musical instruments in carry-on?
 

has anyone had success with taking musical instruments on board?

I am not suggesting large or oversize ones, but what about a harmonica?

We will be travelling yyj, sfo, syd, akl soon and am curious if we can bring one to keep the kids entertained during wait times.

any success or failure regarding this, please speak up

musical instruments in carry-on?
 

Usually you can check guitars at the gate with no problems, so I would imagine a harmonica wouldn't be a big deal.

An acquaintance of mine was among the group in this video (not one of the people playing though). Given that said individual always carries the instrument in question (string, smaller than a cello) on board, I'd stay a harmonica would not be a problem... however...

Please, NO! (Unless you're very good). :)

I'm sure a harmonica will be fine as far as the airline is concerned.

Now your fellow passengers may not be amused if you break it out midflight.

The kids are 5 and are very well behaved. Cute and can keep it quiet.

Yeah we were thinking more during long gate waits. A little piano man never hurt anyone.

As long as you don't attempt to play it, you should be fine.

+1

Do you really think that other passengers stuck waiting at the gate will find the musical stylings of five-year-olds cute? How would you feel about listening to my (off-key) singing?

I'm wondering if you're kidding, especially since I can't think of why you'd think the airline would object to having a harmonica safely packed away in a carry-on.

I think it's you the poster was worried about - not the kids.

Your (in)ability to carry a tune notwithstanding, I believe the OP is suggesting that HE play the harmonica to keep his kids entertained. I would have to assume that he's pretty good, or he wouldn't even be asking. And I don't think I'd mind if he were really good, as long as it didn't get in the way of hearing announcements.

i've travelled enough to know that the rules always change and never make sense. i felt it prudent to ask before attempting the impossible.

your off key singing would be perfectly fine, as long as the volume was kept within a short range of your personal space.

we feel any music, noise, etc that is too loud or too constant is simply pollution.

its actually a family play thing. we have introduced the world of music to the kids and they have taken to it. piano, drums, guitar, harmonica, recorder, and flute.

they practice nearly daily (we ask, never tell) and play songs by memory. we wanted them to keep their musical play up while we travelled for a couple of months. the piano wasn't coming!

I imagine you could also bring a small drum kit with you, assuming it would collapse into a carry-on bag.

5 year olds jamming on a drum kit in the gate area: that'll go over huge.

exactly, in our sterile NA environment it would never work.

when we travel to certain tribal areas of the world, I'll look for said collapsable drum kit. thanks for the insight

Ever thought about a baby taylor or martin backpacker? Surprisingly good tone and quite playable. Recorders and flutes (or piccolos) also travel well.

yeah, we thought of those. we have the ukuleles, but the bigger size and increased difficulty to suppress the volume made it a no go.