"Easy" instruments

ttf_stealthheartocarinaZ · Sat Sep 30, 2017 12:38 pm

So I've been trying to learn other brass instruments, and right now I'm focusing on the trumpet so that I can play it next year (The majority of the section is graduating so they need more players). It's fun, despite my section trying to push me away from the trombone all the time.

One thing I am really tired of hearing, especially now that I've been playing the trumpet, is that the trombone is the easiest instrument to pick up. This doesn't just go for the trombone, either. I have heard this used to describe every single instrument at some time or another. However, it seems to be the most common with the brass family: trombone is the easiest. I remember allowing one of the new trumpet players to play my trombone, and he did pretty well for a beginner. He doesn't really get tonguing or embouchure an struggles a lot with the trumpet. It made me particularly irritated when I asked him which instrument he liked better and he said the trombone was "too easy" (he wasn't that good to begin with

)

Anyway, when I started actually learning from someone how to play the trumpet (he was the one who requested I learn), when I went back tot he trombone, I found that it was actually significantly harder to play for a brief period of time. I had trouble going to the lower notes, and I couldn't really hit the high notes at all, which is unexpected knowing that I had been playing with a smaller mouthpiece. Additionally, there is another person who plays the bass drum that likes to play my instrument sometimes, and he can never seem to figure how how to make the lower notes, even the most basic notes that you would expect a beginner to be able to play.

I guess where I'm going with this is that their is no instrument that's easier than another. Everyone has different talents and abilities, and it's only a matter of finding the instrument that best suits these traits that make it easy. A lot of people say the recorder is easy, and yet so many people advanced in instruments like the saxophone and clarinet have trouble getting just the right breath pressure to produce a clean sound. Others say the flutes is easy, but some people just can't seem to find the correct way to align their lips to produce a note. Tubas require a lot of lung capacity. Trumpets require a tight embouchure.

The trombone is not the "easy" instrument. People tell me I'm so great at it, but I don't even know everything there is to know about the instrument. I'm still working at my double tonguing, legato tonguing, sight-reading, and coordination, and on a professional level, it can be one of the most difficult brass instruments to learn. It all depends on your skills.

Anyway, I just wanted to know what you guys think. Is the trombone the easiest in your opinion? Am I just naive? I don't know, but this is my opinion.

ttf_robcat2075 · Post by **ttf_robcat2075** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 12:51 pm

One of my music pedagogy teachers said that when a parent would ask if the saxophone is "the easiest" to play, he'd answer, "It's the easiest to play badly."

The reality is that the music for every instrument has evolved for each one's particular powers and outwardly-similar tasks are not really similar in difficulty on each instrument.

The piano is much easier than the trombone if all you are going to do is play a single-line melody, but that's not what pianos are used for.

On the other hand if you need a note to last five seconds without fading out, that's easy on a trombone but impossible on a piano.

ttf_nemomcnab · Post by **ttf_nemomcnab** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 1:11 pm

I was a band teacher for some years and I don't think I ever heard anyone say that the trombone was easy. If you are only talking about what is the "easiest" instrument for beginners to start on and get a fairly characteristic sound produced in a short amount of time, I would suggest clarinet for most. But what is the value of that past a few weeks? All instruments take years of dedicated effort to play at a high level. To me this is really a silly idea. Students would do well to find the instrument they most like to listen to - played by a serious professional - and spend their time trying to close the gap between how they sound vs the pro. Forget about what others say about stuff like this. Trombone has a steep learning curve for most at the beginning but so what? If you love the instrument then go for it and get as good as you can. If you don't love it or just want to double then try other things. Reality is that it's not "easy" to get good at anything but it's really easy to be bad at everything.

ttf_BGuttman · Post by **ttf_BGuttman** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 1:28 pm

I would think the ocarina (or the flutophone) is easier to play than the trombone, but it is also much more limited in flexibility.

Other instruments have their own peculiarities. Either there are a lot of buttons like on a woodwind, or there are a lot of partials like a brass. While it's pretty easy to whack a bass drum, percussionists need to be able to play a very broad variety of instruments and it can get to be complex to learn them all.

ttf_JasonDonnelly · Post by **ttf_JasonDonnelly** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 2:01 pm

Euphonium, in my opinion, is the easiest instrument in the band to play. Saxophone would come right after.

ttf_TromboneMonkey · Post by **ttf_TromboneMonkey** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 2:04 pm

Quote from: JasonDonnelly on Sep 30, 2017, 02:01PMEuphonium, in my opinion, is the easiest instrument in the band to play. Saxophone would come right after.

