What instruments do parents typically supply for band students?
- Schools typically provide oboe, bassoon, horn, euphonium and tuba.
- Parents typically provide flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and percussion equipment.
- DeLay has school inventory to provide for students that are economically disadvantaged, but we will do our best to find a quality instrument at a low price typically purchased instruments.
Where do I buy an instrument?
- Music and Arts - Ask for our preferred and secondary lists.
- Craigslist - With director approval
- This bottom of this webpage! - We'll post links to instruments we find that are quality deals.
DO NOT
- Purchase an instrument at Target, BJs, Sam's club, Walmart,
etc. They do not play in tune or have good sounds.
- Avoid instruments that are not the correct color! For example: a purple flute, a black trumpet, a red sax. While they might look neat - they are not well built. Eventually they will break down and cost you a lot of money in repairs.
- When in doubt, ask a director.
How much should I pay?
- Used instruments can range from around $300 on up to around $1000 (Saxophone).
- New instruments average $1000 to around $2000 for a student or
beginner level. Music and Arts offers more affordable rent-to-own options on new and used instruments, ranging from $30/month to $60/month (Saxophone)
- Prices are a bit higher for intermediate level
instruments. If you plan on playing in high school, an intermediate or
"step-up" level instrument is recommended. These instruments play better and may have some
additional features not found on student models.
- It is better to buy a quality used instrument than a poorly made new instrument.
What about reselling? - If
for some reason your child decides to stop playing an instrument,
reselling it is usually quite easy. Often times, you can recover most of
the money from buying the instrument.
- This is another reason to buy used; you can usually resell the instrument for about what you paid for it.
Recommended Beginner and Intermediate Instruments
|
|