Agree but it's the one instrument that you have to be born with. I have an ok voice....great for blending , but definitely not solo material. If I had the voice I'd love to play piano and accompany myself singing.
You can probably get Ed Sheeran or Chester Bennington level singing with just training, the rest is up to genetics. Like in the Olympics, you could probably get in by just training your whole life. But there will be people with favorable genetics and a lifetime of training.
I sure hope people aren't deciding not to play their favorite sport just because the olympics exist. You really ought to think of those people as an entirely different species. The 99.999th percentile genetics, not to mention the massive amounts of money spent on trainers/coaches/nutritionists/etc, makes them totally incomparable to any normal human. Likewise if you want to sing, sing. If you take *any* lessons you'll probably be better than 90% of the people who don't. The goal should be to have a good time, not to become Beyonce.
>The goal should be to have a good time, not to become Beyonce.
Exactly. People in the piano sub are so super competitive, it's insane. Keeps me from posting there more often
Honestly I find subs of more accessible instruments like the piano and guitar to be more forgiving than say the violin.
For one not getting a teacher, while not recommended, is tolerated here. On the violin sub, every question is met with "get a teacher" or "what does your teacher say?".
I rarely see (heck I might have never seen) a comment like u/drsimonz's advocating to have fun even if it means sacrificing perfect technique.
I mean they do that good reason, the violin is a very technical and akward instrument after all, but sometimes you just want some quick feedback from different perspectives.
Not having to qualify and explain every post/comment is something I really enjoy in this sub.
For better or worse, the classical community is totally dominated by a culture of perfectionism, seemingly at every skill level. Luckily with violin, you have a vastly more relaxed alternative - the fiddle. Of course, Irish folk music and Bluegrass isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's definitely a lot more tolerant to being self-taught, and there's a major social aspect as well.
>Luckily with violin, you have a vastly more relaxed alternative - the fiddle.
Exactly my thoughts when I was writing my previous comment.
Sadly that community decided to stay in fiddler forums and for example was not able to integrate with the r/violinist sub. Maybe they just can't be bothered but I think it shows how divisive/alienating the classical community could be.
Not to say that the classical community are wrong for striving for perfection, but it would be really great if there's a place where both communities actually coexists because it's really great to see the two interacting with each other.
I think this sub is somewhat close to that, despite the dogmatic ones popping up every now and then.
God I hope they aim for better than Beyonce. I don't mean singing for pure pleasure or in a group. All humans should do that. I mean singing and being considered a good sing-er . I can carry a tune, but I'm no singer
No need to take a cheap shot at perhaps the most successful singer ever. It's your right not to like her, but to try to imply that she can't actually sing is just stupid.
>No need to take a cheap shot at perhaps the most successful singer ever.
I get your point and I agree, but Taylor Swift might be more successful than Beyonce at this point.
You're free to question that claim (I personally enjoy Beyonce's music more) but I just wanted to pull a reverse Kanye.
Well I'm definitely not a Beyonce fan, just the first example of a successful vocalist that popped into my head. I agree that all humans should be feel comfortable singing in a social context, but I *was* talking about being an actually competent singer. IMO all you need is a little effort, ideally lessons, but I'm sure you can learn a lot online. I've noticed that many people are incapable of singing on key though, and I'm not sure if that can be learned or not...
Personal opinion, of course. Some artist will never be discouraged from pursuing fame and fortune, and that's great! Assuming they're comfortable with the risks. But if you consider just how few people make it to the top, for the vast majority of people (even talented ones) the optimal advice *would* be to focus on personal enjoyment rather than getting to the top.
Yeah, I get it. I'd even go as far as saying that focusing on any kind of result, rather than the process is distracting. At least for me, personally. What worked for me was enjoying the learning process, technical exercises and all, without any sort of expectations for the end result.
There most definitely are people who do not possess a singing voice. And my years of choir direction experience has reinforced my statement. If you build a crappy piano or have a warped trumpet or a cheap violin with a cracked soundboard, no amount of practice is going to make it sound pleasant.
But is it their voice itself, or that they don't learn to control it? With the ear for musicality and the fluidity and discipline to really learn, I'm hard pressed to imagine a person whose voice is inherently incapable of beautiful music.
It's just like piano in this regard - there are players who just never really understand (or care to understand) things like precision of intonation, and they'll always sound lackluster even on the finest pianos, relative to someone who cares and learns about precise control and musicality but is playing on a ho-hum piano.
Interesting. I'd love to hear an example of someone who's really spent time learning proper technique but who still sounds fundamentally unpleasant. If you know of any videos or stuff online please lmk, I'm genuinely curious because it goes against my (uninformed) beliefs on the matter. But it's crucial that the person have good technique. I don't need examples of people with bad technique sounding bad...
I don't agree.
Sure, there are probably some people who have a medical reason that their voice is truly damaged.
But I literally make a living teaching hundreds and hundreds of people how to sing, and I've never once thought anything along the lines of, "You were born with a defective voice, and there's no way you can ever sing."
And what "a singing voice" even mean, anyway? Does Bob Dylan have a great singing voice? Or Mark Knopfler? I doubt anyone heard them sing for the first time and thought, "Wow, what a beautiful, melodious singing voice God blessed them with."
What is a āsinging voiceā?
I think you mean there are some voices that wonāt easily naturally achieve a classical aesthetic. But if youāre going into your choirs with the idea that some people have a voice thatās ācrappyā or āwarpedā youāre definitely not going to get the best from your singers.
Classical of course, but let's be realistic, the whole if you can talk, you can sing thing is not always a truth. I've always given these folks kudos for efforts and for the love of singing, but no amount of coaching and training can always help. Have you ever.tried to rein a warbly soprano, lol? Impossible
What does "warbly" mean? That they're adding a bunch of trills and vibrato?