Agree. Horn and Oboe are on the harder end.

ttf_Driswood · Post by **ttf_Driswood** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 2:59 pm

When I taught elementary band, parents and students always asked that question.

My answer?

The easiest instrument to play is the one you practice!

Each instrument has it's own individual set of challenges.

Jerry Walker

ttf_baileyman · Post by **ttf_baileyman** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:19 pm

Just tour around local jazz jams and listen to what plays well. Sax. Guitar. Bass. Piano. Drums. Clarinet. Sometimes a trumpet. Hardly ever a trombone. The numbers don't lie.

ttf_davdud101 · Post by **ttf_davdud101** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 7:09 pm

Quote from: JasonDonnelly on Sep 30, 2017, 02:01PMEuphonium, in my opinion, is the easiest instrument in the band to play.

I'd have to at the least agree with this one. It doesn't require necessarily crazy amounts of effort and the tone defaults to being warm and rich by the nature of the concical bore and deep mouthpiece (not to say everyone's tone will be great, but many if not most euphists/trumpetists I've heard trying to play trombone have had less-than-desirable tone quality in the switch- lots of imperfections can be covered up, I'd say).

Not to mention that valves ain't so tough

ttf_Steven · Post by **ttf_Steven** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 7:21 pm

Quote from: Driswood on Sep 30, 2017, 02:59PMThe easiest instrument to play is the one you practice!

There is so much truth in this. The passion to practice is what makes any instrument playable.

ttf_davdud101 · Post by **ttf_davdud101** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 7:48 pm

Quote from: Steven on Sep 30, 2017, 07:21PMThere is so much truth in this. The passion to practice is what makes any instrument playable.

But it's hard to disagree that some instruments just are more difficult than others. Some instruments just have steeper learning curves!

ttf_wayne88ny · Post by **ttf_wayne88ny** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 10:25 pm

A trumpet player friend of mine used to joke that "Trombone is the easiest instrument, there's only one moving part."

She also used to say "Never trust anyone who plays an instrument that changes shape"

ttf_mr.deacon · Post by **ttf_mr.deacon** » Sat Sep 30, 2017 11:31 pm

Quote from: JasonDonnelly on Sep 30, 2017, 02:01PMEuphonium, in my opinion, is the easiest instrument in the band to play. Saxophone would come right after.
I'd like to change this slightly...

The Euphonium is the easiest brass instrument to get a good sound on hands down. It is one of the hardest brass instruments to play at a high level though. The horn is a bear to keep in tune. I mean you either have to lip everything or use a kicker on nearly every note. The solo rep written for all the instrument is nearly all virtuosic.

Trombone is a much harder instrument to play out of the box or even day to day, but I can't imagine the ability and talent I would need to be able to be a professional Euphonium soloist. I moved from Euphonium to Bass and Tenor trombone in college specifically because I knew I didn't have what it took to be a Euphonium soloist but I still wanted to continue music and I felt that I had more potential to excel at Trombone.

ttf_Driswood · Post by **ttf_Driswood** » Sun Oct 01, 2017 9:25 am

Quote from: davdud101 on Sep 30, 2017, 07:48PMBut it's hard to disagree that some instruments just are more difficult than others. Some instruments just have steeper learning curves!

That's why most beginning programs use the "Big 7" - Flute, Clarinet, Alto Sax, Trumpet, Trombone, Euphonium, Percussion.

Oboe, Bassoon, and Horn are rarely taught to beginners because they ARE more difficult than the others. Tenor Sax, Bari Sax, and Tuba are more unwieldy, and harder for 4th & 5th graders to control.

I used the YEP301 "Baby Baritone" for beginning students. It's easier to hold, and the case is slightly larger than an alto sax case.

Jerry Walker

ttf_slide advantage · Post by **ttf_slide advantage** » Sun Oct 01, 2017 9:52 am

Quote from: Driswood on Sep 30, 2017, 02:59PMWhen I taught elementary band, parents and students always asked that question.

My answer?

The easiest instrument to play is the one you practice!

