Hardest instrument.

[Shapley]

Navneeth,

You are correct, when Cartoon Network first debuted, they did show many of the older cartoons, including some that are now considered, even by them, to be politically incorrect. I believe the show called Toonheads, which used to provide a history lesson along with the cartoons, would still air some of them, and the narrator would explain why they were seldom seen.

Speedy Gonzales was a similar victim of political correctness, although he has found some work in recent days. He is included in newer cartoons, but without the existence of the slow, lazy Mexican mice that made up most of the characters in the old cartoons.

V/R
Shapley

[Serenity]

Is there "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" with any musical instruments?

For example, do you get "carpal tunnel lips" or "carpal tunnel cheeks" playing the horn? (I think of this whenever I see Louie Armstrong play).

Or how about "violin elbow" instead of "tennis elbow"?

[Catmando]

Is there "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" with any musical instruments?

For example, do you get "carpal tunnel lips" or "carpal tunnel cheeks" playing the horn? (I think of this whenever I see Louie Armstrong play).

Or how about "violin elbow" instead of "tennis elbow"?

How about you Serenity, are you getting carpal tunnel from "post whoring"?

[Serenity]

Yeah, I'd have "carpal fingertips" after smackin' some fresh mouth

[bignaf]

claves are pretty hard. I wouldn't want them coming towards my head at high velocity.

[Trumpetmaster]

Harp.....

[Catmando]

What would be the easier of these two instruments for a 30 something to learn how to play?

Piano or Cello?

[OperaTenor]

I say piano.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Cat, honey, avoid the unfretted string, at all costs. Don't care what instrument it's on. There are an infinite number of wrong notes between all the ones you want, and your ear will hear (and hate) every one of 'em, because your fingers will find all of 'em. Trombones share this problem, because of the slide.

A piano has actual notes associated with keys and you can identify your target fairly easily. If you're playing a keyboard instead of an actual string piano, you can even use headphones and practice after midnight without the neighbors noticing. This may be a useful feature.

Flutes and other wind instruments with keys or valves are also fairly easy to find the right note on. They do not share the midnight practice feature, though.

Do you hate your neighbors? Consider the bagpipes. I hear that a beginning piper is a thing of wonder.

[Trumpetmaster]

Cat, honey, avoid the unfretted string, at all costs. Don't care what instrument it's on. There are an infinite number of wrong notes between all the ones you want, and your ear will hear (and hate) every one of 'em, because your fingers will find all of 'em. Trombones share this problem, because of the slide.

A piano has actual notes associated with keys and you can identify your target fairly easily. If you're playing a keyboard instead of an actual string piano, you can even use headphones and practice after midnight without the neighbors noticing. This may be a useful feature.

Flutes and other wind instruments with keys or valves are also fairly easy to find the right note on. They do not share the midnight practice feature, though.

Do you hate your neighbors? Consider the bagpipes. I hear that a beginning piper is a thing of wonder.

Bagpipes........
We have someone in my area who practices bagpipes all the time...
Have to shut the windows.........

I say, if you don't like your neighbors... take up the drums....

[Catmando]

Cat, honey, avoid the unfretted string, at all costs. Don't care what instrument it's on. There are an infinite number of wrong notes between all the ones you want, and your ear will hear (and hate) every one of 'em, because your fingers will find all of 'em. Trombones share this problem, because of the slide.

A piano has actual notes associated with keys and you can identify your target fairly easily. If you're playing a keyboard instead of an actual string piano, you can even use headphones and practice after midnight without the neighbors noticing. This may be a useful feature.

Flutes and other wind instruments with keys or valves are also fairly easy to find the right note on. They do not share the midnight practice feature, though.

Do you hate your neighbors? Consider the bagpipes. I hear that a beginning piper is a thing of wonder.

Thank you for the insight Selma. My initial thought was that the cello would be easier to pick up, as there are only 4 strings, while there are a gazillion piano keys. But obviously I was wrong.

My girlfriend's parents have a piano that I can use for practice.

Another option would be to learn the bass clarinet. My girlfriend played bass clarinet in band. Unfortunately she doesn't have her instrument anymore.

[OperaTenor]

Ray, another nice thing about the piano is that it is the most stand-alone of instruments; it always sounds just fine by itself.

If you really want to find out all you can about pianos, go to the Piano World Forums. It's the largest piano-related bulletin board in the world, and a lot of interesting people hang out there.

Selma's right - stay away from fret-less stringed instruments.

[bignaf]

definitely piano. the piano tuner takes care of the intonation!

[mmichaelson]

Having played all forms of saxophone (not difficult), french horn (for fun) and oboe, my vote goes for the oboe only because you have to cover up the blinking holes while maintaining everything else too.

[audiogirl]

Navneeth,

You are correct, when Cartoon Network first debuted, they did show many of the older cartoons, including some that are now considered, even by them, to be politically incorrect. I believe the show called Toonheads, which used to provide a history lesson along with the cartoons, would still air some of them, and the narrator would explain why they were seldom seen.

Speedy Gonzales was a similar victim of political correctness, although he has found some work in recent days. He is included in newer cartoons, but without the existence of the slow, lazy Mexican mice that made up most of the characters in the old cartoons.

V/R
Shapley

Why was Speedy considered P.I.?

[Shapley]

Apparenlty Speedy Gonzales, or rather the mice that cheered him on, unfairly stereotyped our neighbors south of the border.

I guess I was too busy laughing to notice. I would think that the fact that the Mexican mouse, Speedy, always got the upper hand against the gringo cat would be a postive thing, but I'm not really in tune with Political correctness.

[barfle]

I remain in awe of anyone who can make music come out of a box that's harder to operate than a record player.

I have played with several musical instruments, and I can usually make sounds come out of them, but nobody would ever call it music.

[Trumpetmaster]

Having played all forms of saxophone (not difficult), french horn (for fun) and oboe, my vote goes for the oboe only because you have to cover up the blinking holes while maintaining everything else too.

Don't forget about making reeds.........
I'll stick with my mouthpiece!

[Catmando]

Ray, another nice thing about the piano is that it is the most stand-alone of instruments; it always sounds just fine by itself.

If you really want to find out all you can about pianos, go to the Piano World Forums. It's the largest piano-related bulletin board in the world, and a lot of interesting people hang out there.

Selma's right - stay away from fret-less stringed instruments.

Thank you for the info and link OT!

[Catmando]

By the way OT, how many bulletin boards are you on? And are you the King Whore in any of those?