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Easiest Guitar instruments to play ?

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A

Armadilo

Banned
I never played an instrument before and maybe it's time to learn. A ukulele is what comes to mind and then the mandolin.

Which one has an awesome sound and easy to play.

If I ever get a girlfriend, being able to seranade her with a song would be nice. I need to learn some new skills.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Not sure how a guitar is exactly hard to tune.
 
K

kris.

Banned
yeah, just grab an acoustic and start practicing. you can get good at anything with enough practice.
 
B

Brashnir

Member
Mandolin is harder to play than a guitar. The tuning on it is also completely different, so switching between the two is a challenge. A good one does have a great sound to it, though.
 
L

Lan Dong Mik

And why would I want them?
Get yourself a 6 string acoustic guitar. Practice daily. Go from there. If you can play an acoustic guitar you'll be able to learn how to play other guitar based instruments pretty quickly.
 
B

Brian_FETO

Banned
Having never played one I don't think "mandolin" would ever come to mind if I was looking for something easy.

Ukelele might be seen as easier but it's also limited. It's a tiny guitar with a weird sound that's mostly good for strummy chord business

If you want to learn something, do it. There is an insane amount of free information for you online. It's literally never been easier to learn how to play guitar.
 
Z

zbarron

Member
Did you mean easiest stringed instrument?

I own both a ukulele and an acoustic guitar. The ukulele is easier to a ridiculous degree. The chord shapes are simpler, the nylon strings easier on your hands and won't give you calluses, there's only 4 strings vs 6 and they're spaced further apart so easier to pluck the one you want. You don't have to worry about muting strings, and it's smaller and more portable making it easier to lug around.

That said the guitar is still an awesome instrument with a completely different sound. I enjoy both and play both daily. Why not hit a local music store and see which feels and sounds better in your hands. Look up the A chord on both instruments to compare their sound. It's one of the easiest chords on both instruments.

Sample of what a ukulele is capable of:
Final Fantasy Music
 
G

Girthquake

Banned
As somebody who has been playing guitar for 10 years, and if I had to do it all over again, I would have gone this route.

4102ZJK0QDL.jpg


Probably would have saved a lot of money.
 
K

kris.

Banned
Girthquake said:
As somebody who has been playing guitar for 10 years, and if I had to do it all over again, I would have gone this route.

Probably would have saved a lot of money.
Click to expand...

haha, the original guitar hero was what got me to pick up a real one in the first place.
 
P

phanphare

Banned
Megalosaro said:
Piano is better than both. But if you need a string instrument, I recomend bass. It's criminal hoe under appreciated it is
Click to expand...

piano is a string instrument if we're being technical

also I'd always recommend a regular guitar first and then going to bass from there because the extra strings on the guitar have one set that's tuned to a different interval making the logic you'd learn with bass harder to translate to guitar. finding octaves and such. going from guitar to bass is an easier transition.
 
RoadHazard

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Armadilo said:
Maybe I was thinking about small guitars because I would think they have less strings
Click to expand...

A ukulele isn't a "small guitar", it's a ukulele.

But yeah, just get a guitar. Acoustic or a cheap electric. I personally learned how to play on the latter. It's easier to form chords and such on an electric when you first start out, IMO.
 
A

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Shadybiz said:
If it has a Floyd Rose bridge, it will be a pain in the ass, but yeah in general, guitars are very easy to tune.
Click to expand...

Tuning a Floyd isn't exactly hard, either. I mean, you have to have an allen key, I guess.
 
M

mrhyderager

Member
nah get a drum set, grow your hair out and never wear a shirt again. THAT is the life we all want to lead.


Or just your good ol' acoustic guitar. Whatever.
 
M

mrhyderager

Member
Armadilo said:
So my options are either a ukulele and a regular acoustic guitar, right?
Click to expand...

Or you could start with an electric guitar. There are a lot of avenues to go down depending on your commitment level and what you want to spend.

The basics of fretted string instruments are relatively transferable. If you learn the foundation on one you'll be able to apply that to any of the others. Generally speaking a uke or an acoustic guitar are going to be the more affordable options to start.
 
T

teruterubozu

Member
Armadilo said:
If I ever get a girlfriend, being able to seranade her with a song would be nice. I need to learn some new skills.
Click to expand...

This never happens, by the way. Been playing for 30+ years. Chicks don't dig guitars anymore, it's not the 80s.
If you wanna get laid, be a DJ.
 