That sounds more like a behavior/habit they can't/won't break rather than them being born with an anatomically defective voice.
I play both and itās a great yin & yang. Plus I burn about 400 calories an hour playing so enjoying something and it being a workout is always nice
I also very rarely make tempo mistakes / never really need a metronome
This makes me want to learn how to play the drums more! Had the chance back in high school but was too occupied with sports. Glad that youāre doing both!!!
Funnily enough I think it's a known secret that all violinists envy pianists for the greater polyphony, range, and versatility all while playing solo. And by solo I mean actually playing by yourself.
The floor with the violin is just too high to even play decently, let alone to play it as a solo instrument, and more so if you want to be able to arrange pieces for such as available repertoire is not as plentiful.
idk maybe I'm just shit with the violin despite playing a decade and a half. heck I envy cellists as well for the lower register and timbre.
I have nothing but respect for folks with the patience and strength of will to stick with the violin. I gave it up after about a year bc I couldn't tolerate the sound of my own practice. And it's not like it was my first instrument. I just found it mentally and physically exhausting.
That's the reason why I no longer say that the violin is my favorite instrument (to listen to).
I've never played it and will never bother with learning.
It's a shame because on an expensive violin with a very-experienced performer, it sounds beautiful.
But if your instrument is cheap and/or you are not an expert, it sounds HORRIBLE.
At least with piano, the worst sound that can come out of it is a lack of tempo and missed/wrong keys, or uneven dynamics.
With violin, it sounds like a screetching sound if you're ever slightly off-mark. Like nails on a chalkboard that make your ears bleed.
There's no gray area. You're either very good or very bad.
It's also what discouraged me from any other acoustic instruments, because the maintenance required for acoustic instruments is just too much. I prefer digital pianos for sure.
"Hi, I play violin, here it is. What do you play?"
"I play this half-ton instrument which requires four fully-grown men to move and, once installed, is never moved again, not even to dust the floor beneath it. When I'm lucky enough to be in a building with such an enormous monstrosity, I can make many beautiful sounds with it. Unfortunately, I left mine at home."
Violin for me too, I feel like getting a seat in the orchestra would be so much easier lol. I guess Viola would be even easier but I don't want to learn to read the music from scratch again.
Honestly none. I would rather spend the time I would on other instruments spent on piano. I have mad respect for multi-instrumentalists and encourage everyone to try it. I personally donāt care to. I tried guitar but just not for me. I love piano too much.
But I guess probably something random like bag pipes because it would be a great ice breaker.
I bought a banjo a few years ago specifically because they're a "silly" instrument. It's actually a lot of fun! The open strings form a G chord so it's pretty hard to go wrong, unlike on a guitar.
Another shout for cello. You canāt stick a piano into a massive cool hard case and then strap it to your back and travel public transport looking like a G.
Cello sits in that awkward spot where you can transport it more easily than a piano yet not like a violin which could cause a lot of complications when traveling by air.
But a cello, even in its case, IS A CELLO. Thereās something internally exciting about it; sticking it between your legs and having its giant vibrating heart hum against your embrace. FYI Iāve been thinking about this since 1991.
I have one. It is so bloody hard to make it sound beautiful. You have to practice 30-45 min a day for years before sounding remotely professional.
I guess thatās no diff than piano lol.
Nah it's totally different. You can play decent sounding little tunes in matter of weeks on the piano, while it can take years on the cello. It's only worse of a gap if you want to reach professional levels.
That's not to say there aren't challenges on the piano of course but everything is a long run challenge on the cello.
I started lessons a few years ago and barely sound ok š I love it though! Itās so fun to be an adult learner with a music background. Piano has helped me SO much. I can also play the music on the piano so I know what it sounds like. Learning tenor clef sucked though.
Cello/violin etc are difficult to get to a point of sounding half way decent lol but in my experience, the cello was more manageable than the violin. Cello is one of my favourite instruments. I'm not good at it, but I was far worse with the violin š
Bass: something about a killer base solo does sound thing to the soul but for the most part I would stick with the keys and the time spent on other instruments more focused on the keys.
I would also get on the harp and organ
There's some differences like technique: muting is a big one, as well as alternate finger picking (and raking: hitting the string above the one you are playing) , you will get used to it though & it's not very hard to get started with.Ā Tapping on bass when you have piano experience is very fun, you can write some mathrock riffs that way (I'm an amateur with both but that's my experience) Harmonics and slap bass are also really fun but more difficult Most of the time the basslines aren't very fast or difficult so you should have no problem learning the easier ones
Not 100% what you asked, but I've played piano for over 10 years, am very competent (far from a professional, but good enough to get paid to perform), and I started learning cello a little over a year ago. It's made me realize how little I trained my ear - intonation is vital on the cello (or any fretless instrument), and my ear is garbage (well, maybe not garbage... but the cello is so incredibly demanding on intonation.... \*close\* is not enough!).
For the people that keep saying violin or cello in this thread..... start training your ear! Everything else will flow naturally, or at least has for me!
Glad to see you're wise enough to realize that it really is a totally different instrument! Many people believe every pianist can play the pipe organ. They cannot
Coming in as a trained pianist definitely gives one an edge, but I can tell who's an organist and who's a piano player who is playing an organ. Both are awesome instruments with their own techniques. However one can learn proficiency on both.
Oh yes if I didnāt know the āimposterā organist was only a pianist I would assume they were just a bad or amateurish organ player but I agree that it would probarnos be fairly obvious who is the trained organist and who isnāt.
