• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Hardest instrument to play?

Just because no one said it, I will have to say the piano is one of the most difficult to truly understand and play.

It uses both hands doing similar things, but completely different at the same time. With such similarity yet need for difference in playing, the hands can easily be confused.

When playing piano, even at an amateur level, a person's brain physically changes as it grows more grey matter. (Grey matter is a bundle of nerves - this helps with the left and right hand coordination.)

When you play wind instruments, its usually one note at a time and carries melody or is a bass and holds accompaniment or a drone.

Piano does both - bass and melody, as well as the notes in between.

On many string instruments, let us say guitar, once you get down a moveable chord, you can do that anywhere on the guitar. On a bass, once you learn a scale, you can do that anywhere on the bass and still play in the proper key. On piano, the patterns you play pretty depending on the on key you are in. Granted, the whole step/half step count remains the same, but do the way the keys are set up on the board, its going to vary each time.

In regards to keyboards - they are probably the most sophisticated and technologically advanced. The Kronos by Korg has nine separate engines that can be used all at once, or individually. The Kronos as well as Yamaha Motif XF (and many others) are monsters that have so many editing options, built in sequencers, arpeggiations, and the whole nine.

Foot work is also used with sustain and other pedals.
Very time consuming to retune.
Usually (not always of course) this is an instrument that requires some degree of music know how at some level, rather than just faking and winging it.
 
Violin, or most orchestral/classical instruments for that matter. It takes many hundreds of hours of practice just to get a basic and useable tone that doesn't sound like a cat being strangled.

Bass, drums and guitar are relatively easy to play.
 
To be frank, there aren't many gigs for violins... period! Also, the same can be said for guitar.

Country and in Orchestra ... to be part of an orchestra you have to be really really good. I don't think you call that a gig when you play in an orchestra ...

and at that rate we could say that there isn't a lot of gig for any instruments :hiding: