11 Easiest Instruments to Learn for a Child
In this article, we are going to discuss 11 easiest instruments to learn for a child. You can skip our detailed analysis of the history of musical instruments, the best age for a child to learn an instrument, benefits of learning a musical instrument, first instrument a child should learn, companies making musical instruments and the biggest music companies, and go directly to 5 Easiest Instruments to Learn for a Child.
Prehistoric human beings most likely started creating music as a way to imitate the sounds of nature and the first musical instrument ever employed was most probably the human voice. However, archaeologists have also found several rudimentary instruments, such as flutes, dating back to the Ice Age, or more than 35,000 years ago, in what is now known as southwestern Germany. There has also been some evidence of paleolithic musical instruments dating back to the age of the Neanderthals, which means that mankind discovered music much earlier than originally believed.
Best Age for a Child to Learn an Instrument:
It is said that the best age for a child to learn an instrument is between 4 to 7 years old. At this age, not only are the kids’ hands and minds functional enough to play, but their brain can actually begin to understand the basics of music.
Benefits of Learning a Musical Instrument:
Teaching your children to play a musical instrument can help them to be more patient, it boosts their self-esteem, exposes them to new cultures, enhances their coordination and encourages self-expression. It can also help them be more social and let’s not forget, maybe your child can pursue this path and become a professional musician or even a rockstar one day. Jimi Hendrix started playing the guitar at 15 years of age and in a span of only 12 years, he became one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
First Instrument a Child Should Learn:
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to picking your child’s first instrument. It depends on their age, size and most importantly, their interests. The piano or a keyboard, a recorder, a diatonic harmonica, an ukulele, drums or a violin are among easy instruments to learn for children. Woodwind or brass instruments can be tricky for kids because they require being held up, and a good lung capacity. However, if your child’s heart is set on a flute or a clarinet, let them have at it. Whatever musical journey your child is about to embark on, the most important thing is that they have fun along the way. Kids get the most out of experiences that they enjoy.
Companies Making Musical Instruments:
Yamaha Corporation (7951.T) is the world’s largest musical instruments manufacturer, according to the company’s website. Yamaha manufactures a wide variety of instruments, such as pianos, keyboards, violins, guitars, drums, percussion instruments and many more. The company boasted a revenue of over $2.87 billion in 2022.
Another key player in the musical instrument industry is the Roland Corporation (7944.T). The company manufactures instruments ranging from pianos, guitars and drums to even synthesizers and amplifiers etc. Roland Corporation (7944.T) reported a total revenue of $675.6 million in 2022. Both these companies are listed in Japan but they trade on pink sheets in the U.S.
Steinway Musical Instruments Holdings is a leading manufacturer of high-performance pianos and other musical instruments. The private company was founded in 1853 and reported a revenue of $576 million in 2022. Steinway filed for an IPO in April 2022 with a proposed deal size of $100 million, but withdrew its plans in May this year ‘due to the very slow IPO market’.
Guitar Center is another big company that started off with selling home organs in California in the 1950s. Then, it also moved into guitars, drums and amplifiers, among others, and by 1990s, Guitar Center was the largest seller of musical instruments in the U.S. Later, things went south for the company for various reasons and eventually Guitar Center had piled up a massive debt of $1.3 billion by 2020. The retailer filed for bankruptcy in November 2020, but then something completely unexpected happened.
People started buying guitars like crazy and along with musical instruments, they also started purchasing sports gear, fabrics, furniture and laptops, among others, in abundance and Guitar Center reached an estimated revenue of $2.5 billion in 2021. Things went so well for the company that it even confidentially filed for an IPO, less than a year after emerging from bankruptcy. Guitar Center is a dramatic symbol of how our shopping habits are breathing life back into some of these stores.
Biggest Music Companies:
Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) is one of the largest music streaming companies in the world, with over 195 million premium subscribers globally. Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon founded Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) in Stockholm in 2006 and made it a global success story by their excellent marketing strategies and by giving its users access to every song they want to listen to, without having to pay for each song. Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) reported a revenue of $11.7 billion in 2022.
Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) is another big name in the global music industry. Headquartered in New York, Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) owns dozens of record labels all over the world and is also one of the biggest music publishing companies. With artists and bands like Dua Lipa and Linkin Park under its belt, Warner Music Group Corp. (NASDAQ:WMG) reported a total revenue of $5.9 billion in 2022.
If you’re interested in investing in some promising music companies, please refer to our article 10 Best Music Stocks to Buy Now.
With that said, let's move on to the list of the Easiest Musical Instruments that Your Child can Learn.
Methodology:
To collect data for this article, we went through several different sources, such as the Didge Project, Sloan School of Music, Victor Bailey etc. and picked up the easiest instruments to learn for children from these sources.