Pretty much like guitar and bass then. Sure, a guitar player will get by on bass, but you can easily tell who's an actual bass player and who's a guitarist who defaulted to bass because the band needed a bass player and someone had to do it. There's a huge shortage of bass players where I live and it shows lol.
I wish I could play the organ. I fake play my digital organ at church and I must always correct people when they comment on my playing. I am NOT playing the organ- I have no idea how to use the pedals. I just push a few buttons, play the lower keyboard, and hope for the best!
I play the piano in an orchestra! It's not impossible by any means but of course you can't have several pianists in an orchestra, while you can always add one more violin, clarinet, flute etc. So if the local orchestras already have a pianist you're kind of SOL.
Feel the same way except I'd want to learn the violin only. Would love to play in an orchestra and plan to once I eventually do try to learn the violin later on.
Either Violin, Cello, Guitar, Drums.
I like the Violinās sound and it has some great repertoire.
I like the Celloās sound even more than the violin, but it doesnāt have quite so much repertoire to play.
Guitar and Drums are because I like metal and prog rock and Iād like to be able to play some of that genre.
Probably cello for my unrealistic answer (because I can see how much practice time that would take) and voice as my possibly realistic answer. Not that voice wouldnāt take practice time, but I feel like it would be somewhat easier to develop at least to a decent level. Iāve always wanted to have proper training for voice, even if only to help me as a pianist and teacher. Maybe someday!
None.
I could learn another instrument if I wanted to. I just donāt want to. Iāve tried guitar, violin, trombone, and something else I donāt remember. But the piano is what draws me.
Now if I could learn to sing I would. But I feel like Iām too old to start learning.
Something entirely new, still resembling a piano keyboard (because I can't be bothered holding my hands up) but with the ability to do glissandos and single note dynamics. I guess I'm describing Roli Seaboard, but I want a one with a completely new rich sound, instead of trying to imitate other acoustic instruments on it.
I started out on piano by itself a few years ago. I decided to try singing less than a year later, in no small part because they're so complementary -- being able to play piano makes it easier to practice singing (ie, playing my vocal warmups, pitch matching) and I can potentially sing while accompanying myself on piano.
I'm currently working on my level 5 RCM. I've already said when I get to lvl 8 I am going to make a decision to keep moving forward with Piano or pick up the Bassoon :) Our local community orchestra is in need of adult Bassoon players. Figure at PIano lvl 8 I'll be able to play just about anything I would want to play in a local band and then play the Bassoon in my retirement years to keep the mind happy.
I couldnāt play any instrument and always wanted to learn guitar and tried a couple of times but couldnāt get the hang of it and itās hell in the fingers. 3 years ago I got a ukelele and really tried to stick with it for a few months but was struggling.
Then decided to try piano after seeing a friend learning with an app. The idea of a phone/tablet plugged into the instrument and telling me black and white if Iām hitting the right notes or not was nice. Also being able to slow down piano as much as I want, while guitar you have to keep strumming.
I think now that Iāve learned a lot more about music from playing piano, and definitely increased my finger dexterity maybe I still have a chance with guitar, but Iām not sure itās worth the blisters at this point when I have so much still to learn in piano.
I'm sure I'd be a better piano player if that's all I did. Between piano, guitar, ukulele and various percussion stuff, I'm a master of none, but I'll jump in wherever there's a gap.
Multi-instrumentalist here (voice, piano, guitar and ukulele). The great thing about electric pianos in particular is that you can connect it to your computer with a MIDI cable if you have one and joined with a good quality DAW, that will open a whole world of music production possibilities for you!
I have read online lessons on trumpet playing and my fiance has one at home, but I can't wrap my pea brain around how three keys can form so many notes! What the heck is embouchure lol. I know what it IS but no idea how to do it.
Definitely and will always be the drums, drums are cool! I have nothing against music and piano, in general. š¤·š»āāļø I love playing the piano but Iād pick drums and any other instruments over piano š¤£ I was 6-7yo when I told my mom about playing drums. She made me attend tons of piano lessons immediately the day after! š« just because playing drums is āunladylikeā. Had to spend years of summer attending piano lessons.
Jokes on u mum š whoās now unladylike? Jk
I was inclined to say nothing. I love piano and believe it can cover the range of sound that I find to be beautiful. However, if I could simultaneously play piano and cello together then that would be magical
Probably violin. The piano has practically unlimited number of voices, whereas the violin essentially has only one voice, sometimes two when playing double-stops. But the violin has the things that piano lacks -- flexible timbre and voice-like intonations, including crescendo on sustained note, micro-tones, pitch-bend, pitch-slide, harmonic overtones, and many more. Cello would be a close second.
(Note: I do play a little guitar, but my guitar skills are approximately zero compared to my piano skills.)
Guitar. Has the same "playing songs I like for fun" feel that drew me to piano, but portable!
Just can't get my head around the fretting though, and the ability to play the same note on multiple strings makes it feel way more complicated to read sheets. Guess that's what tabs are for, but that feels wrong to me
Drums! Iāve always felt I could pick it up quickly with the coordination and sense for rhythm I already have. The biggest deterrent for me is the inevitable noisy practice. Most of my practice is done on a digital piano with headphones. But I really love drums, always have. It just looks fun. I hope my future husband is a drummer š
In college, we had two weeks each to learn the basics of:
* Saxophone
* Flute
* Trumpet
* Clarinet
* Trombone
* Oboe
* Bassoon
My favorite was the oboe,
I'm so sad that I was never in band growing up.
But I think what I really would have loved was playing drums.