Jerry Walker

Bingo. My daughter took drum lessons for a year. Then she wanted to take up electric bass. When I asked her why, she said "drums are hard"

No kidding. Every instrument is hard. And the more you practice, the easier they become to play.

ttf_mr.deacon · Post by **ttf_mr.deacon** » Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:19 am

Quote from: slide advantage on Oct 01, 2017, 09:52AMBingo. My daughter took drum lessons for a year. Then she wanted to take up electric bass. When I asked her why, she said "drums are hard"

No kidding. Every instrument is hard. And the more you practice, the easier they become to play.
In her defense... the electric bass is easier to play

ttf_slide advantage · Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:23 am

She quit that too

ttf_harrison.t.reed · Sun Oct 01, 2017 12:00 pm

The Euphonium is easy to get a great sound out of, but it's just as difficult to play as any other three or four valved instrument when it comes to playing interesting music. Valves are not easy, and neither is coordinating tonguing with them.

I would think that tenor sax has to be the easiest. Most sax players I know can play forever -- no endurance factor -- and the sax has a very well defined range limit. It's not like other brass instruments where the range is dictated by the notation software for composers who just don't know any better ("uh oh, that C is red! It must be too high!"), or where you get composers who are sadists ("come on! It's just a whole step higher than F5, you can play that G!"). Better still, when soloing on a sax, you can learn button combinations that make licks come out on command -- not the case on brass instruments that rely on partials.

To me, the trombone is easiest. The tactile response you get from the slide, aural cues, and everything else synchs up nicely for me. It's the perfect instrument for someone with good ears, but terrifyingly difficult for someone who is tone deaf.

Outside of common instruments, I would hazard a guess that the brass feadog, or
Pennywhistle, is probably the easiest brass to play, and the picolo trumpet, slide trumpet, and french horn are the most difficult. Cornett (cornetto) would be by far the most difficult, if you want to consider that a brass.

Compared to those, the tenor, bass, and alto trombones are cake.

ttf_savio · Post by **ttf_savio** » Sun Oct 01, 2017 12:07 pm

Im not sure there is any easy instrument. We have to work at it. And then it also is the skill to make music, the skill to play with others. The feeling of making something bigger than our self together with others. It doesnt help to play the instrument well if there is no musical antenna.

With small children, teamwork and making music is possible. Even if a beginner only can play 5 notes, it is possible to make music. It is possible to do "teamwork" and let them feel they make something special together. That experience of make something together makes them more interested in playing their instrument. They practice more and they feel its more interesting and easier to learn.

Well, Im not that good teacher to always make this work for everyone.

Everyone shouldnt play either, we also need an audience

Leif

ttf_Driving Park · Post by **ttf_Driving Park** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:44 pm

Judging by beginning band repertoire, tuba is the easiest instrument by a landslide.

ttf_MikeBMiller · Post by **ttf_MikeBMiller** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:41 am

Quote from: JasonDonnelly on Sep 30, 2017, 02:01PMEuphonium, in my opinion, is the easiest instrument in the band to play. Saxophone would come right after.

We have 5 bad euphonium players in my community band. I wish someone would tell them it was easy so they could start getting a decent sound out of the horn.

ttf_Radar · Post by **ttf_Radar** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:40 am

Every instrument has it's challenges to overcome. Some are easier to learn to get a characteristic sound out of than others, but that advantage goes away quickly. The easier an instrument is to play faster passages the more composers give it to do. So in the long run all instruments are difficult to play at a high level. I've pretty much tried all of the brass instruments, and play all the low brass regularly. The only brass instrument I haven't been able to develop some level of proficiency on is the French horn. I just can't deal with the tiny mouthpiece. Even Tuba (whose music may look fairly easy compared to some of the other instruments) requires a great amount of air support, and articulation on the bigger mouthpiece is harder to do and a clean sound. Bottom line once you get beyond the beginning levels all instruments require effort to get good. Composers will push and challenge intruments to their limits, and write to their strengths. To any trombonist out there that thinks Euphonium is easy listen to a good player play Phillip Spark's "Harlequin" or "Pantomime" solos written for Euphonium. These are now considered standard repertoire for Euph soloists (they are also expected to do many of the Trumpet/cornet standards like "Carnival of Venice".

ttf_Driswood · Post by **ttf_Driswood** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:25 am

Quote from: Radar on Oct 03, 2017, 08:40AMEvery instrument has it's challenges to overcome. Some are easier to learn to get a characteristic sound out of than others, but that advantage goes away quickly. The easier an instrument is to play faster passages the more composers give it to do. So in the long run all instruments are difficult to play at a high level. I've pretty much tried all of the brass instruments, and play all the low brass regularly. The only brass instrument I haven't been able to develop some level of proficiency on is the French horn. I just can't deal with the tiny mouthpiece. Even Tuba (whose music may look fairly easy compared to some of the other instruments) requires a great amount of air support, and articulation on the bigger mouthpiece is harder to do and a clean sound. Bottom line once you get beyond the beginning levels all instruments require effort to get good. Composers will push and challenge intruments to their limits, and write to their strengths. To any trombonist out there that thinks Euphonium is easy listen to a good player play Phillip Spark's "Harlequin" or "Pantomime" solos written for Euphonium. These are now considered standard repertoire for Euph soloists (they are also expected to do many of the Trumpet/cornet standards like "Carnival of Venice".