Duane Cunningham

Duane Cunningham

Member
For the record, mandolin isn't really harder than guitar, exactly. Well, it may be physically harder if you don't play anything, because those double strings can be like little razors to un-calloused fingers. But actually learning scales on mando is easier for sure, because the patterns stay the same up and down the neck. The four mandolin strings are EADG, same as guitar, but in reverse and missing the B and high E (Guitar - EBGDAE). But not having those two top strings, B and E means you don't have that weird, staggered jump between B and G that guitar has. I played guitar for years, and just strummed chords and could never quite grasp scales and lead. But then when I started playing mandolin and learned the easier to digest scales there, and suddenly it all clicked. THEN I was able to go back and finally learn guitar scales.


All that said, OP, play guitar to start. You'll have more room to learn chords, and it'll be easier to sing along. But pick up mandolin too way down the road when you're solid on guitar.
 
T

The Albatross

Member
Having learned and currently play the guitar, ukelele, mandolin, and bass, I think the best stringed instrument in this category to learn is the guitar.

Mandolin is most difficult of the 4, IMO.
 
D

darkstar0155

Member
you could always try a childs sized guitar or a classical with nylon strings. The nylon strings will be much easier on your fingers (your finger tips will hurt playing a acoustic guitar at first.. have to play through the pain).

A kids guitar has a shorter neck, and the strings are placed further apart, making it easier to learn on imo.

Either way, really you shouldn't get into it unless your commited. Your not going to be able to play great tunes in 3 months outside of some stuff extremely simple. And buying a "cheap" guitar is going to be annoying and frustrating. A cheap guitar is harder to play, and doesn't sound even close to as nice.
 
E

eddievanclaylen

Member
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
Just... get a guitar and practice everyday.
Click to expand...

Can't play if you don't practice. Get a cheap guitar and a tuner and a book. Or a dvd. Or use the internet.

(I actually recommend getting a good guitar right off the bat, cheap guitars suck and sound like shit)

Ive been playing 29 years now. Not so much recently, but I do pick it up to keep my chops up in case i need them .
 
M

MilShap

Member
Nylon string guitar is you want to avoid the initial finger pains. Ukulele is a great choice if you just want to learn a stringed instrument, and a good one is much cheaper than a quality guitar.
 
T

theepicoftyler

Member
Get a cheap guitar and look up tabs for your favorite pop punk band. You can get by tuning with an app on your phone.

Shouldn't be too expensive at all.
 
D

darkstar0155

Member
eddievanclaylen said:
Can't play if you don't practice. Get a cheap guitar and a tuner and a book. Or a dvd. Or use the internet.

(I actually recommend getting a good guitar right off the bat, cheap guitars suck and sound like shit)

Ive been playing 29 years now. Not so much recently, but I do pick it up to keep my chops up in case i need them .
Click to expand...

100% agree on getting a good one right off the bat. Those sub $150 guitars are going to be nothing but frustration, and could actually turn you off to wanting to play
 
B

Buttonbasher

Member
I went Ukulele to Nylon string guitar to steel string guitar.

Wrapping your head around what chords are, conceptually, on a Ukulele will help, and then moving up. Guitars seem big as hell if you're not used to playing one, which I think is why a lot of people give up on learning them.
 
A

adamantypants

Member
I would advise against the ukulele if you plan on learning guitar later on. The tunings are different enough that chord shapes are pretty different. You could go baritone ukulele to get the guitar tuning, but at that point get a classical guitar.

As someone who has played guitar (poorly) for 15 years, IMHO get Rocksmith and play that every day. It's a fantastic learning tool for both guitar and bass. I learned on a steel string acoustic guitar and that was basically sink or swim. Wider frets, super hard strings, and high string tension. I formed callouses in a matter of days

teruterubozu said:
This never happens, by the way. Been playing for 30+ years. Chicks don't dig guitars anymore, it's not the 80s.
If you wanna get laid, be a DJ.
Click to expand...

My girlfriend of 7 years still melts when I play her favorite song on guitar
 
D

darkstar0155

Member
adamantypants said:
I would advise against the ukulele if you plan on learning guitar later on. The tunings are different enough that chord shapes are pretty different. You could go baritone ukulele to get the guitar tuning, but at that point get a classical guitar.

As someone who has played guitar (poorly) for 15 years, IMHO get Rocksmith and play that every day. It's a fantastic learning tool for both guitar and bass. I learned on a steel string acoustic guitar and that was basically sink or swim. Wider frets, super hard strings, and high string tension. I formed callouses in a matter of days



My girlfriend of 7 years still melts when I play her favorite song on guitar
Click to expand...

really almost any steel stringed guitar will be hard to play until you get calluses. Martin Folk strings can help that some, but some guitars need wound to tight to be able to use them as they will break first.
 
M

Maxim726X

Member
As someone who has a guitar and is too lazy to learn how to play, what's the best way to start?

And how long before I start shredding faces off?
 
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