I am 16 years old, doing A level music in school and currently play piano to about grade 6 level.
I am looking to take up another instrument - preferably a standard orchestral instrument - but I just don't know which to choose.
The main ones I am interested in:
Cello
Violin
French Horn (can already play this to about grade 2-3 standard, thinking of taking it up again!)
Bassoon
Clarinet
Oboe

In your opinions, which do you prefer? I am very much stumped at to which one I would like to learn more... I think I am probably leaning a little more towards cello but I don't know.

If this would be any help in choosing, my favourite type of music is romantic music, and favourite composers are Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Grieg and Field.

Any help is appreciated :-)
Regards.
Wurlz

One way of looking at this would be to think about what you would like to do with your second instrument. If you are looking to play in an orchestra, you might have a better chance of getting in on a cello sooner as there is usually room for another one in a school orchestra, or similar, whereas they may only need one or two of each woodwind. French Horn is notoriously tricky, but you do have head start there.

Which one do you like the sound of best? You will be spending many hours with your new instrument.

Practical considerations - cost, ease of transport, may be part of the equation?

Wise words.

A few comments in no particular order.

There is very little romantic music for oboe.

Bassoons, oboes (and to a lesser extent) horns are all expensive, (even for a beginner's instrument and rental is also more expensive than for, say a violin or a clarinet).

Cellos are bulky. A full size cello doesn't fit in the boot of all small cars. You may be expected to buy a ticket for it on buses and trains and you definitely will have to buy it a seat if you ever want to take it on a plane.

On the other hand, as SueHM said, you will probably be able to find an orchestra to play in fairly rapidly with a cello.

If you like romantic music and want to play in an orchestra, I think your best option is the cello, especially if you're already leaning towards it (violin works too, but it's rather harder to get a place in an orchestra since there are SO MANY violinists!) Cellos are bulky and inconvenient, but I don't think that should be a deciding factor. Also, I'm pretty sure it's not necessary to buy a plane ticket for a cello, unless you have a REALLY good one. When my orchestra travelled to England, all the cellos were packed (albeit carefully!) and sent off in the cargo - we didn't have any problems.

I just mentioned the size because my daughter plays and it is sometimes a nuisance. When we bought her a full size cello it would no longer fit in the boot of our car and if you folded the seat down to fit it in, you could no longer fit four people (ie the whole family) in the car. My husband wanted to change cars anyway so it was not too much of a problem for too long but we have had to turn down lifts from other people because the cello wouldn't fit in the boot.


I think things are slightly different if you are travelling as an orchestra (and possibly different on transatlantic flights). For individual passengers on internal European flights you do need to buy a plane ticket for the cello.

If you want to play in an orchestra don't choose oboe or clarinet. There are very few vacancies in orchestras for these instruments. Cello and violin should be alright, however if you would like to consider viola, you could probably get into any orchestra with that. There is always a shortage of viola players.
Bassoon is a good bet because fewer people play it because they are expensive. Horn should be alright because it is difficult to play. It really depends on what kind of group you were thinking of playing in. For a wind band clarinet and oboe would both be fine.

Thank you all for your advice! (And some helpful advice from Morton for once!)
It wasn't actually French horn that I played before - it was cornet and tenor horn, but it would be fairly easy to adapt I assume.
I would really quite like to play in an Orchestra - my schools is the only orchestra I would want to play in until I was of a good level obviously, then perhaps would join a local amateur orchestra. I am also very interested in conducting, composing, arranging too - I would love to be a musical director of an orchestra one day, so starting my own amateur orchestra is something I would consider in a few years perhaps. I have a great deal of friends who are also very interested in music and performing/composing too.
(I am even president of a Chopin society at school too... we actually managed to get 9 members )

I think I will probably choose cello - it has such a beautiful sound and size doesn't bother me - I do play a piano afterall :-)

I would just love so much to one day be able to go out on stage, with an orchestra, or as part, and play something magnificent to an audience!

I think first and foremost I would love to be a concert pianist - I love the romantic concertos of Chopin, Grieg and Rachmaninoff so much! They are so emotionally evoking and beautiful, words don't even describe...

To be able to play something like that would be absolutely incredible.

Back to my original point anyway - I am going to go for the cello I think. I will be at a large music shop on Monday where I can try out various instruments (I am rather looking forward to having a go on their 90 year old Bosendorfer!!! ) so I will probably try a few there. I think it will be cello though - it has such a beautiful sound.

Thank you for all your words of advice.
Regards,
Wurlz

For what it's worth, my piano teacher is always talking about phrasing and so on in terms of stringed instruments. I think for someone who is interested in conducting and so on, knowledge of string technique etc would be really useful. I often feel as though I have missed a trick by never playing any bowed strings!

That would be a rash assumption for most people, because the large range of the orchestral horn puts it into a higher part of the harmonic series than the tenor horn uses, so that mispitching despite correct fingering becomes more likely. Most players cope with this by developing an accurate ear for intervals, so that playing the horn has something of the same character as singing at sight. You need this capability also if you become a conductor and you may be a good sight singer already.

Yes, to a point. Certainly in this patch though, you may find it hard to even find vacancies for oboes in wind bands (there are far less oboes in a wind band generally than clarinets).

When I was deciding which instrument to learn - I thought about what pieces of music I liked to listen to. I discovered that apart from piano - I really loved the sound of the strings in an orchestra - so when with a violin. Maybe if you're not 100% set on cello - that could help think about what music and what about it you enjoy and be guided by that (and obviously teacher availability). Happy shopping and good luck with your new instrument.

The way I decided to play a new instrument was listening (no video) to different music. There will most likely be an instrument you love the sound of most. Hope this helps. This made me love the horn after playing piano for 6 years.