I started college as a euphonium major. Good concert band literature isn't easy!!!

Jerry Walker

ttf_stealthheartocarinaZ · Fri Oct 06, 2017 10:34 pm

Quote from: Radar on Oct 03, 2017, 08:40AMEvery instrument has it's challenges to overcome. Some are easier to learn to get a characteristic sound out of than others, but that advantage goes away quickly. The easier an instrument is to play faster passages the more composers give it to do. So in the long run all instruments are difficult to play at a high level. I've pretty much tried all of the brass instruments, and play all the low brass regularly. The only brass instrument I haven't been able to develop some level of proficiency on is the French horn. I just can't deal with the tiny mouthpiece. Even Tuba (whose music may look fairly easy compared to some of the other instruments) requires a great amount of air support, and articulation on the bigger mouthpiece is harder to do and a clean sound. Bottom line once you get beyond the beginning levels all instruments require effort to get good. Composers will push and challenge intruments to their limits, and write to their strengths. To any trombonist out there that thinks Euphonium is easy listen to a good player play Phillip Spark's "Harlequin" or "Pantomime" solos written for Euphonium. These are now considered standard repertoire for Euph soloists (they are also expected to do many of the Trumpet/cornet standards like "Carnival of Venice".

Oh geez yes!! My first brass instrument was the french horn, which was difficult, as I was unsure how to change my embouchure (I had been playing woodwinds for a long time). Then my band director suggested I move to tuba. That was a nightmare. I am so used to having to control my breathing, as I am trained in singing. The tuba was more or less blaring out whatever you can, and I just couldn't do it.

Then she put me on trombone and I finally got it down after a while.

Thanks everyone for your comments. If it were really my opinion, I guess I'd say the easiest instrument is the ocarina, but even that can get difficult - there are songs I can play on my trombone that are easier on the ocarina and vice versa. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this.

ttf_DaveBb · Post by **ttf_DaveBb** » Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:41 pm

I think the ocarina is one of the easiest instruments to get a terrible sound out of, and quite difficult to get a good sound.
We have one somewhere in the house but it's been hidden to stop children from playing it.

ttf_BillO · Post by **ttf_BillO** » Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:48 pm

I play 8/9 instruments with reasonable facility. I'm most acquainted with trombone, but I can play trumpet, French horn, baritone/euphonium, bassoon, flute, clarinet and saxophone. Of the brass instruments I'd say the trumpet is the easiest to get a good sound from. I've seen a lot here say the euphonium is easy, but you have to compare the sound your hearing with a 'good' player (David Childs) before making that statement. On the woodwind side the saxophone is hands down the easiest - no contest.

As to the most difficult. On the brass end of things, it's a toss up between the trombone and the French horn. From day one I have always had a pleasant tone on the trombone so I realty can't take credit for that as it is something I have not had to work at. However, intonation on the trombone is expected to be perfect. this I have found for me is the thing I have to work the hardest on. In this respect we are like fret-less string players. If you don't have an ear for pitch, your done. Forget trombone. Another thing is articulation/slide timing. Too many 'trombone players' just don't get this and gliss on every note change - shudder.

The French horn plays so high in it's harmonic range that the notes are perilously close together. While there are 3 or 4 fingerings for most of the higher notes hitting them accurately is the challenge. However, you at least have valves to put you in the 'neighborhood' of the note you are looking for. Yes, fist and embouchure adjustments are required, but for some reason perfect intonation is not usually expected from the french horns. Lucky them.

On the reeds, the bassoon is the hardest. I've never payed an oboe, but I hear it's not quite as hard as the bassoon. Next would be the clarinet. While initial tone production is friendly, the bridge is a challenge. Unlike 90% of woodwind instruments, the high range on the clarinet requires completely different fingering. It's an easy instrument to begin on, but gets complicated soon. The flute is difficult to get started on, but once you master the ability to get it to make sound, it's not harder than the saxophone.

