Which musical instrument could I learn to play?

[ouch321]

I'm thinking of either the flute or clarinet.
No idea why those two in particular but...

Just thought it would be something interesting to do..
Not corona related, I need hobbies generally and things to distract me from something.

I am guessing I could buy either for a couple of hundred and learn from tutorials on YouTube? Am I right?

Would anyone recommend one over the other?

I learnt recorder and steel pans as a kid for a year or two but that is my limited musical experience.

Do not worry, I have great soundproofing so shall not bother neighbours!

Thanks

Piano. Get a keyboard. Either that or a guitar. I think you're much more likely to tinkle the ivories than put together and start playing a wind instrument on your own of an evening.

Guitar?
From experience as learning music as an adult (I played the piano as a child and the clarinet for a couple of years but forgot it all), it's best to learn something you can practise that doesn't need too much space, is relatively quiet and that you can easily find online.

I took up the sax..loved it but it's loud (as is the clarinet) and while I had lessons it was simply too noisy in a household where some workers do shifts. So I turned to the guitar..had some lessons but then discovered an online (via Skype) teacher and that was it... in my case I discovered I lvoed classical guitar music and now I learn via a very good online tutorial site. I can pick it up at any moment I have free, it hangs on the wall ready to grab and go..

I'm 52 , started learning at 50 and while it can be frustrating, it is incredibly satisfying as I make progress! Go for it..whatever instrument you chose :)

Fender currently have a 3-month offer for free guitar, bass and ukulele lessons

If you learn the guitar you can make progress quite rapidly and can be singing and strumming along after an hour. Fender are doing free online lessons at the moment.
How well could you play the recorder? Can you already read music? Both the clarinet and the flute would take a good bit of practice before you can start to enjoy playing them. But why not! I think you would need to have lessons/watch tutorials to get going with either instrument. Pick the one you like the sound of and go for it!

Piano. DD has basically taught herself from YouTube and similar. You can put the iPad on the music stand and follow, much more convenient than a wind or brass instrument. If you get an electric keyboard you can use headphones too

If you learned the recorder then the flute fingering is similar, or how about the saxophone? Again, similar fingering to recorder. Sax.co.uk or other music shops offer rental agreements with purchase options after.

Piano is a nice idea but I'm in a one bed flat and no room unfortunately.

At least flute and clarinet can go in a box on a shelf...

Flute is lovely, easy to play any music as no transposing. Plenty of YouTube tutorials although would recommend a teacher, loads are doing online lessons just now which could get you started.would recommend a recognised brand like Yamaha or Trevor James etc rather than an £80 one from China. Even second hand, these will be better.

I think clarinet over flute. If you’ve played the recorder I think the clarinet would seem familiar and it’s fairly easy to get a tune out of. Flutes can involve a real knack in getting a sound out in my experience. I’m naturally pretty musical and can get a tune out of most things but the flute, oboe and most brass instruments defeated me. The clarinet though I managed.

Why not take up the recorder again? You could pick one of the bigger ones for a change from descant

I learnt to play the clarinet when I was at school and uni and loved it! Great instrument that suits loads of different music styles, easy to play and has a huge range. Love the sound of it too. I taught myself how to play the flute as an adult and found that mastering the keys was easy (because of playing the clarinet) but it's not as easy to get a decent sound out of, takes a lot of practise. There are some great cheap sites to get instruments from - I bought my flute for £90 from amazon (it's purple and I love it haha) and I recently bought an electric piano for £200 from gears4music and I'm really happy with it. The electric piano is great as the stand can be folded up and the piano isn't big and bulky - so it might be possible in a smaller flat?

If you are attracted to flute or clarinet, i'd go down that route, rather than listen to people saying take up guitar or piano. Don't buy a cheap Chinese instrument though, follow horseymum's advice re good second hand instrument by Trevor James or Yamaha. The flute is sometimes difficult to get started on but with a good teacher it will be fine (definitely take some lessons rather than just follow youtube.) Although the idea to do recorder is a great one. Very cheap to buy, small, and a good place to start before moving in to flute or clarinet.

Flute has very similar fingering to th re order to begin with and you don’t need to worry about reeds

I third going back to recorder. Also, the recorder community is massive! My mother took it up and there's so much going on. She started back on a treble and is now playing a bass. It is easy to start on and difficult to master and very rewarding when you get to play in a group.

I play the flute - I never play it just for fun.

Ukulele. Small, easy to learn, can get a perfectly good one for less than £100, and they're an instant mood lift: nothing can sound sad on a ukulele!

@bakedpotatoandgin

Well, I feel, rightly or wrongly that the recorder is just one of those things everyone learns at primary school alongside the tambourine and triangle

I like the flute and clarinet and was a bit stuck between them and it seems opinion on here is mixed too.

Aargh

I’d go for clarinet. I play a lot of instruments and other than guitar I’d say clarinet was the easiest to pick up. Persevere at first to get your embouchure right (mouth shape to make a sound) but I’d say that’s much easier to do on clarinet than flute. Once you have that you’ll get a nice sound and fingering is easy to pick up.
Any instrument will take a bit of perseverance, but little and often is the key to progress.

What music do you fancy playing. I play both the flute (due to being in orchestra) and the clarinet. I taught myself the clarinet because I love playing jazz and blues and it suits that. The flute is amazing for classical and musical theatre songs (which I play on it

Listen to the sounds and decide from there. The flute does take time to get a sound from

Flute is a little cheaper to get a decent one as the keywork is less complicated.

Also somewhat quieter in the early learning stages and less prone to loud accidental squeaks (useful for a flat).

Disadvantage of all woodwind is no quiet/silent practice options! Flute/clarinet both a bit limited in future group playing options as there's usually millions of flutes and only 2 places in an orchestra.

Music teacher here - I’d personally recommend the clarinet rather than flute, it has a mellower sound so is less likely to irritate the neighbours. It’s also easier to get a sound out out of it as a beginner. I would also recommend at least starting out with some lessons just to get the basic technique grounded. Lots of teachers are offering Skype/zoom lessons at the moment.

Flute and clarinet are both lovely and they have the advantage of being orchestral instruments which lends another aspect to the enjoyment of playing them. Personally I find the sound of beginner flute less irritating than beginner clarinet, but it's personal preference
I only mentioned recorder because a lot of people do dismiss it as only suitable for kids whereas in reality it's a lovely instrument with a whole raft of possibilities. Sorry for not answering your question properly!

Why are all my grin emojis turning into gin

I play all the instruments mentioned so far and I think the flute. It’s easy to put together, no extra bits to buy, takes up little room and no need to transpose as it is in C. Clarinet takes more mouth effort and the beginner squeaks can be off putting.

And the basic fingering on a flute is the same as recorder (which is also a beautiful instrument).

I personally prefer the clarinet of the two but think you'll be most motivated by whichever one you prefer. DuetShop hires instruments with a 3 month return policy so that might be a good way to get hold of a decent instrument.