OT: What's the easiest string instrument?
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OT: What's the easiest string instrument?
I want to play a string instrument, after I get about 20 more whistles that I want, so it will be a while before I get it, but I like to have opinions and have an idea of what I'm going to get a long time before so when I do actually get it, I know a little bit about what I'm doing. I want something relatively easy to play simply.
I actually have an accoustic guitar that's lost that I got when I was about 13, but I never played it. Guitars are just too...normal, though.
Opinions?
I actually have an accoustic guitar that's lost that I got when I was about 13, but I never played it. Guitars are just too...normal, though.
Opinions?
- bdatki
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Mountain dulcimer and autoharp come to mind. Both are seemingly simple to sound decent on, but both can sound amazing in an expert hands (If you have ever seen or heard Mike Seeger with an autoharp (or a mountain dulcimer too, actually) you know what I mean).
Frailing (also known as clawhammer, rapping the banjo, etc) the five-string banjo is not too hard once you get the basic motion down, although it does confuse many people initially. The motion itself is really not hard though and you can add embellishments such as double thumbing or what have you later on. Mostly goes with old-time Appalachian music, although some people have modified it to be more melodic, and I have heard people playing Irish music this way (I don't much care for it myself). Frailing is great fun, sounds very good solo (its like you have a full band, unlike Scruggs (three finger bluegrass picking) where you need a strong rhythm section). It is most probably the oldest style of playing the banjo.
Wow, I use parentheses too much.
Frailing (also known as clawhammer, rapping the banjo, etc) the five-string banjo is not too hard once you get the basic motion down, although it does confuse many people initially. The motion itself is really not hard though and you can add embellishments such as double thumbing or what have you later on. Mostly goes with old-time Appalachian music, although some people have modified it to be more melodic, and I have heard people playing Irish music this way (I don't much care for it myself). Frailing is great fun, sounds very good solo (its like you have a full band, unlike Scruggs (three finger bluegrass picking) where you need a strong rhythm section). It is most probably the oldest style of playing the banjo.
Wow, I use parentheses too much.
- Byll
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I know of no simpler string instrument than a bowed psaltery. They have a beautiful, ethereal sound, and good ones range in price from around $150 to $400. Check out instruments by James Jones, Jerry Read Smith, and Omega Strings (Richard Spencer). Range goes from 2 octaves (small) through 2.5 octaves (standard) to 3 octaves (large). All are chromatic...
Best.
Byll
Best.
Byll
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Lisa Diane Cope 1963-1979
- Chuck_Clark
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Unless you can find a washbasin base somewhere (one string), that'd be the mountain dulcimer. 3,4, or six strings, arranged in three groups. Two sets (on a four string, two strings) are drones and the third string or pair are the melody strings. You play it on your lap or a tabletop, pressing the fret on the melody strings with your finger or a noter and strumming the entire string set. Believe me, it sounds more complicated than it is.
What I've described is the traditional or simple playing style. More advanced players often play chords by fretting all three string sets, much like but still simpler than playing a guitar. Of course, this method sacrifices the drones that in my opinion give the mountain dulcimer a large part of its charm.
What I've described is the traditional or simple playing style. More advanced players often play chords by fretting all three string sets, much like but still simpler than playing a guitar. Of course, this method sacrifices the drones that in my opinion give the mountain dulcimer a large part of its charm.
- Isilwen
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My vote would have to rest with the Mando. I just took it up myself, and am having a blast with it... (my fiddle and my whistles are feeling very neglected, I'm sure... :roll: ) Relatively easy, you can play melody, counter-melody, back up, as well as do some percussive things with the tone.
Very fun.
Very fun.
Light spills into the hidden valley,
Illuminating the falls, paths, and
The breathtaking Elvish dwelling
Set back among great trees.
Lilting strains of Elven songs fill my heart;
I am finally home. ~Isilwen Elanessë
Illuminating the falls, paths, and
The breathtaking Elvish dwelling
Set back among great trees.
Lilting strains of Elven songs fill my heart;
I am finally home. ~Isilwen Elanessë
Easiest stringed instrument? Strum stick. Hands down.
Here is one link for them:
http://stovermusic.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi
Here is one link for them:
http://stovermusic.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi
Remember, you didn't get the tiger so it would do what you wanted. You got the tiger to see what it wanted to do. -- Colin McEnroe
- serpent
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One-string
Standard American tramp instrument, the "one string". Made from a length of 2X4, two nails, bit of wire, and a paint can. You use a stick to beat on the string, and the neck of a whiskey bottle as a slide.
Do a Google search on "One String Blues". It's the stringed-instrument equivalent of the slide whistle.
Have fun!
serpent
Do a Google search on "One String Blues". It's the stringed-instrument equivalent of the slide whistle.
Have fun!
serpent
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- Tom Dowling
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I believe the "Diddley Bow" is one of your older and simpler stringed instruments. In Africa I think the Diddley Bow would have been accompanied by a cane flute with three or more holes. This combination lent itself to a particular riff that crept into rock and roll as the "Bo Dibbley Beat" and was the basis of innumerable hits by the immortal Bo Diddley.
Tom D.
Tom D.
- Walden
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The version of the strumstick that is shaped somewhat like the bouzouki, is especially appealing. Cedar Creek Dulcimer Company, in Branson, ( http://www.cedarcreekdulcimers.com ) sell an inexpensive version for the same price as an original Strumstick. I've not seen them online, but tried one in their store. Definitely an easy and fun instrument. Or for a higher end one, that looks great, there is the Olympia Walkabout Dulcimer ( http://www.olywa.net/olydulcimer/ ). These are really just diatonic bouzoukia.tyghress wrote:Easiest stringed instrument? Strum stick. Hands down.
Here is one link for them:
http://stovermusic.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi
Of course the mandolin, mandola, and bouzouki aren't all that hard to start off on. Both the bouzouki and the Appalachian dulcimer have about the same string length and gauge, so sound a little alike, anyway.
I started on mandolin, as string instruments go, and play the Appalachian lap dulcimer, the octave mandola, and the bouzouki. The OM and bouzouki play about the same method, but the bouzouki has a longer neck, and thus requires more of a stretch.
My sister (a very beginner) definitely prefers the ease and sound of the bouzouki.
Reasonable person
Walden
Walden