Deciding on which musical instrument is most romantic is a very personal pronouncement viewed from various perspectives. A variety of factors can move the decision-maker in many different directions, steered by varying personal and physical characteristics.
The most romantic instrument is known to be the guitar for its ability to produces music that elicits the most significant emotional response from both women and men. While the guitar is deemed to be the most romantic instrument, other close runners-up are too competitive to discount. These include ukulele, harmonica, vocals, piano, cello, accordion, and saxophone.
The perspective of romance also varies from a single emotion to an era in time.
In this article, we will cover the relationship between romance and music, as well as a few of the variables factoring in the romanticism of an instrument from the perspective of both women and men.
The Meaning of Music and Romance
Defining “romantic” will help in answering the question of a romantic instrument.
The Oxford dictionary defines romantic as “conducive to or characterized by the expression of love, characterized by, or suggestive of an idealized view of reality, a person with romantic beliefs or attitudes, or a writer or artist of the romantic movement” (source).
From a musical perspective, the word “romantic” has different definitions and viewpoints. Musically, the meaning is as an adjective relating to or denoting the artistic and literary movement of romanticism.
Here, we will concentrate on the non-musical definition, oddly enough. Man’s romance with music links archaeologically to as far back as 4000 BC and has continued to the present day.
There must be something to the emotions that music elicits, especially if our ancestors spent time away from securing their very survival to create instruments and music that has withstood the test of time.
What Musical Instrument Do Women Like Most?
Interestingly, there has been research that proves that people perceive a potential partner as more attractive when presenting the photograph of the person together with improvised music.
This particular tendency proved more influential in women, and more so among those seeking long-term relationships.
Research from an Evolutionary-Psychology perspective has shown musicians to be more attractive when they sang or played an instrument in a private setting, in contrast to their fellow musicians who performed publicly.
This was an especially prominent view among the male respondents.
Studies in Israel and Sweden prove that men who play a musical instrument are more attractive to women. How well they played the instrument also affected their attractiveness (source).
How do the ladies feel, though, about the romance of the different instruments?
Many women view the guitar and the saxophone as being the most attractive instrument. A few ladies are in favor of piano players, while others have a proclivity toward violinists and drummers.
And finally, the flute ranks as an attractive instrument from a female perspective, but not quite as high as the others.
Players and lovers of other instruments need not fret, though, as further research has thrown light on many women’s preferences for less popular instruments (source).
What makes an instrument romantic, according to the ladies with these preferences?
Guitar
If you can play us a song, guitar man, you’re automatically among the most romanticized of musicians.
The confident guitarist can win over a heart, whether it be alongside a campfire in the seclusion of the wilderness or in the sitting room amidst an appreciative crowd.
Guitarists are intuitive and spiritual people. Their innate intuition manifests in the manner in which guitarists learn. Musicians typically learn to play a piece using sheet music. Guitarists, however, learn on their feet.
A psychologist and avid guitarist at Vanderbilt University has studied the concept and discovered that guitarists learn by watching the song while someone is playing, rather than by reading notes (source).
When used as a percussion instrument in the classical music world, the player plucks the guitar strings, which speaks for the musician’s skill with his fingers, a highly sought-after trait in any romantic relationship.
Ukulele
The guitar’s smaller cousin, the instrument associated with Hawaiian splendors, is small and cute. That alone will make it endearing as a romantic musical instrument. Of course, the hints of paradise help, too.
Harmonica
To make music with this unassuming little instrument, the player must alternately blow and suck. The achievement of different notes is either by singling out the required mouth hole by puckering the lips or using the tongue to cover holes.
Best known for soulful country and western ballads and tunes, this instrument achieves a captivating sound.
Vocals
Everyone has one, right? Girls seem to love a guy who can sing, and singing is undoubtedly a form of musical instrument.
Shakespeare had Romeo wooing his Juliet as she stood on her balcony, and very few would not find a heartfelt serenade romantic.
Which Instruments are Most Attractive to the Opposite Sex?
Some instruments are arguably more attractive than others. The father of evolutionary studies, Darwin, interpreted music-making as courting behavior.
Darwin said that the primeval man may have used his voice to produce the first true musical cadences, like the gibbon-apes he studied, and he concluded that this would have been especially vital during courtship between the sexes (source).
This interpretation lends credence to the argument that the success of private courting in the form of a private music act might be better and far more appreciated than a public performance.
Learning to play a musical instrument requires many of the very qualities that make the ideal romantic partner. Musicians are typically innately attractive to the opposite sex through their natural exuding of intelligence, confidence, and charm.
If evolution has taught us anything about men and women and the differences that are evident between them, it is that they have different priorities. This extends to how the two sexes choose a partner.
While women find resources and maturity important characteristics when seeking long-term relationships, men seem to place a higher emphasis on health, fertility, and youthfulness in their search for long-term partners.
Which instrument earns consideration as the most romantic, all things considered?
Can you justifiably compare such different instruments as the breathy, seductive saxophone oozing its smooth sounds to the vibey electric guitar? Perspective certainly comes into play in the selection.
Piano
As a gateway to emotions, the piano is somehow undeniably romantic, as is a pianist. One need only watch how the talented pianist tickles the ivories to be convinced.
Playing with gentle strokes and escalating into a pleasurable arpeggio, the pianist can bring the listener to enraptured ecstasy with little more than a touch of the keys. The instrument itself is a thing of beauty.
The wing-shaped grand piano is curvy yet slim, fragile yet strong, and coy yet gallant. The Grand Piano has been responsible for many romantic melodies over time. It is also a bonding experience playing for, and listening to, a pianist play (source).
The Cello
The cello evolved over time from a coarse instrument to an instrumental player in music in the Romantic period. The very shape and the way the instrument is held during playing is romantic in itself (source).
The Accordion
Invented by a piano maker, the accordion offers a romantic and nostalgic charm. It is also easily accessible wherever you may be, unlike the bulky instruments such as the piano.
Saxophone
There can be very few instruments that are more romantic than the sax if measured by intimacy with the instrument. Rather than just holding the saxophone, the player is inclined to caress it, using his lips to create the music.
The History of Man and Romantic Instruments
While the history of music and man remains unclear, archaeological discoveries have revealed a flute carved out of ivory and bone that could be as old as 35,000 years.
This is significant in that humans perceived music to be an essential attribute of society even as hunters and gatherers when the very act of survival was all-consuming.
As a society, music would have strengthened social bonds even at this prehistoric stage of human evolution. This fact may have more to do with our biological makeup than a conscious decision.
Research shows that music significantly affects the oxytocin levels in the human body. This neuropeptide is associated with intimate contact and breast-feeding, promoting interpersonal trust and bonding.
Final Thoughts
There can be no argument that music elicits strong emotional responses and feelings in both men and women.
While personal preference in musical instruments may sway the definition of the most romantic of them all, evolution certainly supports the perception that instruments of music promote individual courting behavior.
There is also no rule that one lone instrument should be most romantic. Operas, historically viewed as romantic, involve not only strong voices but a collection of musical instruments all playing in harmony together.
In the same way that a bird’s plumage attracts the opposite sex, so too does playing a musical instrument.
