Hi my first instrument is piano (Grade7). I have been doing a few peices of a higher level than that though. I have applied for a music school just recently (don't know if i'll be offered an audition yet though). I am starting my GCSE course this year and the music school i have applied for says that it is useful to have a second instrument if attending the school. I have heard that the violin is hard to pick up and takes a long time to get to grips with it but im not too sure about that one. My piano teacher recently lent me her flute for a week just so i could try it out, i managed to get a sound out of it after a few minutes of fiddling with my mouth position etc. i have even managed to get a few notes out of it (using a flute beginners book). But im not sure if i'll adjust to the flute. Would it be alot harder to adjust to a violin. I need to get started on a second instrument soon though incase i did get into this music school and even if i dont it would be nice to have a second instrument to be able to play anyway. Any advice on which one you would recommend out of the two instruments would be highly appreciated, thanks.

Just put an answer on your thread in the Woodwind forum.

Cheers

Katyjay

Me too

Both fantastic instruments... don't pick an instrument because "it's easy" - no instrument is easy to master in the long term.

Start an instrument you really want to play and that has a sound that inspires you and will make you want to practice.

Hi there, I have been in your shoe before. Thinking of whether do take violin or flute as a second instrument. I played flute for few months before in my school band, but I have great difficulty adjusting my breathing technique. Then, to buy a flute it is more expensive than to buy a violin (both quite economical ones). Then, another thing I am thinking of is that, orchestra normally requires more violin players than flute players:) So, in the end I took up violin, even though I don't like the sound it produces at first, but now I loved it! True, each instrument has it's own difficulty. But the main thing is: practice makes perfect!

In my opinion, violin is hard to learn for the first few months, after you have get the hold of it, it should be easier. As for flute, the notes are quite easy to learn, but not so for the breathing part (or maybe I am not gifted to play any wind instrument )