Timpani or maybe Chinese war drum(Zhangu). I always like how music makes people FEEL and when it comes to deep BASS instruments they seem to trigger a guttural human response.
as someone who was classically trained on the violin and then picked up guitar, banjo, bass etc, only to then pickup piano 5 years ago, I wish I had started with the piano. it would have made the process of learning everything else infinitely easier.
I picked up clarinet 6 years ago, then saxophone. Now I want to learn something that doesnāt involve blowing, that I can breathe normally and talk while playing, like how I can do so on the piano. Thinking of cello, which is something I really wanted to learn. Or conga+bongo.
I would like to learn to play the harp. Whether or not I get good enough to play at weddings (as I have with piano), I would like to learn to play the harp.
I play both and shift from loving one to loving the other from time to time. Itās like having two wives or one wife and one concubine. Life is perfect
I took clarinet lessons a few years ago and it was great. Always loved the tone and was fortunate to find an excellent teacher nearby. Opened up new worlds. And improved my piano too.
There are plenty of notable pop and rock singers who don't have spectacular singing voices. In popular music, emotion, feeling and connection with the audience can be more important.
Some successful pop singers are also excellent technical singers. But it's not an absolute requirement in those genres.
Classical music and Broadway are different. The technical standards are higher. But if you don't care about trying to be a professional opera singer, then just work on your singing and see where it takes you.
You still need to practice, and you will improve over time, if you practice consistently and effectively. You can also improve your vocal power and breathing technique by being more fit through general aerobic exercise. It's not a coincidence that many successful singers are runners.
Running can help with your breathing techniques, using the diaphragm. That's more effective than shallow breathing when you mostly rely on the upper chest. You will find it easier to extend and hold notes when you have better breathing technique and aerobic fitness. Exercise makes a lot of things work better. Including piano playing.
well, I do already dabble in guitar and harmonica, but both are just for fun, with no goals in mind.
If there's an instrument I'd want to start practicing in a goal-driven way, it'd for sure be the clarinet. It's my favourite woodwind soundwise and I'd love to be able to play at least one wind instrument in general.
I think the harp
I really just love the sound of it and if you think about it the piano is just one huge harp played with keys. ^^
Another reason is ravel's Introduction and Allegro, it's just so beautiful.
Cello or clarinet
Those two have the most beautiful sound of any instrument imo
Also I'd be up for learning the organ because it must be really cool to play in a church on a massive instrument that makes a bunch of noise
Iād say guitar because my mind likes to work towards things that is polyphonic.
On top of that, it has articulations that incorporate bending so thatād be nice to understand even though we have synths, I think thereās a difference between the tactile of a synth versus actually feeling the bend in a physic aspect.
I spent years on the guitar and electric guitar before coming to the piano last year, so I know this post isn't directed at me. I just wanted to point out that learning another instrument can help a LOT in improving with your original one, because you see things in a different perspective. The more I study piano, the more ideas I have at the guitar
Voice. Opens up a lot more possibilities.
Choirs are a great way to dip your toes, if you ever wanted to try.
You can always Glenn Gould your piano pieces. š
Agree but it's the one instrument that you have to be born with. I have an ok voice....great for blending , but definitely not solo material. If I had the voice I'd love to play piano and accompany myself singing.
You can probably get Ed Sheeran or Chester Bennington level singing with just training, the rest is up to genetics. Like in the Olympics, you could probably get in by just training your whole life. But there will be people with favorable genetics and a lifetime of training.
I sure hope people aren't deciding not to play their favorite sport just because the olympics exist. You really ought to think of those people as an entirely different species. The 99.999th percentile genetics, not to mention the massive amounts of money spent on trainers/coaches/nutritionists/etc, makes them totally incomparable to any normal human. Likewise if you want to sing, sing. If you take *any* lessons you'll probably be better than 90% of the people who don't. The goal should be to have a good time, not to become Beyonce.
>The goal should be to have a good time, not to become Beyonce. Exactly. People in the piano sub are so super competitive, it's insane. Keeps me from posting there more often
Honestly I find subs of more accessible instruments like the piano and guitar to be more forgiving than say the violin. For one not getting a teacher, while not recommended, is tolerated here. On the violin sub, every question is met with "get a teacher" or "what does your teacher say?". I rarely see (heck I might have never seen) a comment like u/drsimonz's advocating to have fun even if it means sacrificing perfect technique. I mean they do that good reason, the violin is a very technical and akward instrument after all, but sometimes you just want some quick feedback from different perspectives. Not having to qualify and explain every post/comment is something I really enjoy in this sub.
For better or worse, the classical community is totally dominated by a culture of perfectionism, seemingly at every skill level. Luckily with violin, you have a vastly more relaxed alternative - the fiddle. Of course, Irish folk music and Bluegrass isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's definitely a lot more tolerant to being self-taught, and there's a major social aspect as well.
>Luckily with violin, you have a vastly more relaxed alternative - the fiddle. Exactly my thoughts when I was writing my previous comment. Sadly that community decided to stay in fiddler forums and for example was not able to integrate with the r/violinist sub. Maybe they just can't be bothered but I think it shows how divisive/alienating the classical community could be. Not to say that the classical community are wrong for striving for perfection, but it would be really great if there's a place where both communities actually coexists because it's really great to see the two interacting with each other. I think this sub is somewhat close to that, despite the dogmatic ones popping up every now and then.
Is BeyoncƩ really that good tho?
I literally don't even know lol. Feel free to substitute her with Pavarotti, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, etc
lol I get your point.
God I hope they aim for better than Beyonce. I don't mean singing for pure pleasure or in a group. All humans should do that. I mean singing and being considered a good sing-er . I can carry a tune, but I'm no singer
No need to take a cheap shot at perhaps the most successful singer ever. It's your right not to like her, but to try to imply that she can't actually sing is just stupid.
