Percussion, piano, guitar or cello — your instrument, you
「If you could instantly play one instrument, which would you choose?」
No practice, no lessons — you can play one instrument perfectly, starting now. Percussion locked in with a group, a piano you sit down to alone, an electric guitar you improvise on, or a cello with a low, deep voice. The sound you long for tells you what voice you'd like to speak to the world in.
The four options and who picks them
Side by side
The link between musical taste and personality is a well-studied topic. Rentfrow and Gosling showed that genre preferences track extraversion and openness (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2003, doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.6.1236), and Greenberg and colleagues found that 'empathizers' lean toward mellow, deep music while 'systemizers' prefer intense, complex sounds (PLoS ONE, 2015, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0131151). Rather than asking about genre, this question makes you imagine yourself playing, which draws out how you express: ensemble or solo, improvised or composed. Percussion people hear music as something you fit together, and know the pleasure of being the foundation under someone else's melody. The piano can complete harmony and melody with two hands, and it's chosen by people who want to build a whole world alone. The electric guitar belongs to those who'd rather sound out this moment's impulse than follow a score, with the nerve to turn a mistake into a flourish. Cello people prize depth over flash and resonance over speed — the type who says a lot with few notes.
Same pick vs. different pick
Same instrument, same conversational tempo and the same tolerance for silence — a pair that never tires of talking. Electric guitar plus cello is a duo of fast and deep: one lifts the room, the other lands it. Percussion plus piano pairs someone who wants to play together with someone who wants to finish alone, but let the piano carry the melody and the percussion hold it up, and it becomes the most beautiful ensemble of all.
FAQ
Should I choose an instrument I can actually play?
No. The premise is 'if you could instantly play it', so choose by longing. The people whose real instrument differs from their dream one get the most interesting reading.
What if I don't listen to much music?
Look at the pictures and pick the scene you'd want to be in: centre stage, a room alone, a circle of friends, or a hushed hall. Choosing by place instead of instrument still reveals plenty.