Then, similar to the methodology we used for our article, 15 Best Cities to Live in Europe, we picked the instruments that appeared in at least two of these sources and assigned them a score based on their rankings in each source. For example, if we picked the Top 10 Easiest Instruments to Learn for a Child from the Didge Project list, the #1 instrument will get a score of 10/10 = 1 and the #2 instrument will get a score of 9/10 = 0.9 and so on. The same process was repeated for all other sources as well and finally, based on these lists, we determined an average score for each instrument and ranked it accordingly. The average scores have been granted from a total of 7.
If you’re an adult looking for the easiest instrument to learn on your own, please refer to our article 10 Easiest Instruments for Adults to Learn on Their Own.
Easiest instruments to learn for a child:
11. Bongos
Insider Monkey Score: 1.10
Bongos are actually a very old and mysterious instrument. It is unclear where they came from exactly but the first recorded uses were by Afro-Cubans in the 19th century. Bongos are made of two small open-bottomed drums, with one being larger than the other. These are called Hembra and Macho, with Hembra being the larger drum.
Bongo drums lessons are an easy way to introduce children to the world of drumming, rhythm and music. If you don’t have any bongo drums at your disposal, stand-ins can easily be made from coffee cans or oatmeal cereal containers. However, bongos are inexpensive, very portable and not very loud, so they’re an instrument that your child can practice at any time of the day.
10. Harmonica
Insider Monkey Score: 1.25
Harmonica is an instrument that sounds amazing, costs next to nothing and fits in your pocket easily, which automatically makes it a great instrument for a child to learn. Harmonicas are among the simplest musical instruments because the main principles of how they work can be learned in a few hours and then it is all a matter of practice.
There are several different types of harmonicas but the easiest to learn is the diatonic harmonica. Diatonic means that the 10 holes in the harmonica only represent notes found in a major scale. This means that you can’t really play the wrong notes, which makes a diatonic harmonica the simplest instrument to learn to play. A good beginner, yet still professional quality, 10-hole diatonic harmonica costs somewhere between $35-$90.
Harmonicas are compact instruments that will allow a child to grasp musical notes and how they sound, while also teaching them the basics of how to read music and translate that through the instrument. You can even find free harmonica lessons for kids online, on platforms like Youtube, owned by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG).
9. Bass Guitar
Insider Monkey Score: 1.63
A bass guitar is often an under-appreciated instrument and is often considered to be a less glamorous version of the electric guitar. But professional musicians say that a good bass guitarist will never be out of work, because it is such an in-demand instrument for live acts.
A bass guitar is recommended for slightly older kids because it is an instrument that requires a rather good ear to learn. But bass guitar is one the the easiest instruments to learn for an 11 year old, because that’s when your kid has hit the perfect age to learn how different sounds are layered while recording.
8. Violin
Insider Monkey Score: 1.96
Although the violin is not as easy to learn as other instruments, it is a great choice for kids who want to learn how to play string instruments. Learning the violin is a little tricky because it requires manual dexterity and a good ear for intonation, but that could also be a part of the fun.
If your child can push through the initial complexities that come with mastering the violin, they will pretty much make their way through any instrument in the world. According to Sloan, the violin is one of the easiest instruments to play for a 12 year old. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has made plenty of violin lessons available for free on Youtube.
7. Keyboard
Insider Monkey Score: 2.53
The keyboard is a very easy instrument to start learning music and it will teach your kids the basics of music theory. The keys on a keyboard are precisely like piano keys in terms of layout and pitch. That’s why electronic keyboards are often the best way to start learning the piano before moving on to the real thing.
Keyboards are portable and many of them come with built-in tutorials or education apps, which is especially helpful for younger kids. In a digital world, you don’t need to play an instrument to compose beautiful music, but most digital music software is based on a keyboard structure, so learning how to play it will save a lot of time. A keyboard is one of the easiest instruments to play for an 8 year old.
6. Xylophone
Insider Monkey Score: 2.71
A xylophone is the perfect instrument to learn for kids who love to hit things! Children often recognize the melodies of songs before they learn how to play and a xylophone is an instrument any child can pick up and play. Xylophones are relatively cheap and easily portable around the house, which make them ideal for children. You also have the option of an even smaller glockenspiel.
Xylophones are safe and most of them are designed for children and feature tons of bright colors and designs that your kids would love to get their hands on. According to Sloan, a xylophone is the best musical instrument for a 5 year old to learn. A beginner level xylophone will cost you less than $50 from Walmart. You can find some very helpful xylophone lessons free of cost on Youtube, by Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
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Disclaimer: None. 11 Easiest Instruments to Learn for a Child is originally published on Insider Monkey.