
The simplest musical instruments can give you the most pleasure.
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Think back to your school days - the day your class had a music lesson and the teacher handed around the most simple of instruments. Perhaps you got the tambourine, maracas, a shaker, a triangle or if you were really lucky, a whopping great drum. Yes, the whole thing probably sounded awful but lets face it, you had fun right?
Those who caught the bug in those early years probably went on to play larger, more complicated instruments. Perhaps starting out with a recorder and progressing to clarinet or saxophone. A ukulele player can soon morph into a guitarist and a violinist into a cellist.
Others may never have played a musical instrument again once they left school. But pretty much everyone remembers their first musical experience and it was almost certainly with the most simple of instruments.
A lot of musicians come to appreciate the benefits of simplicity as they mature. They spent the early part of their musical journey getting bigger and better instruments, with higher price tags to boot. Think of the guitarist who turns up to their gigs with a dozen guitars - just how many do they really need? How about the drummer who keeps adding bits to their kit (you can always tell who the drummer is because they drive a van and are usually first to arrive and last to leave a gig).
The latter half of the musical journey usually involves downsizing, getting smaller, lighter weight equipment. Perhaps only taking one guitar plus a spare or moving to a 3 shell drum kit, with just two cymbals. This simplicity naturally produces less complex music but that music is generally of a better quality, leading to a more fulfilling experience all around.
Doubters might say "well you can't earn a living playing the triangle." Well - a 'little known' music producer by the name of Simon Cowell seems to have done quite well out of it. For those that look (yes we did) - his name appears in the performing rights information for most of the music he has produced over the years, usually for playing an instrument like (you guessed it), the triangle.
The crazy thing is, we all learned this lesson long ago in those school music classes. Those simple instruments might well have produced an awful noise but it was enjoyable and memorable (even if that is for all the wrong reasons).
As musicians mature they can produce better music with less complicated instruments. So why not stick with a simpler instrument in the first place and just get better at it? Some musicians do and maybe they are happier. It is possible to play a simple instrument in a complicated way. Or maybe there is a compromise somewhere between the two extremes. Every musician has to make that decision for themselves and make their own musical journey.
The Music Bits Company is here to help anyone making that journey. We can provide expert advice as well as provide you with the tools you need along the way. From the simplest instrument (perhaps a kazoo for starters), to guitars, amps and drum kits, then back to maracas and tambourines.