My 3 Favorite Instruments To Learn and Play

As someone who has gone through the beginning stages of learning an instrument more than a few times, each instrument has its own positives and negatives for someone who is new to playing it. Now especially, with all of these wonderful free resources on the internet for learning the basics on almost any instrument you can find in your nearest music store, the ability to learn to play instruments is not dependent on being able to take formal in-person lessons. What I love about this is that it makes learning instruments more accessible, and it can be more about what the person learning the instrument wants to know and can focus on the techniques necessary for those skills. 

The following instruments are some instruments that I have learned to play throughout my young adulthood into my adulthood that resonated with me. Whether that be the resources I was able to find or the instrument itself, these are the instruments that I found the most joy in playing and learning. 

DISCLAIMER: These opinions and experiences are all my own. People may have different experiences and preferences when it comes to learning different instruments. This is intended for entertainment and inspiration only. 

1. Voice

This is the first instrument I can ever remember wanting to learn more about. I cannot remember a time in my life when I wasn’t constantly singing or vocalizing. For me, learning to sing felt very grounding since all of the sensations of the instrument are within my body all of the time. When I started really getting into vocal techniques I felt like I had already established that singing was fun, and though I take it very seriously, it has never not be fun to me to see and hear how my voice has developed and continues to develop as I learn new skills. There are also so many vocal coaches and teachers online who also make doing vocal exercises fun that I incorporate into my routine.

1. Piano 

There are a number of reasons that I was so drawn to the piano as a beginner, but also, why it still is one of my favorite instruments to play now. The first reason for me was that I found it easier to understand certain musical concepts (scales, chords, etc.) on a piano since I could see it laid out in front of me on the keys. The second reason for me is that pressing on the keys is a motion that is significantly easier to me than pushing down on any instrument that has strings. My third reason is that it was easiest for me to learn to accompany myself while I was singing on the piano because I could just use one hand very scarcely if using both hands while singing was too difficult. 

1. Ukulele

I know I just talked about how stringed instruments and I have not always been best friends. However, the ukulele and I have always gotten along. There are a number of positives for me in learning and playing the ukulele (soprano specifically). It’s size is so convenient as an instrument that can be brought almost anywhere, and honestly, if I have it in a backpack case (with shoulder straps) I barely notice it’s there because of how light it is. Because of how the strings are oriented, many chords that would take multiple fingers to play on other common stringed instruments only take one or two on the ukulele which means I learned to play chords and songs a lot faster than I was expecting. The last positive I’m going to name now (there are more of course) is that the strings are nylon or plastic which makes them much softer than metal strings, so they don’t really hurt and I didn’t need to form callouses to be able to play all of the songs I like. 

So, these are my 3 favorite instruments to play and learn. I hope you enjoyed this fun little blog post, I really do love talking about these instruments. Thank you for reading this all of the way to the end! Remember, the world is better with you in it! 

• Sarah