Easy Start Instrument

[andyfraser]

Tune a guitar to open G: DGDGBD, for instant blues slide or Keith Richards sound alike. I have acquired two new instruments over Christmas, a tenor sax (no idea how to play any wind/reed instruments but is supposedly the easiest sax to play) and a mandolin which is easy to strum chords on. All instruments are hard to master when taken to their limits.

I have an old Yamaha electric with 4 strings tuned to open G specifically for slide playing. This is why I never get rid of guitars.

 

[nickyboy]

Guitar
1- relatively easy to get going
2- 40 quid will get you a decent sounding entry level Stagg
3- it can be sociable
4- it's portable

Spoons
1. Relatively easy to get going so long as the missus doesn't catch you using the best ones
2. Free....providing you've got some spare spoons
3. I can't imagine anything more sociable than a spoon circle
4. Stick em in your pocket and you're away

In fact you could combine the two

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TS9ugnarQQ

 

[Ganymede]

Are you me and @rvw?

I think you are.

We have a bass and a great bass sitting next door - but very soon after we bought them our friends who we used to play with occasionally moved abroad and we had no time to find local players. Mrs W's oboe is still sitting downstairs, while I flogged mine on the internet. The son of those friends who moved abroad is now learning the oboe. I shocked him by picking up his instrument and still being able to get a decent sound out of it (despite it being a conservatoire system and having learnt on thumbplate) about 25 years after I last played seriously.

My claim to fame is playing in a recorder consort with Jonny Greenwood - before he was famous.

Wow!

I only ever play the recorder in folk sessions or occasionally when my 2 sisters are over. We have a fab Bach Canzona which we love but is for 4 players, so I play descant and twin plays tenor and elder sis plays a mixture of the 2 treble parts with me depping on some of the treble bits if I'm on a long rest. It's fiendishly complicated! There are amateur recorder ensembles around though - there's one at Morley college and there's one in Kent which gives concerts. I bet they'd love someone to join with a great bass!

 

[Dave 123]

Spoons
1. Relatively easy to get going so long as the missus doesn't catch you using the best ones
2. Free....providing you've got some spare spoons
3. I can't imagine anything more sociable than a spoon circle
4. Stick em in your pocket and you're away

In fact you could combine the two

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TS9ugnarQQ

And you can't eat a boiled egg with a guitar!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

And you can't eat a boiled egg with a guitar!

You can stir your cooking with one.

 

[nickyboy]

You can stir your cooking with one.

That pan must be at least 3ft across judging by the guitar. Is it one of those fancy paella ones?

 

[Julia9054]

A brass band instrument such as cornet or tenor horn.
I know many people who have taken up a brass instrument as an adult. Advantages are that there is likely to be a community band in your area who can lend you an instrument and may have a training band you can join.
And you only need 3 fingers!

 

[morrisman]

Melodeon or button accordion depending on where you were brought up, easy to get a tune out of followed by a lifetime of getting better.

My Blog

 

[Dave 123]

You can stir your cooking with one.

Aaah, that's what Bob Marley composed "stir it up" on!

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

I bought a pre-loved keyboard last year (technics K700) off gumtree for £20.
A new stand and music stand for a further £18 and I was sorted, but building work on the house meant it went away... For a year!
It's one of my post cardiac issue self-promises and resolutions, to learn to play. With the help if two free apps and three 1-hourish sessions, I am already managing the scales - not as well with the left hand yet though.

 

[Headgardener]

You've made me want to find my tin whistles and start playing again (job for Saturday methinks).

 

[RedRider]

What about a melodica ?

 

[Gravity Aided]

surprised no one's mentioned one of these:

Theremin?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIN28gEWJdY

 

[Saluki]

I have been playing guitar for nearly 16 months now and I love it to bits. I play nearly every day (there are days that get away from me - or my hand is in a lot of pain) and am definitely getting there now. I have a great guitar teacher as well.

If you are looking to play guitar, there is a beginners course online (free) at Justin Sandercoe's site. Great for beginners. His youtube lessons are great. I have his beginners course book and the first of the songbooks to go alongside his site.

Hubster says that learning guitar was my mid life crisis. Cheeky sod. It's nice and easy to start and you don't need to spend a fortune on a guitar. Not as cheap as a harmonica or a recorder of course but the neighbours won't dislike you as much.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Neighbors don't mind my recorder as much as the dog sing-along that goes with it.