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Best instruments for songwriting
You are not choosing an instrument to perform on. You are choosing one that will show you what the chords are doing while you sing over them.
By Sawyer V. · Published · Last updated
Songwriting is the one use case on this site where the instrument is a tool rather than the goal. Nobody is trying to become a virtuoso. They are trying to find out what chords sit under a melody they can hear in their head.
That changes the requirements almost entirely.
Every pick states its Starter Path band, and we have not physically tested any of them — the method is on how we pick.
You need an instrument that plays harmony and leaves your voice free. That is guitar or keyboard. Guitar is faster to a first song and more portable; keyboard shows you what the harmony is doing and makes you a better writer sooner. A ukulele is the cheap third one that breaks habits.
The two requirements
It must play chords. A song is usually a melody over a chord progression, so your instrument has to be able to state the harmony. This immediately rules out the single-line instruments — flute, trumpet, violin, saxophone. You can write on them, and you are working much harder than you need to.
It must leave your voice free. Most songs are written by singing over the chords as you play them. That rules out anything involving your mouth, and it is why wind instruments almost never appear in songwriting discussions.
That leaves guitar, keys, and the small fretted instruments. Which is why the same two instruments appear in songwriting credits across essentially every genre.
What each one shows you
This is the interesting part, and the reason a lot of writers end up owning both.
A keyboard lays harmony out in a line. Pitch runs left to right with a visible, repeating pattern of black and white. Intervals are distances you can see. A major chord is a shape, and the same shape moved up is the same chord in a different key.
That makes theory visual rather than memorized. If you want to understand why a progression works rather than just that it does, the Casio Casiotone CT-S1#ad is the more educational instrument by a wide margin.
A guitar hides harmony and rewards the hands. The fretboard does not lay pitch out linearly, and the same chord has several unrelated-looking shapes. What it gives you instead is physical pattern: move a shape up two frets and you have transposed without thinking about it.
That makes a Yamaha FG800#ad faster to write on and slower to understand on. Both are real advantages, and the full comparison is in keyboard versus guitar.
Speed to a first song
Guitar wins this, and it is not close.
Three or four open chords cover an enormous proportion of popular music, and a beginner can hold those down within a few weeks. Add a capo and you can move any of it to suit your voice in seconds.
A keyboard asks for two hands doing different things before it sounds complete, which arrives quickly and is a genuine barrier in month one.
The honest counterweight: guitar chords are physically hard at first, and fingertip soreness stops more beginners than anything else — see why the guitar hurts your fingers.
The third instrument
A Kala KA-15S#ad is on this page for a specific reason that has nothing to do with being a beginner instrument.
Four strings, re-entrant tuning and no bass note mean a ukulele produces voicings a guitar does not. Chord shapes you know arrive in unfamiliar inversions, and that is a genuinely effective way to get out of a writing rut — you stop reaching for the progression your hands already know.
It is also small enough to live on a desk or beside a sofa, which matters because song ideas mostly arrive when you are not sitting down to write. The lowest-friction instrument in the room gets used.
Nylon strings need no calluses, so it is playable immediately even if you have never fretted anything — the comparison against guitar is in ukulele versus guitar.
What you do not need
An expensive instrument. You are writing, not recording. Any instrument that stays in tune and is pleasant to hold does the job.
Weighted keys. A piano action is for playing piano repertoire. For writing, unweighted 61 keys is lighter, cheaper and completely adequate — see weighted versus unweighted keys.
A recording setup, yet. A phone voice memo captures an idea perfectly well, and a production project competes with writing rather than supporting it. When you do want that, the setup is in best keyboards for bedroom producers.
Theory lessons before you start. Write first, understand later. Almost everybody does it in that order.
If you already play something
The most common upgrade for a songwriter is the instrument they do not have. A guitarist who adds a keyboard usually reports understanding their own songs better within months, because harmony becomes visible.
A keyboard player who adds a guitar gets portability and a different set of physical habits to write from. Either way the second instrument is doing something the first one cannot — which is the whole argument in choosing a second instrument.
Quick picks
The writer's default
Chords under a voice, portable, and the instrument most popular songs were written on. Fast to a usable level.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No image Yamaha FG800A solid Sitka spruce top with scalloped bracing at the entry price. | Buy once, acousticEnough | 8.8 | Check price on Amazon → #ad How we’re funded |
If you want to understand what you are writing
A keyboard lays harmony out in a straight line you can see. Intervals and chord shapes become visual rather than memorized.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No image Casio Casiotone CT-S161 full-size touch-sensitive keys, 61 tones and no arranger clutter. | 61 keys, piano sound firstThe honest floor | 7.8 | Check price on Amazon → #ad How we’re funded |
The one that breaks writer's block
Four strings, no bass note, and unfamiliar voicings. Small enough to keep on a desk, which is where most song ideas actually happen.
| # | Product | Best for | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No image Kala KA-15SMahogany throughout, a GraphTech NuBone nut and saddle, and Aquila strings fitted from the factory. | The honest floor, sopranoThe honest floor | 8.7 | Check price on Amazon → #ad How we’re funded |
The picks in full
Yamaha FG800
YamahaBest for: Buy once, acoustic
A solid Sitka spruce top with scalloped bracing at the entry price. Solid-versus-laminate is the one acoustic spec that changes what the instrument does over years, and this is the cheapest place to get it done right.
