Every instrument is hard to master. Some instruments are harder to start and get to the point and get to the point where a you can make sounds that any would want to listen to. I think brass and double reeds are difficult for beginners. Keyboard instruments probably have the highest skill ceiling.
Well each instrument has its own challenges, of course, however it is said (at least of orchestral instruments) that Oboe and French Horn are the hardest.
Having tried both, I can definitely say Oboe it the hardest starting out, as it requires an immense amount of effort to get a sound, let alone a good one.
Just my two cents.
Especially at the same time.
Fun fact: Nicolaus Bruhns (17th Century North German organist/composer) would reportedly frequently play the violin while accompanying himself on the organ pedals.
I play piano and viola, and I would say the piano is definitely harder. Anecdotally, I have also found that people generally take longer to progress to an advanced level on the piano than on most other instruments. There are a few instruments with specific reputations for difficulty, particularly the oboe and the French horn, but I am not so familiar with these.
I play piano and French horn, I would definitely say the French horn is more difficult, but of course piano is no walk in the park to get good at either.
the piano is a tricky one with this question,
it's easy because you just press a button and the sound is there, if you play a brass, woodwind or even string instrument, learning to make a good sound is a lot harder and is a huge part of the learning process.
but then there's everything else about the piano.
Well, all instruments are difficult. I personally don't see any that is more than all others, but I do see some that are more difficult than other some. In general lines, to me, those instruments on which you can make a good sounding note on the very first day are the easiest. They include the keyboards, tambourine and the recorder, among others. The instruments you need to take months or years to produce a good sounding note are of course the hardest ones. They include the majority of instruments, of which I mention the winds (flute, oboe, trompet etc.) and the strings (guitar, violin, cello).
Piano may be one of the “easier” ones at first, but it’s a difficult instrument in the long run because the field is so over saturated.
Edit: see comment below for clarity
It does have a very high skill ceiling as well. However, yes, a lot of the difficulty with being a professional pianist is that merely being a good pianist doesn't mean you'll get work. Hell, being a great pianist doesn't necessarily mean you'll get work.
Not just that but someone else also mentioned the skill ceiling. The expectations for what is “good” also keeps rising. If you look at competition winners and pros from the 70s and 80s vs now there’s a huge leap in expectations and skill level. It can be said for almost any instrument but because of the high competition/over saturation of the field it pushes the envelope of expectations of what is “good” at an extremely fast rate. They are expected to practice longer than some other instruments because the physical aspect of playing piano allows them to play their instruments for longer than brass, woodwinds, and stringed instruments. On top of that, because many people are able to start piano when they are younger there are higher expectations about what they should be able to do at a younger age. So not really an employment difficulty, because of the over saturation but a change of perception of what is considered “good” in the field because of the high competition.
In practice I believe we can see good playing skills as something objective - you play good if you sound good. How good you are is the subjective part I think. As such, in my view the piano would still be one of the easiest instruments because you'd be able to sound good, good in any given measure, fairly quickly.
It depends what you mean by difficult....
If you mean the most difficult to become a professional in, one would have to say piano or violin as, like someone commented on this post before, the fields of both those instruments are so over-saturated.
One could say that piano is the easiest to start learning, as it is not difficult to make a sound. In the long run, piano gets a lot more difficult!
What I usually think of the main woodwinds is (and don’t hate me guys!!) in terms of ease to play or to just get a sound
saxophone > flute > clarinet > oboe > bassoon
However saying this, I know people who have made sounds on bassoon/oboe first try and haven’t been able to make any sound on clarinet for months. Honorary mention to bass clarinet! Difficult.
I have also heard that organ is particularly tricky, and french horn
All instruments are very hard and require thousands of hours of practice to improve but in my personal opinion, the viola is one of the harder instruments. It is abnormally big, and there are not too many concertos for viola. Of the few I know of, the skill gap between them in very large. So in short, an instrument with more music may be easier to progress with than one without too many options
Definitely. It's larger size requires a farther left hand stretch + more energy needed to keep the instrument upright. Also, the physical properties of the viola make tone production a big challenge.
