Thread: Is there such a thing as "find your instrument?"

I've been playing piano for a while and sing fairly competently and was also competent at the basics of clarinet, but I have never had the experience of "finding my instrument." I was very obsessed with this from an early age, and yet it never happened. I could see myself playing a wide variety of instruments and becoming a harp guy, or a mandolin guy, or a cello guy, or a bassoon guy, and quite a few other things. Piano wasn't really my choice, except I knew that it could be boring and yet be the most interesting of instruments all the same. Clarinet was the closest thing my band program in elementary school offered to the oboe, which is what I wanted at that point. I love being able to play harmonies myself, and yet I wonder if I had gotten involved in orchestral music and became skilled enough at an instrument at a younger age, I might be far more advanced than I am now and less aimless on my path to some kind of virtuosity. This summer, I went so far as to purchase a mandolin until I was required to take it back by my parents because I had used their money without their consent. I wasn't 100% sure of my decision to do that, and the fact that I was fighting against my parents made it feel like it wasn't something worth pursuing.

So, I'm wondering if there is such a thing as finding your instrument, something that just speaks to you and that you feel compelled to practice and learn things on and get better at without a significant forceful prodding from yourself. I have not been searching for a while. I tried Double Bass a few years ago and even had a teacher. That grew wearisome when I discovered that Bass parts bored me. I thought I had found some sort of unique solution in clavichords, harpsichords and lutes, and yet the fact that I have to build and maintain them and the fact that that proves to be an insurmountable obstacle to me, perhaps goes to show that I am not motivated enough. Perhaps I am not motivated enough in general or expect more magical realization than can ever happen, but I don't want cynicism to stop me from finding the thing that I would enjoy the most, the best fit.

And yet perhaps I'm not doing what I could be doing on piano. I certainly am not right now, and yet maybe there is a reason I'm not so motivated that has to do with the fact that I haven't discovered the most suitable instrument. For a while, I thought I could juggle multiple instruments, and yet I seem to be terrible at doing that, with any discipline for that matter.

Is there such a thing as "find your instrument?"

Yes definitely. I've moved about 20 times in the space of 3 years and I just can't find my mega long canoe length diatonic bass flute. I'm always finding instruments which I mislaid in various boxes or places. Recently I found my chromatic harmonica (haha - no it is not a toy. I used to play Bach's Partitas on it) and I was shocked when I couldn't even play Lady Gaga's latest reposte on it.

Anyway - you sound like you had lots of musical opportunities as a youngster, but maybe not followed them up>?

This summer, I went so far as to purchase a mandolin until I was required to take it back by my parents because I had used their money without their consent. I wasn't 100% sure of my decision to do that, and the fact that I was fighting against my parents made it feel like it wasn't something worth pursuing.

Now that was just very naughty. You should apologise and then ask them to buy it back for you, and you'll play them a George Formby classic at Christmas.

It's hard to get into the discipline of playing an instrument, unless you have support at your age. A guitar or mandolin is probably more fun, since you can mess around with it with friends and pick it up. A harp is a different ball game; you will need lessons; more dedication and solid practice regularly.

Sounds like you like the sound of either plucked instruments, with clear bright crystalline tones? I like the lute too, but the medieval lute is very special (and expensive). Whatever you find, the discipline...and perseverance to work at it still needs to be developed. I realised this in middle school and never wished to be a virtuoso. I want to have a life instead

Nevertheless, I returned to the flute...not the flute of my school days, but a different kind - the wooden conical flute. The background in flute playing kind of helped make the transition. Now, I just like picking up new music and having a stab at sight reading and refining it until I get some sense of melody/play and satisfaction for myself. On a good day, I'll get 4 hours practice solid and I'll just not want to stop - it's that satisfying just playing.

Of course, the neighbours probably disagree :/

I think so, though I don't think it's neccessarily a "hit you like a bolt of lightning" thing, or something that everyone has to have. I feel that I "found my instrument' I went through a phase where I wanted to play guitar, and then the flute. In both cases, I dreamed about it and was excited about it for months before finally giving it a shot. In both cases, I could only see the finish line, wanting to already be good enough to play songs without putting the work in.

