We are very excited that your child has chosen to be in the Zionsville Middle School 5th Grade Band! We want to make sure that your band student is prepared to start learning this year with a quality instrument. Below you will find tips on how to acquire an instrument for next year.

Most of our band and orchestra parents procure their children’s instruments from Paige’s Music, a local musical instrument retailer, whose rent-to-own instruments include a repair and maintenance plan in the rental cost. Paige’s Music also visits Zionsville West Middle School once each week to pick up any instruments in need of repair, to drop off loaner instruments for use during the repair, and to deliver any supplies ordered by families.

Paige’s Music is the preferred instrument rental store of Zionsville Community Schools.

If you want to acquire an instrument from another retailer, then please keep a few things in mind. We do not recommend buying an instrument from Amazon, eBay, Meijer, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Costco, or any other non-music, big-box store. Many times, these non-school music stores will offer what seem to be unbelievable deals on instruments—these instruments are cheap for a reason! These instruments come with no after-sale support, no repair service, and they are very, very cheaply made. When these instruments break, there is no way to repair them, as they are no-name brands made with very cheap parts. Ultimately, this results in a waste of money, a broken instrument in need of replacement, and a frustrated student in our class.

When you are ready to rent or purchase an instrument, here are a few more things to consider, to ensure that you will get a good, high quality instrument:

•Get a Name Brand Instrument:

Don’t waste your time on unknown instrument brands. Non-brand name instrument manufacturers often do not make parts available to repair centers, so when they break, they are broken for good. Brands that we recommend: Selmer, Yamaha, Bach, Bundy, Signet, Gemeinhardt, Pearl, Artley, Noblet, King, Conn, Holton, Eastman, Cannonball, Leblanc, Getzen, Besson, Accent, Vito, Ludwig, Buffet, Fox, Renard (please limit your new or used instrument search to these reputable brands).

•An Inexpensive Instrument Can be a Waste of Time and Money:

Not all instruments are created equal! Cheap instruments are cheaply made. If you purchase a questionable instrument, you may be required to spend more on repair to just make it usable. This can be very discouraging to band students, when they consistently lose class time because of a broken instrument.

•Consider the Value of Service After You Have Purchased:

Repair is an inevitability. Alternative sources often do not offer maintenance programs, but most school-recommended music stores offer maintenance programs as part of their rental and purchase plans. If you have any questions or concerns—or you would simply like input on which instruments are good quality and worth your investment—please do not hesitate to contact us. We look forward to teaching your child in band this year!