What are the 10 Most Annoying Musical Instruments?
What are the 10 Most Annoying Musical Instruments?
How irritating an instrument sounds largely depends on the person and even more on the musician playing it.
Take, for instance, virtually any instrument that would lose its charms in amateur hands, but there are still some that strike one as more grating than others-no matter who plays them.
Hating the sound of a violin like that produced by a kid, for example, is one thing.
Annoying Musical Instruments
Having an immediate antipathy to a certain instrument simply because its sound makes you shudder-whether it’s produced by a tone-deaf cousin or from someone like the legendary Rachmaninoff-is altogether another thing.
We’re talking about the kind of sound that can make your very cells want to self-destruct!
Musical preferences seem almost entirely personal, but one interesting trend from our little survey is that wind instruments largely dominate the list.
From buzzing plastic toys to eardrum-cracking drum crashes, these are a few of the most annoying musical instruments of all time.
What Makes an Instrument Annoying?
Some will be more painful in one’s ears than others. The most common reasons are:
- Playing Off Key: An off-key performance means awkwardness, no matter what instrument you’ll use.
- Squeaky-Sounding: Ever thought of recorders without leaks or poorly played clarinets?
- Screechy: For instance, there is a violin that cries because such bad bowing techniques are used.
- High Frequencies-Piercing: Loud and shrill? It has all ingredients to trigger instant annoyance.
Annoying Musical Instruments
What if someone played one of those instruments in your living room? Indeed, how much could you stand it before you would have begged, sans “please,” them to stop?
10 Most Annoying Musical Instruments You Don’t Want to Hear
Indeed, though music is a universal language, not all instruments stand well with everyone.
Some are so dreadful that they tend to incite people to cover their ears away from the most intensely high-pitched, droning, or untuned reputation bringing these instruments into a hall of fame for the most annoying.
- The Kazoo
Yes, this buzzing toy is fun for kids and absolute torture for adults.
It turns voices into angry bees trapped in some bottle, produces a nasal hum, makes everything sounds distorted, and even legendary musicians like Jimi Hendrix played it but honestly, the kazoo should be taken in small doses.
- The Vuvuzela
Imagine a vuvuzela sounding like a one-honking-car horn.
Multiply that by thousands during a football match, and you’ll get what it became famed for with that deafening monotone drone when it became an earworm during the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
It still deserves to rank among the world’s most irritating instruments.
- The Soprano Recorder
In elementary school, the recorder is one of the first instruments played by kids attempting their first notes, badly.
Even the squeaking high-pitched sound and breathy whistling only worsens things for parents, teachers, and pretty much anyone nearby.
- The Bagpipes
While bagpipes can be an acquired taste, many find it overwhelming to have that high-pitch droning, which never stops.
Indoors, the sound has nowhere to escape and immediately creates a headache for the un-Scottish tradition fans.
- The Didgeridoo
This Australian instrument creates a deep, endless drone using circular breathing.
At first mesmerizing, the long tones of its repetitive humming can quickly become tedious, especially when dominantly played for several hours without stop.
- The Melodica
It’s fun to blow into a keyboard, but the melodica, with its thin new sound over time becomes rather annoying.
With an expert, the melodica can go far; most of the time, however, it sounds like an accordion going wheezily out of tune.
- The Banjo
Most of the time, people associate upbeat, twangy tunes with bright, metallic plucking, but there are some
listeners who find it just too much in that fast-paced and somewhat repetitive sound that advocates argue sounds “too happy” all the time.
- The Triangle
Ding! DThe triangle, while seeming essential in orchestras, carries a very piercing ringing sound that continues to sound even after it has been struck.
Fine with one or two notes? Yes. But someone randomly playing it, just because? Absolute annoyance.
- The Violin (When Played Badly)
Like most instruments, a poorly played violin is less than pleasing to the ear, to put it mildly.
In the hands of a novice, however, the sound it creates tends to be a lot more screeching and out-of-tune bowing, making it one of the most painful learning instruments to endure.
- The Theremin
Dancing from last to geese, the theremin is an electronic instrument that sounds ghostly when played, a specter trying to sing.
Its sound is really atmospheric while cool for sci-fi soundtracks, but to regular listeners, its unpredictable wails and swooping notes can be unsettling.
Annoying Musical Instruments: Final Thoughts
The beauty of music is that it captures subjective emotions; one person’s annoyance may become another’s favorite sound.
No basis, however, is denied about how scrawly, buzzing, or droning those instruments have earned reputations for being the most annoying.
Which one do you think tops the list? Let us know in the comments!
FAQs
10 Most Annoying Musical Instruments You Would Not Like to Hear
Some are just unbearable, no matter the stature or pedigree of the player. Their screechy, squeaky or piercing tones often make any patient listener cringe.
Herein the list of top offenders:
- Recorder – High pitch, not to mention the fact that most kids are unable to play it correctly.
- Bagpipes – Loud, droning, and nearly impossible to ignore.
- Violin (Badly Played) – Sounds like a cat in distress.
- Accordion – Nothing but repetitive wheezing that gets caught in everyone’s ear.
- Kazoo – Naso-buzzingly easy to get old fashion.
- Harmonica – At times sound very loud and almost breathlessly assaulting.
- Trombone – Not to mention all the sliding together and honking noises that go with it.
- Banjo – High, twangy notes, and not everyone enjoys them.
- Drums – All noises, with banging the most outrageous from a beginner.
- Plastic Toy Instruments – Squeaky-voice, cheap, and completely out of tune.
The true test? Have someone play one inside a living room; how long can you take it before you shout, “STOP!”?