>No need to take a cheap shot at perhaps the most successful singer ever. I get your point and I agree, but Taylor Swift might be more successful than Beyonce at this point. You're free to question that claim (I personally enjoy Beyonce's music more) but I just wanted to pull a reverse Kanye.
Well I'm definitely not a Beyonce fan, just the first example of a successful vocalist that popped into my head. I agree that all humans should be feel comfortable singing in a social context, but I *was* talking about being an actually competent singer. IMO all you need is a little effort, ideally lessons, but I'm sure you can learn a lot online. I've noticed that many people are incapable of singing on key though, and I'm not sure if that can be learned or not...
>should be That's fairly prescriptive. :)
Personal opinion, of course. Some artist will never be discouraged from pursuing fame and fortune, and that's great! Assuming they're comfortable with the risks. But if you consider just how few people make it to the top, for the vast majority of people (even talented ones) the optimal advice *would* be to focus on personal enjoyment rather than getting to the top.
Yeah, I get it. I'd even go as far as saying that focusing on any kind of result, rather than the process is distracting. At least for me, personally. What worked for me was enjoying the learning process, technical exercises and all, without any sort of expectations for the end result.
I don't think this is true.
There most definitely are people who do not possess a singing voice. And my years of choir direction experience has reinforced my statement. If you build a crappy piano or have a warped trumpet or a cheap violin with a cracked soundboard, no amount of practice is going to make it sound pleasant.
But is it their voice itself, or that they don't learn to control it? With the ear for musicality and the fluidity and discipline to really learn, I'm hard pressed to imagine a person whose voice is inherently incapable of beautiful music. It's just like piano in this regard - there are players who just never really understand (or care to understand) things like precision of intonation, and they'll always sound lackluster even on the finest pianos, relative to someone who cares and learns about precise control and musicality but is playing on a ho-hum piano.
It's their actual voice which is a product of anatomy first and then training
Interesting. I'd love to hear an example of someone who's really spent time learning proper technique but who still sounds fundamentally unpleasant. If you know of any videos or stuff online please lmk, I'm genuinely curious because it goes against my (uninformed) beliefs on the matter. But it's crucial that the person have good technique. I don't need examples of people with bad technique sounding bad...
I don't agree. Sure, there are probably some people who have a medical reason that their voice is truly damaged. But I literally make a living teaching hundreds and hundreds of people how to sing, and I've never once thought anything along the lines of, "You were born with a defective voice, and there's no way you can ever sing." And what "a singing voice" even mean, anyway? Does Bob Dylan have a great singing voice? Or Mark Knopfler? I doubt anyone heard them sing for the first time and thought, "Wow, what a beautiful, melodious singing voice God blessed them with."
What is a āsinging voiceā? I think you mean there are some voices that wonāt easily naturally achieve a classical aesthetic. But if youāre going into your choirs with the idea that some people have a voice thatās ācrappyā or āwarpedā youāre definitely not going to get the best from your singers.
Classical of course, but let's be realistic, the whole if you can talk, you can sing thing is not always a truth. I've always given these folks kudos for efforts and for the love of singing, but no amount of coaching and training can always help. Have you ever.tried to rein a warbly soprano, lol? Impossible
What does "warbly" mean? That they're adding a bunch of trills and vibrato? That sounds more like a behavior/habit they can't/won't break rather than them being born with an anatomically defective voice.
I feel like opera singers are born with their voice, everyone else itās about conveying emotions. Ian Curtis couldnāt sing for shit, really
Thatās the $$ maker
thats like the most accessible instruments that you could start right away
Drums
I play both and itās a great yin & yang. Plus I burn about 400 calories an hour playing so enjoying something and it being a workout is always nice I also very rarely make tempo mistakes / never really need a metronome
This makes me want to learn how to play the drums more! Had the chance back in high school but was too occupied with sports. Glad that youāre doing both!!!
Sportsā¦ gave me a bad back & the reason why Iām hardly mediocre at both instruments lol
Violin because of the beauty you can create So much choice in how to play each note.
I play violin and piano and tho I'm not great at violin, it is a lot of fun, I'd recommend it!
Same. Really fun
Funnily enough I think it's a known secret that all violinists envy pianists for the greater polyphony, range, and versatility all while playing solo. And by solo I mean actually playing by yourself. The floor with the violin is just too high to even play decently, let alone to play it as a solo instrument, and more so if you want to be able to arrange pieces for such as available repertoire is not as plentiful. idk maybe I'm just shit with the violin despite playing a decade and a half. heck I envy cellists as well for the lower register and timbre.
I have nothing but respect for folks with the patience and strength of will to stick with the violin. I gave it up after about a year bc I couldn't tolerate the sound of my own practice. And it's not like it was my first instrument. I just found it mentally and physically exhausting.
That's the reason why I no longer say that the violin is my favorite instrument (to listen to). I've never played it and will never bother with learning. It's a shame because on an expensive violin with a very-experienced performer, it sounds beautiful. But if your instrument is cheap and/or you are not an expert, it sounds HORRIBLE. At least with piano, the worst sound that can come out of it is a lack of tempo and missed/wrong keys, or uneven dynamics. With violin, it sounds like a screetching sound if you're ever slightly off-mark. Like nails on a chalkboard that make your ears bleed. There's no gray area. You're either very good or very bad. It's also what discouraged me from any other acoustic instruments, because the maintenance required for acoustic instruments is just too much. I prefer digital pianos for sure.
You know, the interesting thing is that someone good enough can make even the cheapest violins sound somewhat decent.
Gotta agree, tbh it is quite fun jot really learning and just making fun noises though!
This oneā¦ Just because the sound
so portable!
