What's the Easiest Instrument for Kids to Learn? A Complete Guide to 12 Popular Options

What is the easiest musical instrument to learn? That depends on a few things: 

• Your budget
• How much space you have
• How much noise your household is willing to tolerate
• Your student’s learning style
• The type of music your student is interested in

This guide walks through popular instruments taught at Maestro Music, including some of the potential pros and cons of each.

Online Piano Lessons for Kids

Piano is the quintessential first instrument, in large part because it’s very visually and physically intuitive to understand. It's one of the most structured instruments to start on, which makes it a natural fit for kids who like clear goals and visible progress, and it doubles as a foundation that makes almost every other instrument easier to pick up later.

Pros of Starting with Piano

• Instant, in-tune sound: Press a key and you’ll hear a clear, correctly pitched note.
• Endless learning materials: Piano has more method books, apps, and structured curricula than almost any other instrument.
• Easy to see progress: Piano lends itself to measurable goals, such as a new piece, a new scale, or a new hand position.
• Visual music theory: The keyboard lays music out in a straight line, which makes concepts like scales, intervals, and chords far easier to see than on almost any other instrument.
• Builds fine motor skills: Coordinating ten fingers independently is great motor-skill development, especially for younger kids.
• Often already in the house: A lot of families already have a piano collecting dust, and a piano doubles as a beautiful piece of furniture even when it's not being played.
• Low-cost options exist: A keyboard can be an affordable, compact alternative to a full piano and doesn't take up nearly as much space.
• Great for solo performance: Piano is naturally suited to playing alone, which appeals to kids who are interested in recitals and competitions.

Cons of Starting with Piano

• Less flexible physically: Unlike a guitar or wind instrument, a piano can't be picked up and carried around, which can make it an unrealistic fit for families with a traveling homeschool.
• Maintenance costs: A piano requires occasional tuning and upkeep, which is an ongoing cost that some other beginner instruments don't have.
• Takes up space: Even a smaller upright piano is a space commitment.
• Beware free pianos: You might find a free piano on Facebook Marketplace or elsewhere, but even if the instrument itself is free, moving pianos can be very expensive.

Online Voice Lessons for Kids

Voice is one of the most overlooked first instruments, probably because it doesn't feel like an instrument the same way a ukulele does. But for a lot of kids, it's the most natural, immediate place to start.

Pros of Starting with Voice

• Builds confidence: Learning to use your own voice well and being heard can be a powerful confidence builder.
• Highly expressive: Singing is one of the most emotional ways to make music, with nothing standing between the student and the sound.
• Kids get to sing songs they love: Voice lessons let students work with music they're already excited about.
• No equipment needed: There's no instrument to buy, store, or maintain, which makes voice a very accessible starting point.
• Strong ear training: Singing in tune requires constant self-correction, which builds a sharp musical ear.
• Teaches posture and breath support: Good singing technique relies on breath control and posture, both of which are useful skills well beyond music.
• Opens the door to choir: Voice students can join a choir, which offers a communal, team-based musical experience that solo instruments don't always provide.

Cons of Starting with Voice

• Self-consciousness: Some kids feel more exposed singing than playing an instrument, especially at first, since there's nothing to hide behind.
• Harder to visualize music theory: Without keys or frets to look at, concepts like intervals and chords can be trickier to conceptualize than on a visual instrument like piano.
• Risk of vocal strain: Pushing the voice incorrectly can cause strain, which is exactly why it’s important to learn from an experienced voice teacher.
• May eventually want accompaniment: As students progress, they may want to learn some basic chords on piano or guitar, or find another musician to accompany them, since voice alone can feel limited in a performance setting.

Online Guitar Lessons for Kids

Guitar is a great fit for a lot of kids, especially ones who are drawn to the songs they already hear on the radio, in movies, and on YouTube.

Pros of Starting with Guitar

• Often already accessible: A lot of families already have a guitar sitting in a closet somewhere, or can pick one up secondhand fairly easily.
• Extremely versatile: Guitar shows up in nearly every genre of popular music, so kids can typically find songs they want to play.
• Endless free resources: Between tabs, chord charts, and video tutorials, there's an enormous amount of free material available for guitar specifically.
• Easy to play alongside family: Guitar pairs naturally with a family member on piano or vocals, making it a great instrument for playing music together at home.
• Visual and intuitive for music theory: With six strings and frets laid out in a grid, guitar makes concepts like chord shapes and scales easier to see and understand than instruments without frets.

Cons of Starting with Guitar

• Steeper learning curve: Guitar generally takes longer to feel comfortable with than instruments like ukulele or piano.
• Sore fingers early on: Steel strings can be tough on fingertips, especially before calluses build up.
• Requires ear training for pitch: Unlike piano, guitar requires tuning and some pitch awareness.
• Electric guitar needs extra gear: An amp, cables, and other accessories add to the cost and setup if a student wants to play electric guitar.
• Can be disruptive: Guitar can be louder than an instrument like a ukulele.

Online Bass Guitar Lessons for Kids

Bass guitar isn’t as popular as guitar, but it can be a strong first-instrument choice, especially for kids who are drawn to rhythm, groove, or joining a band.

Pros of Starting with Bass Guitar

• A distinctive first choice: Bass guitar isn't the instrument every kid picks, which can make it a great fit for a student who likes doing their own thing.
• A gentler learning curve than guitar: In some ways, bass guitar is more approachable early on than six-string guitar, since students are typically playing one note at a time.
• High demand in bands: Bassists are often harder to find than guitarists, so kids who eventually want to join a band or audition for one may find less competition.
• Builds a strong sense of rhythm: Bass guitar is fundamentally a rhythm instrument, which makes it an excellent way to develop timing and groove.
• A solid foundation for guitar later: Many guitarists actually started on bass guitar, since it builds rhythm and melodic instincts so well.

Cons of Starting with Bass Guitar

• Tough on smaller hands: Bass guitar strings are thick, and the wider spacing between frets can be challenging for kids with small hands.
• Less melodic variety: Bass lines tend to be more repetitive than lead guitar parts, which some kids may find less rewarding.
• Not built for the spotlight: Bass guitar is the instrument other parts of a band build around, so it's less suited to solo performance than guitar or piano.
• Requires extra gear: Like electric guitar, bass guitar needs an amp and a pick (or fingerpicking technique), adding to the initial setup.

Online Ukulele Lessons for Kids

Ukulele is very popular first instrument to learn. It's small, forgiving, affordable, and extremely rewarding for young musicians.

Pros of Starting with Ukulele

• Small size: Ukulele is easy to store, and it’s easy for smaller kids to hold and play comfortably.
• Gentle on fingers: Soft nylon strings are much easier on young fingertips than the steel strings on a guitar.
• Fast wins: Many kids can learn to play a full, recognizable song in a single lesson.
• Tons of free resources: Between YouTube tutorials and simple tab sheets, there's no shortage of free material to keep kids progressing between lessons.
• Inexpensive to start: Ukuleles are typically affordable and durable.

Cons of Starting with Ukulele

• Limited range: Ukulele can't produce deep tones, which can limit the types of songs students can play.
• Fewer strings: With only 4 strings compared to the guitar's 6, moving from ukulele to guitar later can be frustrating.

Online Violin Lessons for Kids

Violin is a classic instrument for kids to start on. Oftentimes, students pick up the violin for classical orchestra, but it can be a great choice for fiddle, pop, and indie music, too.

Pros of Starting with Violin

• Small and portable: The violin is easy to carry and store, and it comes in smaller sizes designed specifically for young learners.
• A huge range of music: The violin has an enormous amount of repertoire to explore as a student grows.
• A strong path into ensembles: The violin is a natural fit for school or community orchestras.
• Well-established teaching methods: Approaches like Suzuki were built specifically for very young beginners (psst: Maestro teacher, Melanie Zanakis, specializes in the Suzuki method).
• Sharpens the ear quickly: Since there are no frets, students have to self-correct pitch constantly, which builds a sharp ear.

