easy small musical Instruments ?

Damru.

Well, let's see.

The recorder is the easiest instrument to learn to play, and the hardest to play well.

Very near to that, though, is the penny whistle. IF you like Irish music, this is the charmer: there are a number of good tutors, like Bill Och's (Cassette and book, can be gotten in a package with a Clarke penny whistle) which is the one I started with.

The nice thing about whistles is that they aren't a short-term interest. As one indication, you can pay as little as $5 for a really good whistle (the Clarke "Sweet Tone", available for $4.95 on such online sites as Amazon.com), or many hundreds of dollars for hand-crafted, specialty-metals instruments. Additionally, the common size of whistle can be carried easily, even in a pocket (although sitting on them is not recommended!)

Whistles come in different keys. The idea is to learn the basic D whistle fingering, then switch whistles when the key changes. This leads to WAD (probably copyrighted by Dale Wisely of the Chiff & Fipple mailing list), which is Whistle Acquisition Disorder; the need to buy yet another penny whistle, usually more expensive and abstruse (does anyone really play in B major?) than the last ten.

Whistle keys also come, in some cases, in high and low octave versions, so there's a Low D whistle (which you've heard if you listened to Titanic's music).

In addition to being able to negotiate the distance from soulful to sprightly, whistles are a form of one-man-band, in that the articulations (rolls, crans and other graces used to separate notes, rather than just tonguing) are a form of percussion, allowing a single whistler to establish rhythm while playing a melody better than having someone beating a drum!

There are also whistles which come apart (like the Susato plastic whistles in 2 or 3 parts at Susato.com), whistles with large bores (for loud playing) and small bores (for softer playing). Some people feel the material has everything to do with the sound, other think it has no importance at all, so it can lead to some interesting discussions and flashy arguments.

All around, the penny whistle is the best easy, small instrument!

I don't know why people think you will be able to play the violin just because you can play the piano. It is chalk and cheese. The bowed string instruments are very difficult but most people find the cello easier then the violin. You will struggle just to produce a pleasant sound on the violin, let alone hit the right note. Personally , I do not think any musical instruments are easy, even if you can play the piano.

Ukulele actually is one of the easiest instruments to learn. Plus, it's fun and unique. You can as well visit http://ukulelehunt.com/ to be acquainted more about the ukulele and learn it online.

Recorder...the tone form a tenor recorder is AMAZING.

Ocarina...once again very nice tone.

Piccolo....versatile instrument that can be very pleasant to the ears if played right

penny whistle, recorder, fife, song flute, flutophone, tonette, Jew's Harp, any number of percussion instruments, pan pipes, Xaphoon (bamboo Saxophone), etc

How about the tambourine or triangle? They're easy enough.

A kazoo?