

From what I’ve noticed, “not figuring it out” is often either a question of fine motor coordination or poor ear training.
Other times it’s outlandish expectations from yourself. Your not going to be playing "Money for Nothing " by Dire Straits for a while, but something along the lines of “Three Little Birds” by Bob Marley is probably achievable within your first week.
Fine motor control is mostly just a matter of practice. Use a metronome and start SLOW.
Ear training in this context is being able to map a sound in your head to a finger position on your instrument. Again practice, pick a simple melody and try to find that melody on your instrument.
As for what instrument. What do you want to play? You could get any instrument in the world, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to play that instrument.
I mostly play and teach guitar, you can easily get a reasonable instrument in the $300-$600 range. Sometimes cheaper.
Serviceable keyboards can be had for about $150.
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