Published specifications
- Top:
- Solid Sitka spruce
- Back / sides:
- Nato / okume
- Neck / fingerboard:
- Nato neck, rosewood fingerboard, R400 mm (23-5/8") radius
- Scale length:
- 650 mm (25-9/16")
- Nut width:
- 43 mm (1-11/16")
- Bracing:
- Scalloped
- Body:
- Traditional Western (dreadnought), 412 mm (16-1/4") wide, 100-118 mm deep
- Hardware:
- Die-cast chrome tuners, urea nut and saddle
What it gets right
- A solid top, not a laminate — the only acoustic spec at this price that genuinely changes over time
- Scalloped bracing and die-cast tuners are specifications you normally pay considerably more for
- Yamaha's most-copied entry acoustic; parts, setups and advice are everywhere
Where it gives ground
- A full dreadnought body is a big box — 412 mm across and up to 118 mm deep
- Nato and okume back and sides are the cost saving; the top is where the money went
What it is not good at
Fitting a smaller player. The dreadnought body is wide and deep enough that a young teenager can struggle to get their arm over it comfortably. If that is the buyer, look at the JR1 or a concert-size body instead.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Specifications from Yamaha Europe — FG/FS800 series specifications.
Casio Casiotone CT-S1
CasioBest for: 61 keys, piano sound first
61 full-size touch-sensitive keys, 61 tones and no arranger clutter. It is the 61-key board for someone who wants to play piano rather than operate a keyboard.
Published specifications
- Keys:
- 61, full-size, touch-sensitive
- Polyphony:
- 64 notes
- Tones:
- 61, including a stereo grand piano
- Weight:
- 9.9 lb
- Dimensions:
- 36.61" W x 10.15" D x 3.30" H
- Connectivity:
- USB-MIDI
What it gets right
- Deliberately few sounds and a clean panel, which removes the single biggest distraction from actual practice
- 9.9 pounds and 3.3 inches tall — it can live on a shelf between sessions, and an instrument that lives out of the way gets played less
- 64-note polyphony, higher than the PSR-E383's 48
Where it gives ground
- No lesson mode at all, unlike the PSR-E383
- Unweighted keys, same fundamental limit as any 61-key board
What it is not good at
Entertaining a young child. There is no light-up key guidance, no play-along scoring and only 61 sounds. That restraint is the point for an adult beginner and a drawback for a seven-year-old.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Specifications from Casio — CT-S1 product page.
Kala KA-15S
Kala Brand MusicBest for: The honest floor, soprano
Mahogany throughout, a GraphTech NuBone nut and saddle, and Aquila strings fitted from the factory. The nut material is the spec that separates this from the pile of look-alikes.
Published specifications
- Size:
- Soprano
- Top / back / sides:
- Mahogany
- Neck / fretboard:
- Mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard
- Nut and saddle:
- GraphTech NuBone
- Scale length:
- 13.625"
- Frets:
- 12
- Nut width:
- 1.375"
- Overall length:
- 21.062"
- Strings:
- Aquila Super Nylgut
What it gets right
- NuBone nut and saddle rather than molded plastic — this is what decides whether the instrument plays in tune up the neck
- Aquila strings fitted at the factory, so the first thing you would otherwise replace is already done
- 21 inches overall and light enough for a small child to hold unsupported
Where it gives ground
- 12 frets only, and the body joint stops you well short of the high notes
- Soprano scale means less room between frets — adult fingers with wide fingertips will find it cramped
What it is not good at
Adult hands, sometimes. A 13.625 inch scale is genuinely tight. If the player is a grown-up with large hands, read our soprano-versus-concert comparison before buying this size.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Specifications from Kala Brand Music — KA-15S specifications.
Questions people actually ask
What instrument is best for songwriting?
Guitar or keyboard. Both play chords and harmony while leaving your voice free, which is the actual requirement. Single-line instruments like flute or violin make writing songs with chord progressions much harder.
Should I learn piano or guitar to write songs?
Guitar is faster to a first song and more portable. Piano shows you what harmony is doing, which makes you a better writer over time. Many writers end up using both for exactly those reasons.
Do I need to know music theory to write songs?
No, and a little helps enormously. Knowing which chords belong together in a key turns trial and error into deliberate choices, and a keyboard makes that visible faster than any other instrument.
Can you write songs on a ukulele?
Yes, and it is unusually good at breaking habits. Four strings and no bass note force different voicings than a guitar, which is why writers keep one around specifically for when nothing is coming.
Sources
Still deciding?
Every recommendation on this site is built the same way, and the method is published in full — including what we do not do and what would get a pick dropped.
Read next
- Keyboard or guitar to start on?
Which is genuinely easier in month one, the total cost of each, noise, portability, and what each instrument leads to.
- Best beginner acoustic guitars: solid tops from $200 to $350
Solid versus laminate tops, the dreadnought body-size problem, and picks for adults and children separately.
- Best beginner keyboards: 61 keys that suit real lessons
Touch response over tone count, segmented for children and adult learners, with the 61-key ceiling stated plainly.
- What should your second instrument be?
What transfers between instruments, sensible pairings by what you already play, and the right time to add a second.
- Best keyboards for bedroom producers
Controller versus standalone-with-USB, the latency problem nobody budgets for, and three boards covering both approaches.