What's the hardest instrument to play?

Wow, 100+ Answers all of the thought provoking, and many I do not agree with entirely.

Here are some instrumental insights, on the question which is open to interpretation and subjective answer.

Hardest to play could be interpreted as physically demanding, hardest to reach virtuoso level, demands of instrument maintenance and tuning, and demands of repertoire and the volume of repertoire. Instruments which have a long learning curve. Instruments that are hard to play as in making a note sound.

I will limit my answer primarily to Western instruments (I have limited access to Asian instruments and Middle Eastern Instruments, African Instruments, and Ethnic and Instruments.)

First instrument on the list that I disagree as among the hardest to play. The Piano. The piano is one of the easier instruments to play and get a sound out of. You depress a key, a note sounds, how hard is that? Strike the same key again, you get the same sound note without concerns of intonation (producing a pitch), again. How many people pick up up the song chopsticks without a lesson? What is the easiest musical instrument for a child to learn? “The following guide contains the 10 best instruments for kids to play to help you with those questions.

The Piano – Most experts agree that the piano is by far one of the best instruments for children to learn to play.” (Top of the list).

Youtube is full of Children playing from the classical music repertoire at early ages. Seniors learn to play the piano after they retire. College students (music majors or not) pick up an elective. The hardest part of learning the piano is having one in the home to access.

The Piano does require not intonation skills or bow skills (as a string instrument of the Violin family), does not require alternate breathing skills (brass and woodwind instruments), and a multitude of sins can be covered (or not be covered) by the sustain (or damper) pedal.

By contrast the clavichord, requires evenness of touch, intonation skills (a half vibrato is possible), strike the keys with to much strength and the metal tangent bucks (the string bounces of the tangent).

📷

There is no mechanism to prolong the tone after release of the key. The volume can be varied between ppp (the lowest volume possible) to piano low volume. The graduations of volume between these two levels are greater than on the piano.

📷

The Harpsichord is much harder to play the the piano, too.

The key when depressed, raises a jack with a plectrum which plucks the string and is limited by a jack rail.

📷

The mechanism is more complex than a clavichord.

📷

Strike the harder than necessary, and the result is a audible “thunk” against the jack rail. The quality of the tone is dependent on the touch, however variation from loud to soft is not possible by touch variation on the harpsichord.

Both the clavichord and the harpsichord lay bare any problems of timing, rhythm, and sloppiness of technique. J S Bach preferred students who had first learned on the clavichord before progressing to the spinet or harpsichord (as opposed those who began lessons and continued on the harpsichord alone. Both require precise technique of fingering without the benefit of the sustain pedal.

The Pipe Organ for all its complexity I shall pass on.

I will skip the modern brass instruments keyless antecedents (Natural Horn, Natural Trumpet), as to my knowledge, no one starts lesson on these as a beginning instrument, however, both to be played well require a great deal of skill more so than the valve instrument members of the brass family.

Of the woodwinds, the consensus is the Oboe is among the most difficult instrument to learn on.

Many individuals pick up the guitar as a first instrument, it’s less expensive than a piano, problems of intonation found on the violin and the use of the bow is not an impediment. However, The Suzuki Method of Shinichi Suzuki (which later expanded to other instruments) began with pre-school children (4 to 4 1/2 years) on the violin from his observation that children acquisition of language skills made this possible.

Work in progress, I will continue at a later date.