, but I want to focus on a new instrument.

I'm still in between the guitar/violin.

But something about the violin just tugs at me...
Maybe its the challenge of learning the violin vs. other instruments, or maybe its just that the violin seems "exotic" in that not much people I know have every played one.

And I just absolutely love the sound of the violin, the more I hear it the more I'm swept into it.

Not sure if I'm just getting over-hyped/excited over the violin, but it seems like something I would do. Not pushing the guitar entirely out of the picture right now though.

I'm for sure getting an electric violin if I do go down the violing route! =)

0y6pj1_W3tU


Opinions?

[spikerS]

^^^while pretty cool, not exactly the most portable.

imagine busting this out at the campsite and all the hotties going :eek: :hitit:

Ddn4MGaS3N4

[pyroza]

Go for piano. Learn chords and scales and you'll be able to play many popular songs by knowing the chords and improvising a bit. And you can also throw in a little classical too

[Bruce Chan]

Guitar !! If i were you , I will pick guitar.

Another choice is

music software you should learn "pro-tools"

it is fun software to create a new song.

[zipdoa]

drums

[suen17]

I've played all three instruments for over 10 years each. If I were to do it all over again, I (personally) would have chosen to master guitar. Regardless, violin is definitely my favorite instrument of the three.

If you were to pick it up now, you have to be able to (in the foreseeable future) sacrifice many hours of practice and instruction; and on top of that, for a reasonably decent instrument. My setup costs more than 10k. A grand piano costs less than that...

Violin, while cool to see, is quite impractical to play by yourself. Unless you're a concert violinist, there's nearly no way to sound "good" all by yourself. A single violin simply isn't resonant enough to sound "big" without it being forced. And while being in an orchestra or chamber group is cool, but there isn't the prestige of being a soloist. You simply are never going to be the star of the show. Nor can you simply crank the dial up on the amp to have yourself be heard more than your fellow musicians.

I wouldn't recommend the violin to anyone unless you're planning to actually take formal lessons. If you have the passion and dedication to perfect the violin, you should pick it up as it's a very rewarding instrument. Much more so than piano and guitar in my opinion. There's much more musicality, artistry, and precision in violin than the other two instruments. More speed is possible, and you must perfect your intonation to play well, something you don't need to do in either guitar or piano.

However, keep in mind that there's nearly no contemporary music for violin as compared to the piano and guitar. There's a lot of fiddle music... but I doubt that you're all that interested in that. But by the time you've exhausted the library of its repertoire of contemporary music, you should be good enough to improvise and play by ear.

I vote for violin. In the end, when you've mastered the instrument and get tired of the contemporary stuff, violin is more lyrical and its sound appreciable. YOU make and control every part of the sound: not some fret, amp, or pretuned strings.

[RaptorGJC]

Originally posted by The BMW Guy
Two instruments come to mind for me...violin or the guitar.
Not sure which one is better (if there is a better one), your thoughts?

Keytar?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e7/Keytar.jpg/100px-Keytar.jpg