The piano is one of the easiest instruments to learn because all of the notes are laid out before you. The keys on the left are the lower notes and they gradually get higher as you move to the right.

And to make a sound, all you have to do is press the key. No need to build up calluses on your fingers like you do for most stringed instruments, and no need to learn lip techniques like you do with brass instruments. Plus, if you get an electronic keyboard, you’ll never need to tune it.

If you have rhythm, you can pick up any percussion instrument and learn it quickly. If you don’t have rhythm, you can learn rhythm. Probably. It’s not hard to learn, but it will take some practice.

Once you learn to keep rhythm, you have so many options of instruments to learn. Below are some of the best ones to start with…

Tall, narrow, single-headed drums, often played in pairs and commonly used in Latin music.

A pair of small, open-bottomed drums of different sizes, often used in Afro-Cuban music.

A rope-tuned, skin-covered drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa.

A box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front or rear faces.

A small hand-held drum with metal jingles (zills) around the edges.

Hand-held instruments filled with seeds or beads that produce sound when shaken.

A drum with a sharp, staccato sound, thanks to the metal wires (snares) stretched across the bottom of the drum.

The ukulele only has four strings, so you can learn many chords by pressing the strings with only one or two fingers at a time. And its strings are usually smooth, meaning they don’t hurt your fingers like guitar strings might. It’s also a small instrument, making it a great choice for kids or adults with small hands.

The banjo has four full strings and one string that goes halfway up the banjo’s neck. This setup combined with the way it’s tuned means you can play several chords by pressing the strings with just one or two fingers at a time. Banjo strings are usually somewhat smooth, meaning they won’t be as harsh on your fingertips as guitar strings.

Usually, banjo players wear finger picks – like guitar picks, but ones that the player wears on their fingers to help them pluck individual strings more easily. It’s ideal to learn with finger picks, but not necessary if you’d rather just pluck with your fingertips.

Bass guitar is easy to learn the basics of because you can play songs by pressing the strings with just one or two fingers. The strings of the bass guitar (of which there are usually only four) will require you to build up calluses on your fingers, which really only comes from playing the bass. Getting past the callus stage is often the hardest part for beginners, but if you can stick with it, it will be worth it.

The one you’ve almost certainly never heard of.

The McNally Strumstick is the easiest instrument to learn on this list because it was designed for beginners.

This 3-stringed instrument has frets that noticeably vary in size, much more so than a guitar. It’s made this way so that it plays in only one key no matter where you put your fingers, which means you can’t play a “wrong” note.

All you do is take one of your fingers, press one string at a time on any fret, strum all the strings, and you’ll play something that sounds good.

On top of watching the videos we’ve included in this article, below are some tips on how you can get started learning your chosen instrument…

As you were looking at this list of instruments, is there one that intrigued you the most? If so, follow that gut instinct. Music is meant to be fun, and learning an instrument should be too. You’re learning an instrument for the joy of it, so let fun point you to one of these instruments.

Pianist, singer, and songwriter Jon Batiste – who’s won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and multiple Grammy Awards – points out that music is meant to be a positive force in the world.

“I really believe music is more than just entertainment,” he says. “It’s a spiritual practice, it’s a way for people to come together from all walks of life and to celebrate our cultural differences… The beauty of music is that it is a universal language, and hopefully this vibration can go out into the world and create more of itself.”

Fun, joy, and positivity should guide what instrument you choose and how you use your musical abilities.

Once you’ve chosen your instrument, figure out a regular practice routine. Consistency is key to learning any instrument, so set aside dedicated time each day or week to practice.

But instead of making practice a chore, make it fun. The best way to make it fun is to learn and play along with your favorite songs.

Even Victor Wooten, Grammy award-winning bassist, says he didn’t like practicing. He says we need to think of practice as if it’s play.

“I don’t know any kids who like to practice, and I was one,” he says. “…[Kids] want to play, not practice playing. No kid wants to practice video games, they want to play. Music was that way for me, so I’ve never enjoyed practice.”

He goes on to say that someone who’s learning music, regardless of age, needs to learn music “through freedom, not through a regimen of practice.”

For the non-percussion instruments on this list, Ultimate Guitar is a great resource – it shows you the chords to pretty much any song you want and how to play those chords on guitar, ukulele, and piano. You can also check out ChordFind to learn how to play chords on piano, guitar, banjo, and ukulele.

Yes, these instruments are easy to learn and you can learn them by gathering tips on the internet. But some people do better with accountability, and that’s where a music teacher is helpful. A teacher can help guide you on what you, specifically, need to work on, and they are someone who can keep you motivated to keep going.