Hardest instrument to play?

[Papa Dangerous]

Don't know about the hardest to play, but I'd hate to lug one of these around, and I'd double hate to tune it!

I used to work with my school's orchestra. Every Tuesday and Thursday the harp player needed assistance with her harp.. guess who was in charge of that? Yup! She had her own dolly, brought her own bench, and of course music. She would push the harp (I would not let anyone touch it either) and I would carry everything else. However, she did need help putting it in and out of the station wagon which she had lined with pillows. Definitely a pain to bring everywhere, especially if you have to deal with stairs...

 

[millsbass5]

The flute is definitely not the most manly instrument by any means. But,I've seen a few girls back when I was in high school have trouble developing good technique on the skin flute. As with all instruments: "Practice makes perfect."

 

[pablomigraine]

My vote goes to double bass.... lotta stamina required....

 

[Fassa Albrecht]

My vote goes to double bass.... lotta stamina required....

Now it's funny, the times I've played upright I actually found it a lot less strenous on my hands as people like to make out the upright to be.

 

[treekiller]

Marimba or Vibraphone. Go check out the "Rollo Interior" section of "St. Alphonso's Pancake Breakfast", that is damn difficult to play on any instrument!!!

 

[Stinsok]

air guitar.

Agreed. Hard to play it without looking like an idiot.

 

[pklima]

However, she did need help putting it in and out of the station wagon which she had lined with pillows.

Harps are just like elderly parents - completely unforgiving of the smallest mistakes and very difficult to get into or out of cars.

 

[mbrancalion]

I understand the "hardest to play" as "not being able to putting out a single note in minutes and minutes" for a person who is trying to play an instrument for the first time

In this case my vote is for violin and trumpet.



PS: i'm also a violinist .....

 

[Loel]

Chapman Stick!

 

[canadian_man_44]

Pedal steel guitar. You have to have good hand, foot, and knee coordination as well as a good ear and steady hands.

+1
My father plays close to 30 instruments but the pedal steel guitar is his instrument of choice. 4 pedals plus the volume pedal along with 4 knee levers and all those strings. Hardest instrument to play in my books.

 

[LIONFURY]

I'd say french horn.

YES!! I play horn and the partials are much harder than any other brass instrument.

 

[champbassist]

Chapman Stick!

I've heard that the learning curve for it is pretty steep.

 

[The Owl]

I don't know about hardest technique wise but most difficult to manage/biggest pain in the but, Contrabass Saxophone

Contrabass Saxophone - YouTube

WIN!!!!!

 

[fretlessguy]

The Harp. The big orchestral kind. It's like trying to play a piano with fingers. Hard to get around as well.

 

[devilock76]

It's like trying to play a piano with fingers.

Wait, how are you playing piano and not using your fingers?!?

Ken

 

[Killens84]

As a high school band director, I've found that the french horn is the most difficult for younger & beginning musicians. It's simply because the partials are so close together, and it takes someone with a good ear and good embouchure control to play it. Oboe and Bassoon are also very difficult because of the embouchure strength required to play them. It's easier to get fatigued quickly on the double reeds than most other instruments. Flute isn't especially difficult in comparison to those, but it's one of those instruments where you either have it or you don't. With trombone, most younger kids don't have arms long enough to reach 7th position on the slide. It can be pretty funny to watch.
Although I don't have strings or piano in my band at school, I did have to take many semesters of piano lessons and one semester of violin lessons in college, and I can tell you that they're not easy at all (at least not for me).
I think I'll stick with my electric bass and my trumpet!

 

[jordak]

Sitar. Not easy X10

I can't believe this was only said once on this thread. Even to an accomplished string musician this is an extremely hard instrument to adapt to.

In traditional Indian music, their scales are divided into 22 chromatic notes in each octave also, so learning to play in a traditional Indian setting can be called hard mode.

 

[Krowser]

Harder instrument to master, or to squeeze out every last once of its potential:

The Full Organ.

It's also the biggest instrument.

6 Keyboards, One of which is played with the feet, 2 Huge pannels full of effects and 5 pedals.

Good game.

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[bassbully]

Pedal steel guitar. You have to have good hand, foot, and knee coordination as well as a good ear and steady hands.

There you go.

 

[funkybass4ever]

The Tromboon

File:Tromboon-det.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

+1 Can't go wrong with a PDQ Bach invention!

The most difficult instrument I have had an experience with is the Double Bass Trombone. It has 2 slides and takes twice the air as a regular bass trombone (which I can play). I took lessons on bass trombone from a guy who played in an orchestra and he allowed me to attempt to play it once- I didn't have enough air to barely make a note. I think that somewhere a 1930's freight ship lost its horn and got reinvented with a tuba mouthpiece.