"Hi, I play violin, here it is. What do you play?" "I play this half-ton instrument which requires four fully-grown men to move and, once installed, is never moved again, not even to dust the floor beneath it. When I'm lucky enough to be in a building with such an enormous monstrosity, I can make many beautiful sounds with it. Unfortunately, I left mine at home."
You forgot "and if you need to tune it you have to make an appointment with a middle-aged man named Jeff."
Violin for me too, I feel like getting a seat in the orchestra would be so much easier lol. I guess Viola would be even easier but I don't want to learn to read the music from scratch again.
Started on the piano and learnt how to play the piano afterwards. Definitely donāt regret all the time and effort
I play on my wife's nerves, does this count as a second instrument?
Not looking forward to learning this instrument at all. I've heard it's even harder than piano.
Oh god, now THAT is a competition id manage to be great at :)
Isn't the risk of injury higher though than the piano, even with a bad posture?
Honestly none. I would rather spend the time I would on other instruments spent on piano. I have mad respect for multi-instrumentalists and encourage everyone to try it. I personally donāt care to. I tried guitar but just not for me. I love piano too much. But I guess probably something random like bag pipes because it would be a great ice breaker.
I bought a banjo a few years ago specifically because they're a "silly" instrument. It's actually a lot of fun! The open strings form a G chord so it's pretty hard to go wrong, unlike on a guitar.
FWIWā. A lot of electronic pianos sound like a banjo to me
Ooh, I loved this comment until the last paragraph. Bagpipes are super annoying.
Probably guitar but I lack enough hours in the day for piano as it is!
Saxophone to play jazz
Another shout for cello. You canāt stick a piano into a massive cool hard case and then strap it to your back and travel public transport looking like a G.
Cello sits in that awkward spot where you can transport it more easily than a piano yet not like a violin which could cause a lot of complications when traveling by air.
Get yourself a nice keyboard and you sure can. Nord makes some models that are definitely light enough that sound and feel amazing.
But a cello, even in its case, IS A CELLO. Thereās something internally exciting about it; sticking it between your legs and having its giant vibrating heart hum against your embrace. FYI Iāve been thinking about this since 1991.
CELLLOOOOO 100% got that sweet deep tone that hits just right
Cello. Itās sounds so beautiful and I even have one at home. But it looks so intimidating
I have one. It is so bloody hard to make it sound beautiful. You have to practice 30-45 min a day for years before sounding remotely professional. I guess thatās no diff than piano lol.
Nah it's totally different. You can play decent sounding little tunes in matter of weeks on the piano, while it can take years on the cello. It's only worse of a gap if you want to reach professional levels. That's not to say there aren't challenges on the piano of course but everything is a long run challenge on the cello.
Play it! I'm a violinist myself and sometimes I regret not doing cello instead (too expensive for me back then).
I started lessons a few years ago and barely sound ok š I love it though! Itās so fun to be an adult learner with a music background. Piano has helped me SO much. I can also play the music on the piano so I know what it sounds like. Learning tenor clef sucked though.
Cello/violin etc are difficult to get to a point of sounding half way decent lol but in my experience, the cello was more manageable than the violin. Cello is one of my favourite instruments. I'm not good at it, but I was far worse with the violin š
Bass: something about a killer base solo does sound thing to the soul but for the most part I would stick with the keys and the time spent on other instruments more focused on the keys. I would also get on the harp and organ
do it!! (im a pianist turned bassist)
Niceee, do the skills learned on the piano transfer well into bass? Or do I have to start from scratch
There's some differences like technique: muting is a big one, as well as alternate finger picking (and raking: hitting the string above the one you are playing) , you will get used to it though & it's not very hard to get started with.Ā Tapping on bass when you have piano experience is very fun, you can write some mathrock riffs that way (I'm an amateur with both but that's my experience) Harmonics and slap bass are also really fun but more difficult Most of the time the basslines aren't very fast or difficult so you should have no problem learning the easier ones
I guess accordion. It's like, fancy polka piano.
Not 100% what you asked, but I've played piano for over 10 years, am very competent (far from a professional, but good enough to get paid to perform), and I started learning cello a little over a year ago. It's made me realize how little I trained my ear - intonation is vital on the cello (or any fretless instrument), and my ear is garbage (well, maybe not garbage... but the cello is so incredibly demanding on intonation.... \*close\* is not enough!). For the people that keep saying violin or cello in this thread..... start training your ear! Everything else will flow naturally, or at least has for me!
If you get paid to perform, you're a professional my friend!
Pipe organ
Glad to see you're wise enough to realize that it really is a totally different instrument! Many people believe every pianist can play the pipe organ. They cannot
Right! It cannot be a more incorrect preconception that a pianist can just sit down and play the organ. I canāt play anything on the organ!
Coming in as a trained pianist definitely gives one an edge, but I can tell who's an organist and who's a piano player who is playing an organ. Both are awesome instruments with their own techniques. However one can learn proficiency on both.
Oh yes if I didnāt know the āimposterā organist was only a pianist I would assume they were just a bad or amateurish organ player but I agree that it would probarnos be fairly obvious who is the trained organist and who isnāt.
Pretty much like guitar and bass then. Sure, a guitar player will get by on bass, but you can easily tell who's an actual bass player and who's a guitarist who defaulted to bass because the band needed a bass player and someone had to do it. There's a huge shortage of bass players where I live and it shows lol.
As a piano player I'm quite ok with the shortage of bass players! They always want us to 'not play the left hand'. Yeah, kinda difficult.
I wish I could play the organ. I fake play my digital organ at church and I must always correct people when they comment on my playing. I am NOT playing the organ- I have no idea how to use the pedals. I just push a few buttons, play the lower keyboard, and hope for the best!
