🥁 The 10 best first instruments for kids
The best first instrument is the one a child wants to pick up every day. These ten are good starts, ranked by how quickly a beginner makes a sound they like. Try before you buy: schools, libraries and music shops often lend or rent.
VoiceOurs
Free, always with you, and the base of every other instrument. Singing in tune is a skill like any other.
Hand drums and shakersOurs
Rhythm first: a child can play with others on day one.
Piano or keyboard
Every note is laid out in a row, so music theory makes sense on it. A small keyboard is enough to start.
Ukulele
Four nylon strings that are kind to fingers, and three chords play hundreds of songs.
Recorder
Light, cheap and the first wind instrument in many schools.
Xylophone or glockenspiel
Hit a bar, get a note. Great for little ones and for learning note names.
Violin
Comes in small sizes for small hands. Harder at first, very rewarding later; usually best with a teacher.
Guitar
Smaller sizes fit children. Nylon strings are easier on fingers than steel.
Harmonica
Pocket-sized, and you can play a tune by breathing in and out.
Your computerOurs
Making beats and tunes on a screen is real composing, and costs nothing.
More music lists
- 10 easy songs to learn first on any instrumentThe ten easiest songs for a child to learn first on piano, ukulele, recorder or xylophone, ranked by how few notes they use, each with a song sheet in any key.
- 10 pieces of classical music kids loveTen pieces of classical music children love on first listen, from In the Hall of the Mountain King to The Entertainer, with listening maps that show what to hear.