The beginner/easy keys on various instruments?

I really feel I ought to know the answer to this question already, but alas.

What are the typically easiest/simplest keys for particular instruments to play and read? That is, what are the ones that you'd expect most somewhat-new-to-an-instrument players to be comfortable with?

For piano, the obvious ones are probably the ones with few flats and sharps like A minor, C major, E minor, G major, etc. Does this apply to the transposing instruments as well, e.g., concert F for horn, concert Bb for trumpet, etc.?

What about non-transposing instruments like flutes, guitars, trombones, and the violin family?

Well well well....

Strings have some easy things and some hard ones. D major is quite easy, F# is well, not strings favorite :shifty:

I can say for others that it's going to be easiest for them to play in the key they are in! But there are many kinds of horns and trumpets...experiment a little to see what you like ;)

Band instrumentalists tend to be most comfortable with what they first learn. In my area, most middle school bands start with Concert B Flat, then move to E flat, then to F (all majors). So, essentially even as the musicians mature, these keys are easiest "to read", but depending on the level you're writing for essentially any key is accessible. I tend to stay away from Concert E Major though.

Thanks for the replies :)

There isn't really an easiest key on guitar because it is so easy to transpose.

Still I would say that CM, GM, Em, are easy on guitar (without transposing)

I think in all instruments any key with more than 4 sharps/flats is difficult for beginers.

I think in all instruments any key with more than 4 sharps/flats is difficult for beginers.

We have to distinguish between hard to read and hard to play though. On the piano, keys with lots of sharps/flats aren't necessarily harder to play than the keys with less. In fact, C-major can be a rather awkward key when it comes to certain runs, plus its uniform "topography" can make it harder to orient yourself at without looking at the keys. Some keys with lots of sharps/flats are much more comfortable in this respect.

For a beginner, it just takes more time to read the notes in such keys.

yeah, good point, B mayor is very easy on piano, .... I think I was thinking on woodwinds, where the normal finger position covers a C mayor scale (most of the times) and you have additional keys for sharp/flat ... (well I'm thinking in Clarinet/Saxophone)

In that case the harder key will be the less "known" for the player.

But there are other issues that I think can make a piece easy or hard, for instance the break point in clarinet, if the piece is in Ebm or CM won't be difficult if it's "well planed", and if someone thinks "i'm going to write in C major so it can be easy" but writes an awful draw passing throught break point, ... choosing C major was useless.

I think what this guy wants to know is which key to choose to avoid passages beginers won't be able to play, but like i said, To know the instrument will be much better for that purpose.