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Parent
and Educator Alert!
The South Carolina Coalition for Music Education would like to caution and deliver a word of warning to parents and music educators regarding the purchase of any musical instrument.
We recommend that parents NOT buy an instrument from vendors who are not specifically school music dealers. These non-music stores are vendors such as department store catalogs, discount membership warehouses, on-line purchases, and private party sales. Several problems can exist with these types of purchases:
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The quality of these instruments is generally poor, and may cause playing problems for your child.
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These instruments may not have the qualities essential to a school-approved student instrument: playability, durability, good tone, and good intonation. They may NOT meet minimum MENC standards.
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Local music stores usually cannot repair instruments purchased as stated above. Parts may not be available, and fixing one small problem may cause a much larger repair issue.
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When these instruments need repair, the repair can be difficult and more costly than the cost of a quality instrument.
Low price instruments are also usually low quality, and can lead to low student achievement!
Your child may become frustrated and not succeed in music, taking away his opportunity to become a lifelong music maker. When your child is ready to obtain an instrument, your school music teacher can recommend quality brands of instruments which can be rented or purchased. Otherwise, the real "cost" of a low-price instrument may be the loss of a chance to enjoy participating in music-for life!