Ask Lemmy

Lap Harp

Guitar and ukelele are relatively easy to learn and don't require reading music. Ukelele would probably be a bit easier on your joints though.

Arpeggiator

Triangle. In all honesty piano/keyboard is great. It has basic music theory built in.

There are some very simple, affordable little drum machines out there that are a blast to just sit and bang around on. It's a good way to lightly start getting into rhythm and timing. It's also something that won't demand a lot of dexterity. It's an unconventional answer, but it's also something that can get you rolling on music without needing to read sheet.

Or if guitar seems up your alley but chording seems intimidating, bass guitar is a great intro to that world. You can learn all the fundamentals of guitar, and if it becomes natural for you, switching over to guitar is almost seamless.

As others have stated: you don't necessarily need to read music for it to be fun. And there are different ways of notation. Chords, for example, are a great way to learn music without having to read on a per note basis.

Acoustic guitar is fairly easy to pick up. It will take a few days of pain to get your fingers accustomed to pressing the strings though. Takes quite some pressure from your fingers. But after those first few days, you're golden. It's also easier to change in which "key" you play a song(oversimplified: how high or low the whole song is).

Piano is another pretty easy instrument to learn chords on. The upside of piano is that you won't have pain in the fingers for your first few days. You press and you'll have a sound. It is harder to play in different "keys" though.

Keyboard is an interesting one too: You'll learn chords like with the piano, but you'll have acces to more sounds, backing tracks etc in your keyboard if you'd go that route.

Flutes and such are quite easy to get into, but can be a bit less interesting if you only play on your own.

But in the end, most instruments takes practice and time. Just set your own goals on what you find important.

If your issue is mainly about reading sheet music maybe a Veeh Harp would be for you.

It is a string plugged instrument played from note stencils, which are pushed between the strings and the resonance body and enable playing from sight.

https://youtu.be/vQaGn9_iMMQ?feature=shared

https://www.veeh-harfe.de/copy-veeh-harp/?lang=en

https://www.harmonyharp.com.au/

Trombone, full stop. If you have hand issues, the trombone is definitely the instrument to start with. There are other instruments of course, but for your particular predicament that's what I would recommend.

Here's everything I have learned to play because it was easy as shit:

• Flute (hardest thing is getting the mouth placement down. Once you have that you're on easy street; and I think this is probably true of all woodwinds and brass instruments)
• Mouth harp (boingy boingy boingy)
• Ocarina
• Harmonica
• Theramin (pretend you're a wizard!)
• Tambourine
• Taiko drums
• Bongos
• Xylophone
• Cymbals
• Cannon

The only instrument I have learned that was difficult and took years to get even semi okay at was piano. And I mostly attribute that to my small hands, because I can play so much better on a MicroKORG than a full size keyboard.

I have no personal experience but I've heard people say that a saxophone is rather quick to learn to play at a level that it sounds good.

The bass is a great instrument as it's easy to pick up and be able to use decently but it also has a super high skill ceiling.

Clapping your hands

Singing, your throat becomes the instrument

Recorder.

Ocarina

Mayonnaise

Speaking as a guitarist, I have to say guitar is the easiest instrument to pick up and almost immediately make a cool sound with. Also, you can use guitar tab to play songs you're familiar with. Tabs don't really show rhythm, unlike sheet music, but are simple to read.

I barely read music. I think guitar or ukulele are the easiest to sound decent on. Strummed instruments just require a lot less technique to get a good sound from. Learn E, A, and Bm7 on a guitar and you can play the blues.

The recorder. It's easy to get started, there is a lot of good information online (look up Sarah Jeffery), and professional plastic instruments are very cheap. It also requires no special care and doesn't need maintenance, since it has no moving parts.

The downside is that in order to play larger recorders your hands need to stretch a bit, so I'm no sure if that is a problem if you have joint issues.

The other option is a hand ocarina, but it is very hard to even make a sound, even harder to make it clear and consistent. Also you need to play entirety by ear. It's a fun challenge, though.

I'm a woodwind person. I have the most fun with flute, but the sax is more accessible in my experience. You could also have fun with a penny whistle, there's a lot of rep for it and you can play bagpipe repertoire on one too.

The biggest thing is to practice and respect the instrument. There's a lifetime of mastery ahead of you, and approach it with patience and hard work.

Also, have fun!

The Triangle. There’s that joke about the guy going to practice each week, he shows up, plays “ding!”, teacher goes “great work, you’re getting so much better! See you next week!”, and then he leaves.

Whatever you pick checkout Yousician if they have it. It's great for learning.