As someone with no musical background, should I learn piano or violin?

Take the one that appeals most to you. Personally, though I’m (slowly) learning the bass, I lean towards piano. I like the idea of being able to play melody and harmony at the same time.

Welcome to fluther. Always try new things and never be afraid of trying something different, even if you fail. The more challenges you take on, the more you’ll get out of life. Go for both if you want.

Your long fingers will help with piano….I say, try them both! I have played the piano since I was little and wouldn’t trade it! I have alsways wondered what it would be like to play the violin, though. It seems like such a romantic instrument.

If you just want to learn an instrument for the fun of it, it really makes no difference. But if you want to be able to record and produce music, then learn the piano. You can play a synth and recreate any instrument and produce your music all on your own using any mix of instruments you want in your music.

Learn to play guitar it’s easier…. Atleast I thought so

I’d think that piano makes more sense since you’re a beginner. And besides that, if you learn piano first, and figure out how to read music, then you can play whatever (easier) than you would than if you just started with something by itself.

Plus, you need perfect or almost perfect pitch in order to play the violin properly. With piano, you can always call the tuner. If you put your right thumb on Middle C, it sounds like Middle C.

With the piano your two hands behave in the same manner; with the violin, non-dominant hand presses the strings and does the vibrato (no frets to help you), and your dominant hand bows and plucks.

piano…...you learn more about music, chords and such.

violin is so hard to learn to play with nice tone.

Go for the one you are drawn to. You will do better with it.

The piano would be the place to start. It can form the basis for all future musical learning.

I want to learn to play piano too. I think it’s a beautiful instrument. I reckon you should learn the one you’re most drawn too.

piano

I started taking piano lessons at an early age, and was then forced to continue taking them by my mom for a total of ten long years. I’m an ok pianist, buy I’m not as good as I should be with the amount of years of lessons that I have under my belt. I’ve played for small singing groups, church services, and weddings in the past. Now that I’m older, I just choose to not play at all because it is something that I’m just not that good at, and I don’t have a great passion to play.

My vote is to take lessons on the instrument that you really want to learn how to play. Most cities have music stores that rent instruments, so until you find the instrument that is right for you, this might be the way to go.

I’ve decided to just got for it and learn the violin—even though I’ll probably sound like the slow death of a kindle of kittens for some time—Yey!

Thanks everyone!

Piano. Play piano and you can easily apply that knowledge to any other instrument.

Definitely piano first.

You know it would much more difficult to identify the position of keys and intervals while being a begining violinist.If you learn piano first, it helps you to train your ears and eyes,plus it is the most important foundation for all musicians.

I was started with this.

I say piano. When I see people with long fingers I think, “They have piano hands.” Another good instrument for you would be the guitar, especially if you are interested in writing your own music. It is the best for a singer/songwriter, if that’s the direction you’re headed. On the other hand, I usually always recommend learning the piano first before any other instrument. It helps teach you pitch, the distance between other notes, and introduces you to chords, notes, and music in general.

That depends on you. Violin teaches more about melody, piano about harmony as well. Violin teaches the importance of intonation, and you can do more with the individual pitches than you can with the piano. With piano, though, you can have large chords and play many melodies with all the harmony better. I guess it depends on you, and what you want out of music.