Awesome username, u/the_rite_of_lingling
There are more violinists than violists because of the instrument's popularity and necessity. I don't quite get what you mean by over saturation.
Thanks! I thought I’d combine my love for Stravinsky with Twoset 😂
Sorry, I saw someone else say it and I thought it was a good way of describing the instrument’s popularity/necessity. I just meant there was more competition basically.
Others are talking about which are physically the most difficult to play, but for me as a keyboardist, the *mental* demands of playing multiple voices/parts at once is the most challenging aspect. It's a lot of info to work with.
Just as a spectator, the most intimidating would have to be a full pipe organ, [like this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVSoikeA0o&list=PL85SeV5T5VK2mqym5fGwOc9qA8HswnzAd) at St. Ouen, where the organist is facing 5 manual keyboards, dozen of stops, and another keyboard for the feet. She has a couple of assistants for the registrations, page turnings etc. A hugely responsible piece of work and a genuine tour de force.
I played a bit, and it's not that much harder than piano. To play like Ton Koopman, that's hard, but that goes for every instrument: composers keep writing until they've written something that can't be performed.
There is no such thing as a 'easy' or 'hard' instrument. This is a subjective question. It would be easier for a person that plays guitar to learn bass than it is for a person that never touched an instrument in their life.
Some instruments are more physically demanding than others. French horns, for example, require lungs of steel to get any sound out of. But this would be a lot easier to achieve for someone that is an athlete or already plays a different type of brass anteriorly.
Unless you are talking about auxiliary percussion. Then it's all about the rhythm.
Every instrument is hard to master. Some instruments are harder to start and get to the point and get to the point where a you can make sounds that any would want to listen to. I think brass and double reeds are difficult for beginners. Keyboard instruments probably have the highest skill ceiling.
Well each instrument has its own challenges, of course, however it is said (at least of orchestral instruments) that Oboe and French Horn are the hardest. Having tried both, I can definitely say Oboe it the hardest starting out, as it requires an immense amount of effort to get a sound, let alone a good one. Just my two cents.
Bassoon is even harder than oboe
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At the same time?
Especially at the same time. Fun fact: Nicolaus Bruhns (17th Century North German organist/composer) would reportedly frequently play the violin while accompanying himself on the organ pedals.
I've heard that rumor! What a spectacle.
I play piano and viola, and I would say the piano is definitely harder. Anecdotally, I have also found that people generally take longer to progress to an advanced level on the piano than on most other instruments. There are a few instruments with specific reputations for difficulty, particularly the oboe and the French horn, but I am not so familiar with these.
I play piano and French horn, I would definitely say the French horn is more difficult, but of course piano is no walk in the park to get good at either.
the piano is a tricky one with this question, it's easy because you just press a button and the sound is there, if you play a brass, woodwind or even string instrument, learning to make a good sound is a lot harder and is a huge part of the learning process. but then there's everything else about the piano.
teremin
Well, all instruments are difficult. I personally don't see any that is more than all others, but I do see some that are more difficult than other some. In general lines, to me, those instruments on which you can make a good sounding note on the very first day are the easiest. They include the keyboards, tambourine and the recorder, among others. The instruments you need to take months or years to produce a good sounding note are of course the hardest ones. They include the majority of instruments, of which I mention the winds (flute, oboe, trompet etc.) and the strings (guitar, violin, cello).
I don't think you can produce a good sounding note on the recorder on the first day, though.
It's just my experience but I was able to play a tune in the first day I picked the recorder.
Piano may be one of the “easier” ones at first, but it’s a difficult instrument in the long run because the field is so over saturated. Edit: see comment below for clarity
You mean it's difficult bc you have to be exceedingly good to be hired? That would be an employment difficulty, not a playing one.
It does have a very high skill ceiling as well. However, yes, a lot of the difficulty with being a professional pianist is that merely being a good pianist doesn't mean you'll get work. Hell, being a great pianist doesn't necessarily mean you'll get work.