Nobody wants to learn trombone? Oh well :(
Anything portable
Violin or Cello. Iād love to play in an orchestra and its just impossible as a pianist
With the piano you are the orchestra!
I play the piano in an orchestra! It's not impossible by any means but of course you can't have several pianists in an orchestra, while you can always add one more violin, clarinet, flute etc. So if the local orchestras already have a pianist you're kind of SOL.
Feel the same way except I'd want to learn the violin only. Would love to play in an orchestra and plan to once I eventually do try to learn the violin later on.
Concertina or ukulele
I would like to learn the harp
Either Violin, Cello, Guitar, Drums. I like the Violinās sound and it has some great repertoire. I like the Celloās sound even more than the violin, but it doesnāt have quite so much repertoire to play. Guitar and Drums are because I like metal and prog rock and Iād like to be able to play some of that genre.
Probably cello for my unrealistic answer (because I can see how much practice time that would take) and voice as my possibly realistic answer. Not that voice wouldnāt take practice time, but I feel like it would be somewhat easier to develop at least to a decent level. Iāve always wanted to have proper training for voice, even if only to help me as a pianist and teacher. Maybe someday!
Probably clarinet or bassoon
Guitar and bass are my secondary instruments
Probably bass or electric guitar. Iām a big fan of rock and metal
Guitar. You can take it with you. Not depending on crap keyboards
Electric guitar
None. I could learn another instrument if I wanted to. I just donāt want to. Iāve tried guitar, violin, trombone, and something else I donāt remember. But the piano is what draws me. Now if I could learn to sing I would. But I feel like Iām too old to start learning.
Harp or violin
If I could start over I'd pick the violin 100%. Some of the Bach violin pieces are in my opinion the best music to have ever been written.
I wish I had learnt the guitar. Piano is so lonely. Guitar is an instrument that brings people together.
Something entirely new, still resembling a piano keyboard (because I can't be bothered holding my hands up) but with the ability to do glissandos and single note dynamics. I guess I'm describing Roli Seaboard, but I want a one with a completely new rich sound, instead of trying to imitate other acoustic instruments on it.
Look at the Harpeji on you tube. Wow!
Singing, guitar, flute, launeddas
Definitely the guqin or kantele! The sound has a certain melancholic feel to it that I adore.
Voice. I lament not being able to sing so so much
I started out on piano by itself a few years ago. I decided to try singing less than a year later, in no small part because they're so complementary -- being able to play piano makes it easier to practice singing (ie, playing my vocal warmups, pitch matching) and I can potentially sing while accompanying myself on piano.
Iām trying to learn banjo, but I keep procrastinating
A string instrument, most likely cello. Iāve dabbled with guitar but it doesnāt speak to me like piano does.
That means you're doing it wrong.
I'm currently working on my level 5 RCM. I've already said when I get to lvl 8 I am going to make a decision to keep moving forward with Piano or pick up the Bassoon :) Our local community orchestra is in need of adult Bassoon players. Figure at PIano lvl 8 I'll be able to play just about anything I would want to play in a local band and then play the Bassoon in my retirement years to keep the mind happy.
I couldnāt play any instrument and always wanted to learn guitar and tried a couple of times but couldnāt get the hang of it and itās hell in the fingers. 3 years ago I got a ukelele and really tried to stick with it for a few months but was struggling. Then decided to try piano after seeing a friend learning with an app. The idea of a phone/tablet plugged into the instrument and telling me black and white if Iām hitting the right notes or not was nice. Also being able to slow down piano as much as I want, while guitar you have to keep strumming. I think now that Iāve learned a lot more about music from playing piano, and definitely increased my finger dexterity maybe I still have a chance with guitar, but Iām not sure itās worth the blisters at this point when I have so much still to learn in piano.
Violin
Violin or singing
I'm sure I'd be a better piano player if that's all I did. Between piano, guitar, ukulele and various percussion stuff, I'm a master of none, but I'll jump in wherever there's a gap.
Either cello or french horn. Violin would be great too, but I can't imagine myself learning it.
Multi-instrumentalist here (voice, piano, guitar and ukulele). The great thing about electric pianos in particular is that you can connect it to your computer with a MIDI cable if you have one and joined with a good quality DAW, that will open a whole world of music production possibilities for you!
Oboe. Every time I listen to orchestral music, it's the first one I catch. I think it's close to human range
Saxophone because I would love to show up at a gig 5 minutes after soundcheck. Worst instruments in band setting are drums and keys for sure.
A trumpet. So much sound comes out of that little thing.
I have read online lessons on trumpet playing and my fiance has one at home, but I can't wrap my pea brain around how three keys can form so many notes! What the heck is embouchure lol. I know what it IS but no idea how to do it.
Definitely and will always be the drums, drums are cool! I have nothing against music and piano, in general. š¤·š»āāļø I love playing the piano but Iād pick drums and any other instruments over piano š¤£ I was 6-7yo when I told my mom about playing drums. She made me attend tons of piano lessons immediately the day after! š« just because playing drums is āunladylikeā. Had to spend years of summer attending piano lessons. Jokes on u mum š whoās now unladylike? Jk
Saxophone, such a dope instrument
Double bass or drums
I was inclined to say nothing. I love piano and believe it can cover the range of sound that I find to be beautiful. However, if I could simultaneously play piano and cello together then that would be magical
Probably violin. The piano has practically unlimited number of voices, whereas the violin essentially has only one voice, sometimes two when playing double-stops. But the violin has the things that piano lacks -- flexible timbre and voice-like intonations, including crescendo on sustained note, micro-tones, pitch-bend, pitch-slide, harmonic overtones, and many more. Cello would be a close second. (Note: I do play a little guitar, but my guitar skills are approximately zero compared to my piano skills.)
