All Grade band students will need an approved instrument, Successful Habits Method Book, instrument specific supplies, binder, and music stand.
Important Details
All band instruments used by students (New or Returning) need to have a recent tune-up by a professional music repair technician. Or, Mr. Jupp can do a personal inspection. Instruments that are rented by music stores do this before they are given to students.
Regardless of how you acquire an instrument, it will need regular maintenance and repairs (at least once per year). This will cost $50 at the minimum, and is usually closer to $100 - sometimes more depending on the instrument.
Example: you may be given a saxophone for free from someone, however it might cost $600 to overhaul and get it in proper playing condition.
I am more than happy to help guide families in this process as I have been doing so the past 20 years.
|
Renting and Buying Options
Renting
Renting is the most straightforward, and reliable option (as long as you purchase the optional insurance offered).
My top recommendation is to use Music and Arts which is a company I’ve used for 20+ years. Their prices are very competitive, you can order the instrument online, and they will bring it to Merton (select “Fall” for delivery). If the instrument needs repair, they will come to school to pick it up, and swap it out for a loaner so your child never has to be without a working instrument.
Another option to use is the White House of Music.
Buying
Buy a quality new or used instrument. If you go this route, please contact me first to get approval for what you are planning to buy. Instruments that are of low quality will cause the student to have a negative experience learning their instrument. It will also cause the entire band to sound worse and make their experience worse as well.
Facebook and Craigslist can be a great place to find high quality used instruments at a reduced price. If you go this route, either 1) ask for the most recent maintenance receipt for the instrument, and/or 2) take it to a music store to make any necessary repairs before your child needs it.
Recommended Brands
Here are the brands I recommend:
- Armstrong
- Bach
- Besson
- Blessing
- Buffet
- Bundy
- Conn
- Fox
- Gemeinhardt
- Getzen
- Holton
- Jupiter
- Keilwerth
- King
- Leblanc
- Miraphone
- Noblet
- Olds
- Schilke
- Selmer
- Vito
- Yamaha
- Yanagisawa
Brands to Avoid
Here are the brands to avoid. When (not if) these instruments break, repair shops can’t/won’t fix them. These brands cannot be used at school as they will clash with quality instruments.
- Glory
- Jean Paul
- Mendini
- Eastar
- Eking
- Eastrock
- Vangoa
- Costzon
- Lyxjan
New (often colorful) instruments at extremely low prices should be avoided as well. Ex: Clarinet, Flute, Trumpet, Alto Sax. These prices would be too low for a new instrument: Flutes - $400, Clarinets - $500, Saxophones - $1,000, French horns - $1,300, Trumpets - $500, Trombones - $900, Baritones - $1,700.
Borrowing
Borrow one from school. This is first come, first served and I have a limited number of instruments.
|
Specific Instruments
Baritone / Euphonium
As long as I have enough supply, students will borrow a school instrument to use at home, and use a school instrument at school. This means the only thing to purchase is the book, supplies, and music stand.
Tuba
Players are given a tuba from school to use at home and will also have access to one at school for free (typically music stores don’t rent tubas so they have to come from the school).
Percussion
The instruments students need are a bells kit, and snare drum (a drum pad is also acceptable. Additionally, students MUST have a minimum of these four sets of mallets:
- snare sticks
- medium yarn
- hard plastic
- cotton medium / general timpani
Here are some examples of sets of mallets:
Students will use their OWN mallets at school. The bells kit and snare drum that are rented/owned will STAY AT HOME since the school provides all this equipment in class/lessons. I highly suggest looking to buy a used bells set and snare/drum pad as they can be found very affordably online (Facebook, etc.).
|
Supplies
All Students
Every band student needs:
- 1” Black 3 Ring Binder
- Foldable Music Stand for home. (These are BOUGHT with the starter pack with rentals and should always stay at home)
- Pencils (keep with instrument at all times) 10+ to last the year.
- Pencil pouch for binder to keep pencils and supplies.
- 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade students should purchase “Habits of a Successful Beginner Band Musician” by Scott Rush and Jeff Scott for your specific instrument (This can be purchased when renting as well)
5th Grade Clarinets and Saxophones
Students should start off with 10 reeds at #2.5 strength and they MUST be the Vandoren Traditional brand.
Each reed will last a few weeks, so they will need to be replenished regularly. Beginners will chip their reeds more often and I tell students to ask their parents for more reeds when they have 3 good reeds left. I cannot stress this enough - low quality and/or broken reeds can make it almost impossible for students to play their instrument and get a good sound. It will make playing their instrument a miserable experience and will waste precious class/lesson time. Please help me, your child, and the band be successful by making sure your child has quality reeds.
Supplies for each Instrument
If you rent from a store, you can buy everything below in their “Starter Pack.”
- Flute - Handkerchief swab, polishing cloth
- Oboe - 2 Emerald MS reeds (or suggestion from private instructor), silk swab, reed guard, cork grease, polishing cloth
- Clarinet - #2.5 Vandoren Traditional reeds, handkerchief swab, reed guard, cork grease, mouthpiece brush.
- Saxophone - #2.5 Vandoren Traditional reeds, handkerchief body swab, reed guard, cork grease, neck swab, mouthpiece brush, polishing cloth.
- Trumpet - Blue Juice Valve Oil, Tuning Slide grease, mouthpiece brush, cleaning snake, polishing cloth
- French Horn - Rotor Oil, Slide Eze, Polish Cloth, Cleaning Snake, Mouthpiece Brush
- Trombone - Slide-o-mix slide treatment, slide eze, polishing cloth, cleaning snake, spray bottle, mouthpiece brush
- Baritone/Euphonium - Blue Juice Valve Oil, Slide Eze, Polishing Cloth, Cleaning Snake, Mouthpiece Brush
- Tuba - Blue Juice Valve Oil, Polishing Cloth
|
|
|
