Top 5 Most Popular Musical Instruments for Beginners

Amanda Becker
Apr 14, 2015
2 min read

We took a look at the most popular musical instruments that our beginner students take as well as the ones we receive the most requests for. Our students take a variety of instrumental lessons with us from Violin to Ukulele to Piano to Saxophone. What we found was that beginner students of all ages tend to gravitate toward certain instruments more than others. Here are the top 5 most popular musical instruments in order.

Piano

The piano has been popular for many generations and is played all over the world by people of all ages. It is by far the most popular instrument studied with our teachers at I Love Music Lessons. Its popularity seems to be due to its ease of use for a variety of musical purposes including as a tool for composition. The piano is played in a wide amount of styles including classical, pop, jazz, and many more.

Singing/Voice

Second in popularity is the singing voice. It is believed to be the oldest form of music as it does not require any other instrument beside the body. Singing is used throughout all the world's cultures. The voice is also used in all musical styles, as solo and accompaniment music. In modern society singing is done for pleasure, comfort, education, and even profit.

Guitar

Whether it's bass, electric, or acoustic etc, the guitar is one of the most popular instruments in the United States and is the 3rd most popular instrument at our school. It can be played without other instruments – for solo performance or accompaniment and is used in a variety of musical genres, most popularly rock and pop music in our modern age. It is considered to be one of the "cool" instruments to learn by many beginners.

Violin

The violin is quite popular for beginners as it is seen as one of the more "romantic" instruments to learn. Students who have learned this know that once you can get past the screeching sounds while learning, it becomes one of the most soothing and relaxing instruments to play and to listen to. It is the highest pitched instrument in the string family: double bass, cello, viola, and violin.

Drums

The drums are also considered to be one of the "cool" instruments due to their popularity in modern music with its emphasis on rhythm. They are rarely ever used in solo performance, but are generally used as accompaniment to other instruments. Drums are also used in classical orchestras as well.