Stevens is a multi-instrumentalist, a person who can play many musical instruments. He is well known for his use of the banjo, but also plays guitar, piano, drums, and several other instruments, often playing all of these on his albums by using multitrack recording. When he was in school, he learned the oboe and English horn, which he also plays on his albums. He is one of the few musicians in pop music to use these instruments. A lot of instruments are played in unison to give his songs a "symphony-like" sound. Strings and horns are used very often in many of his songs.