Well, I have another suggestion to add to the confusion. Have you ever thought of the mountain dulcimer. It is really easy to learn and simple for a beginner, yet a really accomplished player can do wonderful things with it. I have been playing one for about 2 and a half years now and I just love it. You can play anything from folk to classical on it. For as simple as it is, it is very versitile. I had played piano before and some guitar, but only chords. After learning the dulcimer, I started to move on. I was able to pick up enough from that to start picking out more tunes on the guitar, then my husband bought me a banjo and then made me one. My dad had played harmonica when I was a kid, so that was just natural to move on to that. Dulcimer festivals got me hooked on tin whisltes which are just delightful and I just recently bought a mandolin. Once you get one of them down, the rest seem to come a lot easier. There are so many similarities. I guess my question is, why just decide on one? There are so many wonderful instuments and so little time!