Cons of Starting with Violin

• Steep intonation learning curve: Without frets to guide finger placement, early playing is challenging while students learn to find pitches.
• Bow control takes time: Getting a clean, consistent sound from the bow is also challenging at first.
• Sizing up as kids grow: Young students typically need to move to larger instrument sizes as they grow, which means recurring costs over time.

Online Viola Lessons for Kids

Viola is essentially the violin's warmer, mellower sibling. It comes with some advantages over violin for the right kid.

Pros of Starting with Viola

• A warm, rich tone: Viola has a deeper, mellower sound than violin, which some kids and parents prefer.
• Similar ensemble benefits: Like violin, viola is a strong fit for school or community orchestras.
• Often easier to find a seat: Orchestras and ensembles frequently need more violists than violinists, so kids may have an easier time landing a spot.
• Strong ear training: Viola builds the same kind of sharp, self-corrected pitch awareness that violin does.

Cons of Starting with Viola

• Fewer resources available: There are far fewer beginner method books and materials written for viola compared to violin.
• A smaller pool of repertoire: Viola-specific music is more limited than the vast catalog available for violin.
• The same fretless learning curve: Like violin, viola requires students to find pitches entirely by ear, which takes time to develop.
• Slightly larger and heavier: Viola is a bit bigger and heavier than the violin.

Online Cello Lessons for Kids

Cello has a beautiful, resonant sound, and it offers a very different playing experience than its smaller string-family relatives.

Pros of Starting with Cello

• Surprisingly forgiving fingering: Cello's wider fingerboard spacing can actually make early intonation easier for small hands than violin or viola.
• A strong orchestra pathway: Like violin and viola, cello is a great fit for school and community ensembles.
• A quick sense of accomplishment: Producing a full, resonant sound comes relatively early, which can be motivating for beginners.

Cons of Starting with Cello

• Large and hard to transport: Cello is one of the biggest instruments on this list, which makes storage and travel more challenging.
• Higher cost: Cellos tend to be more expensive to purchase or rent than smaller string instruments.
• Requires proper setup: Correct posture and an adjustable endpin are essential from the start.
• A steep intonation curve: Like violin and viola, cello has no frets, so pitch has to be learned entirely by ear.

Online Saxophone Lessons for Kids

Saxophone has a bold sound that’s commonly found in jazz, pop, and rock. Many kids encounter saxophone through school band programs, but it’s a great choice for private lessons, too.

Pros of Starting with Saxophone

• A cool, recognizable sound: Saxophone has a distinctive tone that many kids find exciting to play.
• A gentler entry into woodwinds: A single reed makes saxophone more approachable than double-reed instruments like oboe.
• A strong school band pathway: Saxophone is a staple of school band programs, offering plenty of opportunities to play with peers.
• Broad musical range: From jazz to pop to rock, saxophone fits into a wide variety of styles a student might already enjoy.

Cons of Starting with Saxophone

• Ongoing reed costs: Reeds wear out and need to be replaced regularly, which adds a small recurring cost.
• Can be pricier to start: Good beginner saxophone models tend to cost more than some other beginner instruments.
• Requires embouchure development: Like other wind instruments, saxophone takes time to build the mouth and breath control needed for a good tone. 
• Can be heavy for smaller kids: Saxophone's size and weight can be a bit much for small students.

Online Clarinet Lessons for Kids

Clarinet is one of the most commonly taught instruments in school music programs. It’s a smaller, lighter woodwind with a smooth, mellow tone that's approachable for beginners.

Pros of Starting with Clarinet

• Smaller and lighter: Clarinet is more compact and easier for younger kids to handle than the saxophone.
• Affordable to start: Student clarinet models are generally budget-friendly compared to other woodwinds.
• A smooth, mellow tone: Clarinet has a warm sound that's pleasant to listen to even in the early stages of learning.

Cons of Starting with Clarinet

• Reed-dependent: Like the saxophone, clarinet reeds wear out and need regular replacement, adding a small ongoing cost.
• The register break: The jump between the clarinet's lower and upper registers trips up a lot of early players.
• Can sound squeaky at first: Getting a clean, consistent tone takes time.