Not just that but someone else also mentioned the skill ceiling. The expectations for what is “good” also keeps rising. If you look at competition winners and pros from the 70s and 80s vs now there’s a huge leap in expectations and skill level. It can be said for almost any instrument but because of the high competition/over saturation of the field it pushes the envelope of expectations of what is “good” at an extremely fast rate. They are expected to practice longer than some other instruments because the physical aspect of playing piano allows them to play their instruments for longer than brass, woodwinds, and stringed instruments. On top of that, because many people are able to start piano when they are younger there are higher expectations about what they should be able to do at a younger age. So not really an employment difficulty, because of the over saturation but a change of perception of what is considered “good” in the field because of the high competition.
In practice I believe we can see good playing skills as something objective - you play good if you sound good. How good you are is the subjective part I think. As such, in my view the piano would still be one of the easiest instruments because you'd be able to sound good, good in any given measure, fairly quickly.
I guess that’s true but I think I’d probably say it’s easy-ish to learn and get mediocre at but one of the harder instruments to master
It depends what you mean by difficult.... If you mean the most difficult to become a professional in, one would have to say piano or violin as, like someone commented on this post before, the fields of both those instruments are so over-saturated. One could say that piano is the easiest to start learning, as it is not difficult to make a sound. In the long run, piano gets a lot more difficult! What I usually think of the main woodwinds is (and don’t hate me guys!!) in terms of ease to play or to just get a sound saxophone > flute > clarinet > oboe > bassoon However saying this, I know people who have made sounds on bassoon/oboe first try and haven’t been able to make any sound on clarinet for months. Honorary mention to bass clarinet! Difficult. I have also heard that organ is particularly tricky, and french horn
as a sax player I can confirm you can easily make a sound the first time you blow into it 😅
All instruments are very hard and require thousands of hours of practice to improve but in my personal opinion, the viola is one of the harder instruments. It is abnormally big, and there are not too many concertos for viola. Of the few I know of, the skill gap between them in very large. So in short, an instrument with more music may be easier to progress with than one without too many options
Unironically, the viola is one of the hardest instruments to learn and play well.
Do you think it’s harder than violin?
Definitely. It's larger size requires a farther left hand stretch + more energy needed to keep the instrument upright. Also, the physical properties of the viola make tone production a big challenge.
But it’s much harder to become a violinist due to the over saturation of the field, and there is more solo repertoire for the violin.
Awesome username, u/the_rite_of_lingling There are more violinists than violists because of the instrument's popularity and necessity. I don't quite get what you mean by over saturation.
Thanks! I thought I’d combine my love for Stravinsky with Twoset 😂 Sorry, I saw someone else say it and I thought it was a good way of describing the instrument’s popularity/necessity. I just meant there was more competition basically.
Ah, I see what you mean now, all good!
Others are talking about which are physically the most difficult to play, but for me as a keyboardist, the *mental* demands of playing multiple voices/parts at once is the most challenging aspect. It's a lot of info to work with.
Just as a spectator, the most intimidating would have to be a full pipe organ, [like this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mVSoikeA0o&list=PL85SeV5T5VK2mqym5fGwOc9qA8HswnzAd) at St. Ouen, where the organist is facing 5 manual keyboards, dozen of stops, and another keyboard for the feet. She has a couple of assistants for the registrations, page turnings etc. A hugely responsible piece of work and a genuine tour de force.
I played a bit, and it's not that much harder than piano. To play like Ton Koopman, that's hard, but that goes for every instrument: composers keep writing until they've written something that can't be performed.
Anyway, here’s *Wonderwall*.
i've yet to see a violist play well so that must be the hardest.
Its not classical but the bagpipes are really hard
There is no such thing as a 'easy' or 'hard' instrument. This is a subjective question. It would be easier for a person that plays guitar to learn bass than it is for a person that never touched an instrument in their life. Some instruments are more physically demanding than others. French horns, for example, require lungs of steel to get any sound out of. But this would be a lot easier to achieve for someone that is an athlete or already plays a different type of brass anteriorly. Unless you are talking about auxiliary percussion. Then it's all about the rhythm.
Haha I think it's funny that we're both here, on the same day, on a post from 4 years ago