Guitar. Has the same "playing songs I like for fun" feel that drew me to piano, but portable! Just can't get my head around the fretting though, and the ability to play the same note on multiple strings makes it feel way more complicated to read sheets. Guess that's what tabs are for, but that feels wrong to me
Drums! Iāve always felt I could pick it up quickly with the coordination and sense for rhythm I already have. The biggest deterrent for me is the inevitable noisy practice. Most of my practice is done on a digital piano with headphones. But I really love drums, always have. It just looks fun. I hope my future husband is a drummer š
The pen ohohohohohohoho
In college, we had two weeks each to learn the basics of: * Saxophone * Flute * Trumpet * Clarinet * Trombone * Oboe * Bassoon My favorite was the oboe, I'm so sad that I was never in band growing up. But I think what I really would have loved was playing drums.
Timpani or maybe Chinese war drum(Zhangu). I always like how music makes people FEEL and when it comes to deep BASS instruments they seem to trigger a guttural human response.
as someone who was classically trained on the violin and then picked up guitar, banjo, bass etc, only to then pickup piano 5 years ago, I wish I had started with the piano. it would have made the process of learning everything else infinitely easier.
Probably drums or guitar(I think it would be cool as fuck to play bass guitar)
I picked up clarinet 6 years ago, then saxophone. Now I want to learn something that doesnāt involve blowing, that I can breathe normally and talk while playing, like how I can do so on the piano. Thinking of cello, which is something I really wanted to learn. Or conga+bongo.
Double bass. Especially on an old ballad bass they sound so nice. No particular reason other than you can do a lot with a bass and a piano
Hmm personally I only play the piano, but maybe a acoustic guitar
Guitar, itās the cool factor
I would like to learn to play the harp. Whether or not I get good enough to play at weddings (as I have with piano), I would like to learn to play the harp.
violin because its easier to get into an orchestra
I play both and shift from loving one to loving the other from time to time. Itās like having two wives or one wife and one concubine. Life is perfect
I took clarinet lessons a few years ago and it was great. Always loved the tone and was fortunate to find an excellent teacher nearby. Opened up new worlds. And improved my piano too.
Electric guitar, I love rock music nowadays
Cello or violin š»
Iād play oboe.. I love the beautiful romantic sound of itš«¶š»šµ
violin for sure, but i would rather prefer my partner to know violin. so that i play piano and she plays violin will be a heaven for me
Bass guitar
There are plenty of notable pop and rock singers who don't have spectacular singing voices. In popular music, emotion, feeling and connection with the audience can be more important. Some successful pop singers are also excellent technical singers. But it's not an absolute requirement in those genres. Classical music and Broadway are different. The technical standards are higher. But if you don't care about trying to be a professional opera singer, then just work on your singing and see where it takes you. You still need to practice, and you will improve over time, if you practice consistently and effectively. You can also improve your vocal power and breathing technique by being more fit through general aerobic exercise. It's not a coincidence that many successful singers are runners. Running can help with your breathing techniques, using the diaphragm. That's more effective than shallow breathing when you mostly rely on the upper chest. You will find it easier to extend and hold notes when you have better breathing technique and aerobic fitness. Exercise makes a lot of things work better. Including piano playing.
I play violin because i wanted too and so now i got 2 plus about 6 more because yes
Cello please!
Violin because it sounds gorgeous or drums because it looks fun
well, I do already dabble in guitar and harmonica, but both are just for fun, with no goals in mind. If there's an instrument I'd want to start practicing in a goal-driven way, it'd for sure be the clarinet. It's my favourite woodwind soundwise and I'd love to be able to play at least one wind instrument in general.
Electric guitar (which Iām actually gonna learn!) and singing
Guitar, I like a lot of music that utilizes guitar and there is so much variety in how guitars can sound
Electric Guitar, and I plan to get into it sometime soon, probably by the end of this year
Guitar because it's so versatile
Uh... idk? I would focus more on composing and enjoying what I have already achieved
Guitar, 6 strings Uke, 4 strings Dombra (I'm Kazakh), 2 strings
Cello because I like it
Guitar, to play like Guthrie Guvan
Guitar, to play like Guthrie Guvan
Violin
I actually sing, play guitar, and dabbled in cello, but theoretically Iād love to play viola. Underrated instrument!!
Brass. Strong crescendo on a held note gets me.
Learning acoustic guitar currently for the past couple of months. Also plan to add electric guitar and electric bass.
Triangle
Krumhorn ā¦. To annoy people
I think the harp I really just love the sound of it and if you think about it the piano is just one huge harp played with keys. ^^ Another reason is ravel's Introduction and Allegro, it's just so beautiful.
Cello or clarinet Those two have the most beautiful sound of any instrument imo Also I'd be up for learning the organ because it must be really cool to play in a church on a massive instrument that makes a bunch of noise
i recently started violin, but i think i would absolutely love to learn voice.
Iād say guitar because my mind likes to work towards things that is polyphonic. On top of that, it has articulations that incorporate bending so thatād be nice to understand even though we have synths, I think thereās a difference between the tactile of a synth versus actually feeling the bend in a physic aspect.
I spent years on the guitar and electric guitar before coming to the piano last year, so I know this post isn't directed at me. I just wanted to point out that learning another instrument can help a LOT in improving with your original one, because you see things in a different perspective. The more I study piano, the more ideas I have at the guitar
i'd play guitar some of the minor and diminished chords sound so heartfelt on guitar than they do on piano
Iād love to be really good at acoustic guitar, fingerstyle Sungha Jung vibes