Online Trumpet Lessons for Kids

Trumpet has a bold sound and offers a beginner-friendly entry point to brass instruments.

Pros of Starting with Trumpet

• A relatively simple mechanism: With just three valves, trumpet can feel more achievable early on than instruments with more complex fingerings.
• Durable and portable: Trumpet is sturdy and easy to carry, making it a practical choice for lessons on the go.

Cons of Starting with Trumpet

• Embouchure takes patience: Developing the lip and mouth muscle control needed for a good tone takes time and can be frustrating at first.
• Can be loud: Trumpet's volume can make it disruptive for family members.
• Requires breath support: Building the breath control the trumpet needs can be tough at first.

Online Drum Lessons for Kids

Drums can be a great fit for high-energy kids who learn best by doing or want to get some physical exercise while learning an instrument.

Pros of Starting with Drums

• Immediately fun: Kids get to make fun sounds right away, with no notes to learn before it feels like “playing.”
• Builds coordination that helps everywhere else: Drums develop rhythm and independent limb coordination, both of which benefit any other instrument a student picks up later.
• Affordable entry points: A practice pad or single snare drum can be an inexpensive way to start before committing to a full kit.
• Quiet practice is possible: Electronic kits allow for headphone-based practice, which can solve a lot of household noise concerns.

Cons of Starting with Drums

• A full kit is loud and bulky: An acoustic drum set takes up lots of real estate and can be disruptive to the rest of the household.
• Coordination is hard at first: Getting all four limbs to do different things at once is difficult for many beginners.
• Less transferable music theory: Since drums aren't a pitched instrument, they don't build the same melodic or harmonic understanding that piano, guitar, or voice do.

So How Do You Decide on Your Child’s First Instrument?

After going through these instruments, take a few moments to reflect:

• What's your child's age and body size? Instruments like cello and bass guitar can be difficult for young learners with small hands. Other options, like ukulele or violin, may be a better option. 

• Does your kid learn best with quick rewards or structure and repetition? Ukulele, piano, and drums can provide almost instantaneous rewards, whereas guitar and violin have a steeper initial learning curve. 
• How much noise and space can your household handle? A full drum kit, trumpet, or electric guitar can be disruptive to other members of your household. Ukulele, keyboards, and voice may be a better option for some families. 
• What kind of music does your child love? Are they drawn to orchestral music? If so, a violin might be a good fit. Kids who want to play pop music, on the other hand, may prefer piano or guitar. 
• Are they interested in solo performance or bands? Instruments like bass guitar, saxophone, and trumpet are great for bands, whereas piano, classical guitar, or voice may be a good choice for solo performance. 
• What's realistic for your budget? Instruments range from free (voice) up to many thousands of dollars for a fancy performance piano.

Still not sure? You can always contact us for individualized advice and book a free trial lesson on a lower-cost instrument, like voice or ukulele, as a starting point.

Frequently Asked Questions

What age should my child start music lessons?

Most kids can start formal music lessons around age 5 or 6, once they can sit and focus for short stretches. That said, plenty of instruments and teaching methods (like Suzuki violin or simple keyboard play) work well for kids as young as 4. The right age depends more on your child's developmental age and interest.

Is it too late for my child to start learning an instrument?

No, there's no cutoff age for starting music lessons. Many professional musicians didn’t start music lessons until they were teenagers, and plenty of people start music lessons for the first time as adults. In fact, many Maestro teachers have taught first-time music learners who are 65 or older. 

Does my child need to already know how to read music to start lessons?

No prior knowledge is required. Reading music is something most students learn gradually as part of lessons.

Do I need to buy an instrument before starting lessons?

It depends on the instrument, but many families start with an affordable rental, a borrowed instrument, or a low-cost option like a keyboard or beginner ukulele. You can always schedule a free trial lesson for your child and then, once matched, reach out to your child’s instructor for instrument recommendations that fit your budget.

What if my child picks the "wrong" first instrument?

If your student isn’t as interested in their instrument as they thought they’d be, that’s ok. After your trial lesson, you can easily select a new teacher and/or instrument through the lesson dashboard. And fortunately, many musical skills transfer well between instruments.