What’s the easiest instrument for a child to learn?

No instrument is “easy”. All instruments have their own unique challenges and pose their own difficulties. With that being said, the easiest instrument for a child to learn, in my opinion, is the piano. While the piano does have some technique involved, it is much less so than that of a string or wind instrument. All a child really has to do in order to “sound good” is press the correct key. In my experience as both a student and a teacher, learning to read music is the hardest thing to overcome for the beginning piano student. Learning to read music is like learning to read a different language and can take several years to fully master.

After piano, I believe the easiest instrument for a child to learn is one of the string family (violin, viola, cello, or bass). Learning proper posture is certainly much more challenging for these instruments than for the piano, but more than possible. One of the best things about learning a string instrument is that if a child is set up correctly from the very beginning they will have to do very little adjusting and/or re-learning in their later life.

Children usually cannot start learning wind or brass instruments until they are around age 10. Before this, children do not have enough lung capacity or breath support to physically play these instruments. Many, if not all, of the professional wind and brass players that I know started “later” in life (ie around age 10). If your child expresses interest in one of these instruments but is not old enough yet, consider starting them on piano first to help them learn to read music and develop a solid understanding of music theory.

What do you think is the easiest instrument for a child to learn? Leave a comment and let me know!