This time it's different. I intend to take piano lessons (only finances preventing that at the present. But I am actively saving money out of each paycheck) and I'm starting from square one. It feels different this time. And technically one could say "it's just a keyboard not a piano you are using" true....but I already like the keyboard more than the guitar or flute, and I believe the piano will feel that much better, as everyone tells me

Hey have you tried to pay a power chord trough a 100w Marshall with a nice distortion tone?

Is there such a thing as "find your instrument?"

Sure. Awesome game. Very popular where I live, I can't even tell how many times I got back home and wanted to practice on piano but suddenly everybody jumps out of the blue and screams FIND YOUR INSTRUMENT! and you have to look for it, last time I found my piano in the washing machine... you may think it's waste of time but in fact it makes you appreciate your instrument more and thus motivate you to practice.

Some people have a connection with the sound that a particular instrument makes. I think that it is possible that if you don't like the sound of one much more that others then there isn't only one instrument for you.

Originally Posted by jani

Hey have you tried to pay a power chord trough a 100w Marshall with a nice distortion tone?

nope, just borrowed my mom-in-law's acoustic.

Originally Posted by Jaws

Some people have a connection with the sound that a particular instrument makes. I think that it is possible that if you don't like the sound of one much more that others then there isn't only one instrument for you.

I like this very simple answer. I needed that little bit of common sense.

Originally Posted by jani

Hey have you tried to pay a power chord trough a 100w Marshall with a nice distortion tone?

Is this question to me? My dad has electric guitars but he is not a fan of a lot of distortion, being more of a classic rock/blues guy. I have played power chords on electric guitars before though.

Originally Posted by clavichorder

Is this question to me? My dad has electric guitars but he is not a fan of a lot of distortion, being more of a classic rock/blues guy. I have played power chords on electric guitars before though.

Classic rock and blues? I like your dad

I often wonder if there's such a thing. In my case, I've begun guitar at 14/15 because I wanted Rock 'n' Roll to save my life, and then switched to classical guitar.
But I often wonder if it's really want I want to do, if I really want to put all those hours of work in this instrument :
- it isn't loud enough to play big bombastic things - like the organ, the piano, or actually most orchestral instruments in group can do -,
- has an awful hole in it's repertoire from 1750 to 1920 (Fernando Sor, Napoléon Coste and Mauro Giuliani aren't bad but...),
- has tons of interesting pieces from 1920 onwards but most of them will require very hard work

But I think I actually like it, even if it's a lot of work and if I really, really, despise a big part of the guitar repertoire.

Asking yourself this kind of question is even harder if you want to be really good. I began late and I know that if I want to become the instrumentalist I would like to be, it'll ask me an awful lot of work. That's a though decision to take, particularly since I'm also interested in composition and piano, as well as pretty much every arts and sciences (even though I'm quite uncultured about them).


I sympathize with you. I often think it'd be better for me to cut my nails and only aiming at being a technically decent guitarist, pianist, and take more time to write and explore the depth of the music. But I immediatly think about how important it is for me to be an actor of what happens as an instrumentalist, how frustrated I'd be to not be able to really play, and how ridiculous it'd be to give up because of the difficulty instead of just doing it.


Aren't you in a simillar case ?

If you hope to be a professional (classical) performer, then 'no' - unless you grabbed and tried this and that between the ages of, say, four to six years of age.

For your own pleasure / edification and perhaps with the goal to be one of the best damned amateur players there are, then it is never too late.

Originally Posted by PetrB

If you hope to be a professional (classical) performer, then 'no' - unless you grabbed and tried this and that between the ages of, say, four to six years of age.

For your own pleasure / edification and perhaps with the goal to be one of the best damned amateur players there are, then it is never too late.

From my experience if you wish to be a professional classical performer starting any time up to the age of 42 would be possible. It is a now disproved myth that you have to start before the age of 10 on anything.