None of what I said above takes into account the professional literature for the instrument. Good composers will tend to create a level playing field in their compositions using their knowledge of each instruments capabilities. We hope.

Nonetheless, the technique required for good articulation, the dynamics to produce a good tone and the ability/expectation to produce accurate (dare I say perfect) pitch makes the trombone one of the most challenging to master. It's worth it though.

ttf_Driving Park · Post by **ttf_Driving Park** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 1:42 pm

I disagree with some of your assessments. Personally I think French horn and trumpet (especially piccolo trumpet) are the most difficult. I'd also support the statement that euph is the easiest to get a good sound on. I definitely disagree that trumpet is the easiest to get a good sound from, and that trombone is one of the hardest overall. We have a slide yes, but that's as much as blessing as it is a curse. Every note can be in tune without lipping. That already gives it a pretty big advantage over valved brass regarding intonation...not to mention that most trombones are pretty in tune naturally, especially compared to euphoniums for example. That's also why it's expected for trombonists to have perfect intonation...because it's the easiest for us.

The perilous partial thing on horn is sort of a myth IMO...it's true on single F horns but nobody plays those even by high school. The Bb side of the double horn, which most horn players switch to around the 6th partial of the F side (concert middle C), is the same length as a trombone and horn parts don't go any higher than 1st trombone parts really. When horn parts are high enough that they are reaching the 10th-12th partials, they would be just as perilous on trombone because the notes are the same (and when we have to play that high (high D to F) in orchestra, it's often on alto trombone anyway). High horn players often use triple horns which make it even easier.

Point being that (apart from sax being the easiest

) I don't think anyone can definitively say one wind instrument is easier or harder than another. It's all personal.

ttf_JasonDonnelly · Post by **ttf_JasonDonnelly** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 3:05 pm

I say that euphonium and saxophone are the easiest, mostly because the euph is rather easy to produce a good sound on, and the grade 1-3 band rep provides very few challenges for euphonium players. Saxophone has a fairly easy-to-grasp fingering system, and many fast passages are not too difficult on it.

However, as one advances, players will find that both in ensembles and in solo rep, both the euphonium and the saxophone have some of the most technically challenging music. The standard euphoninium solo repertoire is filled with some pieces that are wildly difficult, as is the sax. For example, the concerto I'm working on right now (Cosma) ranges from a pedal Db (Db1) all the way to high D (D5). 99.99% of trombone rep doesn't have that big of a range (Barnacle Bill and Chick a Bone Check are the only exceptions that come to mind).

ttf_Driswood · Post by **ttf_Driswood** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 5:49 pm

Quote from: JasonDonnelly on Yesterday at 03:05 PMSaxophone has a fairly easy-to-grasp fingering system, and many fast passages are not too difficult on it.

The two concerns with the sax:

(1) The weight around the student's neck. They are heavy for a little 4th or 5th grader. They want to set it on the chair, or let it hang, instead of putting pressure against the left thumb button and right thumb hook, pushing the sax away from their body. You use the neck strap hook as a fulcrum, keeping the mouthpiece in the correct position.

(2) Hand size. Students hands have to be large enough to fit around the body without hitting the palm keys & side keys, opening them slightly. If they hit these, you get a nasty sound. They sometimes want to put their right hand beneath the side keys, making them unusable, and try to hold it with the web between the thumb and forefinger.

Jerry Walker

ttf_BGuttman · Post by **ttf_BGuttman** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:16 pm

Quote from: Driswood on Yesterday at 05:49 PMThe two concerns with the sax:

(1) The weight around the student's neck. They are heavy for a little 4th or 5th grader. They want to set it on the chair, or let it hang, instead of putting pressure against the left thumb button and right thumb hook, pushing the sax away from their body. You use the neck strap hook as a fulcrum, keeping the mouthpiece in the correct position.

(2) Hand size. Students hands have to be large enough to fit around the body without hitting the palm keys & side keys, opening them slightly. If they hit these, you get a nasty sound. They sometimes want to put their right hand beneath the side keys, making them unusable, and try to hold it with the web between the thumb and forefinger.

Jerry Walker

I guess that's part of the reason you start kids with an alto sax. Takes some pretty big hands to handle a baritone sax.

ttf_robcat2075 · Post by **ttf_robcat2075** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:38 pm

If you want hard, get a violin.

ttf_robcat2075 · Post by **ttf_robcat2075** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 8:38 pm

If you want hard, get a violin.