By Phoebe C.
Learning an instrument is always a challenging process, but some instruments may be easier to learn for certain people. Both the violin and piano are demanding instruments and take perseverance and dedication, but the violin has proved to have a steeper initial learning curve.
The early stages of learning violin may be very uncomfortable as you are met with many challenges such as correctly holding the violin and bow, memorizing the placement of notes on the instrument fingerboard, making sure that those notes have the correct intonation, and learning how to play with the bow in order to produce a beautiful sound. However, on the piano, a beginner student is able to play the instrument right away, the sound is usually pleasant (as it is produced by the piano mechanism), and therefore the only challenge is learning where each note lays on the keyboard.
But after mastering the basic fundamentals of each instrument, they can become equally as challenging. Both instruments have their individual challenges, which grow over time as the player becomes more advanced and the repertoire becomes more demanding. For instance, pianists will need to read and play two staves of music (one for the right hand and the other for the left hand) as opposed to violinists, who are only required to play one. In addition, pianists play each stave on a different clef (usually treble clef for the right hand and bass clef for the left hand) while violinists play only on one clef: treble clef. Pianists will also learn to navigate large chords, multiple voices, and perhaps even large jumps across the keyboard.
Similarly, violin has difficulties that challenge musicians as they advance in their musical training. Violinists will have to learn to shift positions, play harmonics and double stops, all the while constantly maintaining nearly perfect intonation and good sound.
Learning violin and piano can both become great challenges but will produce amazing talent if committed to. Yet violin is undoubtedly more challenging at the start of your musical journey. Although both instruments will prove to have big demands, it is undeniably worth the lifelong musical talent and knowledge.
